Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/277

 LEATHER 271 America leather is skilfully tanned by the na- tives, who employ some of the vegetable pro- ductions of the country for the purpose. The dressing and working of leather in Japan and India are considered the most degrading of all pursuits; the class that practises them is ta- booed, and others are contaminated by commu- nication with any of its members. Hides and SMns. The heaviest ox and cow hides form the principal material from which sole leather is made ; those from cattle which are not fully grown, and also those from the smaller cattle of India and Africa, are generally made into what are called upper leathers, in contradistinc- tion from calf skins ; upper leather, as known to the trade, including kip, wax kip, grain, buff, and split leather. Horse hides are used to only a limited extent in the United States, but are largely manufactured in Europe, the leather being known there as cordovan (from Cordova in Spain, formerly famous for its manufacture), and some portions of the hide making a fine, soft leather. The American bison hide some- what resembles that of the Calcutta buffalo, but does not make as solid sole leather. The supply of these hides has been about half a million a year since 1871, but they will proba- bly cease to furnish material for leather in a very few years. Hog skins make the best sad- dle-seating, but more imitation hog skin is sold for this purpose than genuine. Sheep skins, of which the supply is very large, fur- nish probably more kinds of leather than are derived from any other source. The leather has but little strength and no solidity, but it is quickly tanned, generally with alum or sumach, and worked up whole or split, and serves for the cheaper kinds of pocketbooks, bookbind- ers' leather, shoe linings, hat linings, and a thousand cheap articles ; it is also made up into imitations of many other kinds of leather ; and since the introduction of aniline colors, which have been very successfully applied in its man- ufacture, its uses seem to be almost endless. Goat skins make a stronger, closer-textured leather than sheep skins; this leather, called morocco, furnishes the principal material for ladies' fine shoes. Deer skins are largely used to make what are known as buckskin gloves and mittens, and this leather is often sold for chamois or white leather. The principal sources from which hides for tanning are obtained, besides those which are always available in every locality from the slaughter of cattle in the neighborhood, are the prairies of the west and southwest, principally Texas, New Mex- ico, and Kansas; Mexico, Central America, the pampas of the country tributary to the Plata river in South America, and various por- tions of India and Africa. The hides taken off in the United States are nearly all tanned here. The product of Mexico, Central Ameri- ca, and the river Plata is principally sold at New York and Boston, London and Liverpool, Hamburg, Antwerp, Havre, and to a less ex- tent at a few ports on the Mediterranean. The product of India and Africa is principally dis- tributed through the same markets. East India kips form a prominent feature of the English leather market. It is estimated that the total supply of domestic hides of all kinds used in the leather manufacture of the United States amounts to about 7,000,000 annually. Of the imported hides and skins used in the American leather manufacture, fully four fifths are en- tered at the ports of New York and Boston. The imports at New York from 1869 to 1873 were as follows : FROM 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. Buenos Ayres. Montevideo.. . Rio Grande... Other foreign ports Total 1,009,876 368,135 815,250 550,685 770,748 406,963 467,565 588,299 767,716 640,500 447,226 610,781 581,455 442,079 863,564 451,910 825,386 379,179 248,214 868,925 2,243,446 2,238,570 2,466,223 1,839,008 1,816,704 The total imports of the whole country for the above mentioned period may be roundly esti- mated at from 500,000 to 700,000 more than these figures for each period named. It must be remembered, however, that this table does not include any portion of the imports of lighter stock commonly classed as skins. The imports of goat skins at the principal markets for the years 1871-'3 were as follows : PORTS. 1871. 1872. 1873. New York 8,200,000 3,600,000 3,300,000 Boston Philadelphia 2,100,000 500,000 1,350,000 250,000 1,200,000 240,000 Baltimore 50,000 75,000 175,000 Total 5,850,000 5,275,000 4,915,000 Liverpool is the principal hide market of Eng- land, and here most of the imports of hides from South America arrive. English tanners generally take the choicest selections of heavy hides for sole leather. The following table shows the receipts at that port for seven years : YEARS. Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. Rio Grande. Brazil. West Coast and Central America. North America. West Indies. Fast Indies. Horse hides. N'fonnd- land eeal skins. Dry. Salted. Dry. Salted. Dry. Salted. 1867... 12,314 1,690 4,948 27,781 16,754 24,233 40,547 295,084 878,240 807,524 411.267 398,817 813,264 405,887 825 2,399 1,400 6,208 5,204 650 1,200 58,304 75,958 42,592 76,982 82,017 46,727 19,962 68,825 69,955 70,118 104,737 149,845 91,419 73,822 5,683 9,563 9,014 25,613 14,870 25,058 22,643 697 6,855 1,877 5,125 106 2,742 7,050 16,702 29,935 96,206 258,417 608 833 710 8,694 7,719 23,129 29,784 122,800 171.050 184,290 418,600 375,800 583,500 896,155 60,965 192,054 86,011 89,820 141,796 189,798 87,645 150,000 98,600 158,900 138.000 190,800 61,627 161,000 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872... 1873 485 VOL. x. 18