ALLIGATOR LEATHER.

Dunstan Times, Issue 936, 26 March 1880, Page 3

ALLIGATOR LEATHER.

Twenty-tw'o years ago the secret of tanning alligator hides was revealed to a partner of a Boston boot and shoe house by an old Canadian. The business of collecting and tanning the skins was at once commenced, and now from 17,000 to 20,000 are tanned yearly, which are consumed by boot and shoe manufacturers in every portion of the United States, as well as exported to London and Hamburg. The alligators formerly came almost entirely from Louisiana, and New Orleans was the great centre of the business. Now the Florida swamps and morasses aie the harvest lields, and Jacksonville, in that State, is the grand depot. The animals are killed in great numbers by the passengers on river steamboats, though there are hunters who make a regular business of their capture. The alligators often attain a length of 18 to 20 feet, and frequently live to a tierce old age. The hides are stripped off, and the belly ami sides, the only portions fit for use, are packed in barrels in a strong', brine, and shipped to the northern tanner, who keeps them under treatment for from six to eight months, when they are ready to be cut up. So far the lea'hcr has been principally used in the manufacture of boots and shoes, lor which it is specially adapted ; and by reason of the pleasing variation of the surface, makes a most excellent and becoming protection for the masculine, and indeed for the feminine loot, for it is beginning to be employed in the manufacture of ladies’ boots. Handsome slippers are also made of the black and unblacked skin, as well as shopping bags, portraonnaies, cigar cases, and small leathern goods of all kinds, though, owing to the unfavourable state of the trade, those latter have not been extensively introduced.