Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/284

 278 LEATHER TOTAL EECEIPTS, 1863-1873. Sides. Sides. 1863 2 700 000 1869 8 700 000 1864 2,600,000 1870 4,000,000 1865 8,400,000 1871 4,700,000 1866 8 600,000 1872 5,400,000 1867 3 400 000 1873 . . 5,600,000 1868 8,700,000 New York is the principal market for sole leather and imported calf skins, kids, &c. Nearly all the sole leather received there is hemlock-tanned, which probably constitutes three fifths of the leather tanned in the United States. The receipts of sole leather at New York for the year 1873 were about 4,500,000 sides, and for 1872 not less than 5,000,000 sides. Philadelphia does a large business in oak sole and domestic tanned and finished calf and goat skins. Baltimore and Cincinnati are of considerable importance as oak-leather mar- kets. Buffalo and Chicago have each a large trade in hemlock leather, and are supplied by the tanneries in their immediate neighborhood. There are some considerable tanneries of hem- lock leather in Canada and Nova Scotia, the leather finding its market mostly among the shoe manufacturers there; the remainder is principally exported to England. Very little of it comes to the United States, owing to the tariff, which was formerly 25 per cent., and is now (1874:) 10 per cent, on sole leather. Since 1840 American tanners have frequently at- tempted to supply the English market with sole leather. The hemlock bark principally used for tanning in the United States costs from $4 to $6 a cord, weighing about 2,000 Ibs. The English oak bark costs about $30 a cord, and the amount of tannin it contains is very little greater than that in American hem- lock of average growth. As the cost of bark is a leading consideration in the leather manu- facture, and the difference in the cost of labor was not very great, it was thought that the American tanner had a very decided advantage over his English competitor. Yet it has taken many years of experiment for the American tanner to obtain any considerable degree of success in this matter. Shipments have not been successful until within the past two or three years, or since the removal by congress, from Aug. 1, 1872, of the 10 per cent, duty on foreign hides brought to the United States. English manufacturers at first complained that American hemlock leather, being red, was not tanned, but only colored ; then that American leather was not so neatly finished, fleshed, and trimmed as that of English make; and this still holds good, so that American hemlock leather, although its substantial qualities are now recognized by the leading English manu- facturers of boots and shoes, is sold there only as an article inferior to their best leather, and at a much lower price, but better than the poorer qualities of which the greater portion of their production consists. The following are the shipments of sole leather from New York to various ports for 1873 : To Liverpool 885,756 sides. ' Hamburg 218,152 u " Bremen 43,372 " " London 82,449 " " St. John's 3,952 " " Curacoa 8,984 u " various ports 20,254 u Total 707,919 " During the year ending June 30, 1873, $4,612,- 885 worth of leather was exported from the United States, and $6,766,202 imported. About three fourths of this commerce passes through New York. The leather manufacture of Great Britain is one of its most important industries. English sole leather has long had the reputation of being the best in the world, and its better grades are superior to any other manufactured, if we except a few tannages of similar leather made in the United States. With the increas- ing demand for leather, however, and the di- minishing supply and advanced prices of bark, a poorer quality has largely taken the place of the prime leather which gave English tan- ners their extended reputation. The follow- ing extracts from the latest government returns show the imports and exports : IMPOETS. ARTICLES. 1873. 1872. Quantities. Value. Value. Hides, raw, cwts " dressed, Ibs 1,339,373 31,617,996 483,648 11,630,544 4,727,126 1,973,535 146,781 1,296,782 183,259 TED KINC 122,001 1,048,909 1,707,886 455,182 804,898 3NIAL PI 1,491,253 248,031 4,919,263 1,781,924 151,218 1,403,622 139,209 JDOM. 112,825 1,220,981 1,695,24S 365,559 376,441 tODUCE. 1,638,957 265,193 Boots and shoes, pairs Gloves, pairs. Other manufactures EXPORTS, PEODUOI Hides, raw cwts S OF UNI 45,249 116,445 6,332,328 " dressed, cwts Boots and shoes, pairs Saddlery and harness Other manufactures, Ibs. . . EXPORTS, FOREIGN 1 Hides, dry and wet, cwts. . " tanned, dressed, &c., Ibs 1,665,109 LND OOL< 392,691 3,955,261 The principal leather market of Great Britain is at Leeds, and at the quarterly and intermediate fairs held here representatives of the principal tanners and leather and hide factors of Great Britain are always to be found. London and Liverpool are also extensive markets. Bristol, Manchester, and Newcastle have each a large business in leather and the shoe manufacture. On the continent of Europe the sole-leather manufacture is of minor importance, compared with the extent of the industry in England and America, while the manufacture of calf skins, kips, kid skins, morocco, and all kinds of upper leather, is carried on very largely and with great success. The sole leather tanned on the continent of Europe is generally hard and brit- tle, from an insufficiency of tanning material, and a long process of tanning; but the calf skins and upper leathers, which require but