January, 1679.
THE WEST SHORE.
5
soap and water. In some cases they I
can be unhaircd without this drying 1
process, and cleansed before drying.
After the cleansing process they pass '
to the picker, who dries the fur by i
stove heat, the pelt being kept moist.1
When the fur is dry he places the skin
on a beam, and while it is warm he re
moves the main coat of hair with a dull
shocknife, grasping the hair with his
thumb and knife, the thumb being pro-1
tected by a rubber cob. The hair must
be pulled out, not broken. After a
portion is removed the skin must bef
again warmed at the stove, the pelt
being kept moist. When the outer
hairs have been mostly removed, he!
uses a beaming knife to work out the
finer hairs (which are shorter), and the
remaining coarser hairs. It will be 1
Been that great care must be used, as 1
quired when finished, any defective
spots or holes must now be mended,
the skin smoothed and pasted with
paper on the pelt side, or two pasted
together to protect the pelt in dyeing.
The usual process in the United States
is to leave the pelt sufficiently thick to
protect them without pasting.
In dyeing, the liquid dye is put on
with a brush, carefully covering the
points of the standing furs. After ly
ing folding, with the points touching
each other, fur some little time, they
are hung up and dried. The dry dye
is then removed, another coat applied,
dried and removed, and so on until the
required shade is obtained. One or
two of these coats of dye are put on
much heavier and pressed down to the
roots of the fur, making what is called
the ground. From eight to twelve
An In wo CoviRID WiTir Pkn
iH iNS The Penguin is found in great
numbers on the islands in the southern
part of the Pacific ocean and in Patngo
nia. On one island Mr. Hennct, a na
turalilt, saw as'many as forty thousand.
They were quite fame, and not nt nil
afraid of the presence of mar,. The
feathers of the bird are block, while
and yellow. Its legs are placed so fur
back on its body, that when upon the
land it seems to stand almost erect. It
swims and darts about in the water
with re mark able swiftness. It has also
wonderful powers of diving ns well as
of swimming, else it could mil catch
the fish upon which it feeds.
die skin is in that soft state that too
"inch pressure of the knife would take
'he fur also; indeed, bare spots are
"'me; c.irclessly-curcd skins are some
times worthless on this account. The
skins are next dried, afterward damp
ened on the pelt side, and shaved to a
fine, even surface. They arc then
stretched, worked and dried; afterward
oftentd in a fulling mill, or by tread
ing them with I he bare feet in a hogs
head, one head being removed and the
t:'sk plared nearly upright, into which
the workman gets with a few skins and
"'me fine, hardwood sawdust to absorb
the grease while he dances upon them
to break them into leather. If the
MUM have been shaved thin, as re-
AN ISLAM) COVERED WITH PBNCUUti.
coat-, are required to produce a OX)d
color. The skins are then rtehd
r'll;in I fit fur dried, the pell Rioiat
They arc shaved down to the required
thickness, dried, working them some
whilr ilrvimr. then softened ill a hogs
head, anil sometimes run in a revolving
cylinder with fine sawdust to clean
them. The English process docs not
have the washing after dyeing.
I should perhaps say thai, with all
the care used, many skins ate greatly
injured in the working. 0lc a quan
tity of Knglish dyed sv.il were sold last
i season for $17.00, damaged in the dye.
The above is a general procc, I""
we arc obliged to vary for dilT.rcnt
! skins
I'hr Slalr I. if ffrai, and fun,
lion City KtfiuhlictHy are two good
looking weekly piieis just horn in the
Oregon newspa)cr world. The dinner
is published at I. akrview, Lake county,
by Watson druthers; and the latter at
Junction City, Lane county, by O. T.
Porter. Wc bOM to see them both
succeed.
Kuplieini.i Fiddlesticks suggests that
many a young xct might be able to
mlli-d in nattered thoughts if he
would only look into an cditor'a waste,
basket early in the luoining.