RABBITSKINS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1137, 15 February 1884, Page 3

RABBITSKINS.

Home Correspondent Otap<)_ DaUy Timti. I used to bj under.'the impression that thSy were use t; ai - fur for ornamenting laities’ dresses. 1 am now undeceived. This week I went over- the factory of one of the largest rahhitskin Imyers in London. There women or the lowest class are employed to poll out the outer or bitiry part of the fur, and leave the true fur 1 next thr shin This is accnm: lisheil by me ms of a knife and the thmnh of the workwoman. The factory in which the Lon lon industry is carried on is situated in Felix-street, Lambeth.' It is a fine large building, bull-, especially for the purpose by a New York firm of fur flattens and skin merchants, of which it constitutes a branch. The top fl «or is a large working room. On entering 1 found myself in a dusky and malodorous atmosphere. The a<r felt close, oppressive, and was thickly charge ! with particles of dnst, hair, and fur. which were incessantly descending and covering one’s clothes, like a shower >'f itfa’e snow in the winter. The floor was thickly occupied with benches, at which eat'2oo young women ■ some'-miriied.othcrasingle ; bat all poofly, clad in their tattered and worn working dresses. The women sat close ..together m long rows-; some , were coughing, bat'alt were rapidly and nimbly plying their leather cover® 1 thumbs and their sharp, rough-edged, knives to'tear out the hairs from, tne skins.,. It was a strange arid' painful ' sight—strange because ...the women’s garments and the hair of their .heads were covered with'a' coating of .grey fliie One-eighth of an inch thick, which gave them the appearance of beingall one colour , grevj itwas; painful because they.'seemedtiJ wYrfofftly'of the degrade 1 class of woman pursuing an unwomanly occupation. Their" houre pf dehor are long—from 8 in the morn-' ing. tijl -7- in !be evening, with stated times for dinner and tea Their work is niece work, and they can earn from IDs to 15s a weak, which u certainly better pay than similar classes receive at the East End of London, where the “bitter cry” is'now raised. When their- day’s work is done some of them change their working dress for more becoming attire. The operation of pulling out hairs from the rabbitskins accomplished, leaves the real for next the skin intact, and the akin itself, thus dressed is dried and becomes a marketable commodity. The last, process is to neatly pack the, dressed skins in bales and ship them to New York, where the fur is extensively used in tW manufacture of felt hats, and the pelts are transformed into glue. The fur is worth as much as 6« per pound in New Ycrk. It is only made into the best felt bale,the commoner ones being manufactured out .of wool. A fur: felt , hat is worth -double the price of a wool one. There was.-a very g-eat demand for Colonial rabbitskipsa few. months; -avo,.fnr. dressed far purposes, but they do take the dye well, and the demand in this diiec-ionis falling off; However, for the manufacture of felt hats the demand is great and increasing. In the factory I have been speaking of 120.000 skins passed th ought the bands of the workers in the course of a week rabbitskins from the .South Islanlof New Zinland arer considered the best Next to them come those from the North Island, and the least valnaole are the skins froiri Austialia. The prime skins ;from about Dunedin. are.worth 3s 6 I to 4s per dozen.ami those from Wellington about from 3 1 to 3s 61. Some few extra good aim! large are-worth.from 41 to 51 each. Attire last public sales 17‘K)jputof t1i0.18,000 bales were' sold at from Is 10r to 2i per 1\ Much depends on the packing, so ting, and the size of the skins. “ Kittens ” aie not worth sending. Home.' The skins of rab •bits killed'in the tour .winter, months are the most valuable.' The’trade in rabbjtskins is assuming large dimensions ; at last sales .4.320,001)- skin* were, offered for sale, and-realised LSO.OOO. If this demand continuea. the extinction of the rabbit pest in Now Z 'aland is only a queition, one may hope, of a few years.