The Seal and his Jacket.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 479, 11 June 1890, Page 3

The Seal and his Jacket.

As received, the skin is not in the least like what it will bo. The fur that is prized so much is to the seal what the down is to the bird, and it is hidden entirely by a coat of stiff over-hair—dull, grey, and grizzled. The salt is first washed off; the fat ia then removed, the skins are then washed, and the grease and water removed' by the knife ; and then they are tacked on frames to keep them smooth, and dried in a moderate heat. They are then soaked in water and thoroughly cleansed with soap, and then, after another drying, the warm skin is placed over a beam, and the hair removed \vibh a knife. When all the hair is out, the skins are dried, then damped, and then shaved. They are then stretched, worked, and dried, and softened in a fulling mill, or trodden with bare feet in a barrel, the workmen dancing upon them to break them into leather, while the grease is absorbed with hard wood sawdust that from time to time he dusts in. The skins are then dyed, the dye being pub on with a brush. They are then dried and dyed ao’ain, and dried again and dyed again, until they are of the desired colour, sometimes eight or twelve coats of dye being required. They are then shaved down to the proper thickness, softened again in a hogshead, and sometimes run in a revolving cylinder, with fine sawdust to clean them. With all these many processes and freight ages, no wonder that the finished fur costs as many pounds as it brought pence to the killers on the Pribylovs. Hour.”