White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1929-04-05
COMB WORLDS MARTS
FOR MlLADY'S FURS
Millions of Foreign Pelts
Are Imported.

Are Imported.
Washington.-"Ame fur wear
ers force American fur buyers to
search the fur markets of the world to
meet the demand for fur garments, al
though the United States is the
worlds greatest fur producer" says
bulletin from the Washington head
quarters of the National Geographic
society.
"Stand for half an hour on a busy
corner of the shopping district of an
American city, and literally watch the
animals go by-animals that roam
dreary Arctic wastes, African jungles,
and all the wild places between.
Then, picture the trappers, and your
imagination conjIres professional Of
Eskimo. swarthy Asiatic, bronze Afri-
can and Canadian adventurer. The
romance of furs is one of the most
thrilling chapters in all the annals OF
trade.
Millions of Peits Imported.
"Wild squirrels and rabbits cavort
about all the forests of the United
States; muskrats infest the marshes
of every state except Florida; for
some reason the raccoon avoids only
Montana; martens, minks, foxes, opos-
sums and skunks range over wide
area of this country. Yet more than
100, 100000 pelts are imported annual
ly to trim women's dresses, line mems
gloves and make fur coats for both
sexes.
"China is Americas largest source
Of furs, but only in the supply of dog
and goat pelts does China excel other
foreign countries. Karakul comes
from the herds of karakul lambs in
India and Central Asia; most Of our
foreign mink pelts are from the traps
Of the Japanese. The United King
dom leads the list of sources of squir-
rel, fox and mole pelts Germany sup
plies most of our foreign marten pelts;
Peru, Chile and Bolivia, chinchilla
pelts; Siberia, ermine pelts; Aus
tralia, rabbit pelts, and for our addi-
tional supply of beaver and muskrat
pelts, we look to Canada.
"Early fur wearers wore only gen.
uine furs. Only the trapper and the
wealthy could afford fur garments.
Then the demand for cheap furs de-
veloped. Like actors in CONNER
cial drama, dressers Of cheap furs ap.
peared in the fur world. Experts dis
covered that pelts of rabbits. dogs,
alley cats, goats, ponies and many
other animals could be made into ex-
luisite furs by the deft hands of
| trained fur workers. Australia had
been offering bounty for killing rab-
bits which had overrun the continent,
but the new fur trade turned q liza
bility into an asset.
"More than a hundred million cheap
er furs are used annually. With a
little dye and expert workmanship,
bunny pelts are made to initiate those
Of the aristocrats of the fur-bearing
animal world. Rabbit furs dyed seal
are known as Arctic seal, bay seal
and Northern seal, sealette and sealine.
Dyed to initiate fox, they grace the
counter of the fur store as Baltic
brown, red and black fox, or fox hair.
A leopard may not be able to change
its spots but leopard spots dyed on
rabbit pelts make Baltic, French and
Russian leopard. These are but few
of more than fifty aliases by which
rabbit pelts are known, when tl.ey
leave the hands of the furriers.
Rival Gold in Exploration.
"Civilization is invading the domain
of the fur-bearing animals in the
United States, yet from $45,OOO,OOO to
$75,000,00O worth of furs were taken
In 1927. The greatest wild fur pro-
ducing area in the world lies within a
6OO-mile radius of st. Louis. In an
attempt to increase the supply OF gen
uine furs, fur farms or ranches have
been established in the United States.
Approximately 80 per cent of rhe sill
yer fox pelts sold on American mar
kets are ranch bred. Prince Edward
island, north of Nova Scotia, where
fox ranching began about 30 years ago.
is literally covered with fox ranches.
Skunk, muskrat and rabbit ranches
have also been established.
"Furs have played an important
part in exploration. Explorers often
find the cabins of fur trappers mark
ing the farthest outposts of civiliza-
ton. st. Louis owes it's founding to
the early French fur traders who es-
\ tablished station on the site in
1854. Trappers and traders from the
st. Louis station and those from
Canadian stations opened up r large
i part of northern and western United
States. Long before the 'forty-niners'
crossed the plains the Frenchmen
reached what is now the state of Utah
where they learned that Canadian fur
traders had already been in that re-
gion.
Russian trappers crossed the bleak
expanse of Siberia to Kamchatka in
quest of furs and then pushed on to
Alaska. Furs and gold have We'd
In opening up Stewards Folly or the
Seven Million Dollar Ice Box. as
Alaska formerly was called. But gold
booms have come and gone. Fur trap.
ping and trading have continued and
today two little islands of the Pribilof
group in the Boring sea send SS(W.0OO
worth of seal and blue fox furs to