FUR MARKETS OF WORLD 23 



good. Good skins never brought such high prices, but poor skins 

 brought just as signally low prices. 



But besides the sales and the War and the dyes being influences 

 to bring the fur sales back permanently to American centres was 

 another vital reason, which was really the result of the enormous 

 proportions which the trade had attained. During one year white 

 fox has fluctuated as much as from #6.50 to $20. We'll suppose 

 20,000 white fox have come down from Canada to New York 

 billed through to London. Owing to the War, shipment is delayed. 

 Those fox could have been sold in New York for #20 each, but they 

 remained paying storage in New York. When finally, they reached 

 London, the price was its very worst — lower than the trapper had 

 been paid. There was nothing to do but withdraw those fox from 

 the market and put them in storage till the price went up ; and this 

 locked up a profitable turnover of $400,000. The same story could 

 be told of beaver, of opossum, of silver fox, of muskrat, of kolinsky. 

 European fur company shares suffered a drop that was a thud. 

 Beaver that was $6.50 in 1917 was $20 in 1919 in the United States, 

 when the price of beaver was off 75% in London. 



The story of opossum in 191 5 is a case in point. Six hundred 

 thousand opossum in all were sold. That is a normal supply for 

 two years ; but that year cloaks and suits were using opossum trim- 

 mings. Opossum that was 35^ in August in New York was $1 by 

 September. If the American opossum had been shipped to London 

 for sale the following March, it would have missed the 191 5 special 

 trade demand; and by 1916, the trimmings had shifted from opos- 

 sum to fox and downy lynx and badger effect. 



It need not for a moment be thought that Europe is going to let 

 the fur market go to America without a struggle. This year, 

 the prices in London have been uniformly 20 to 50% lower than in 

 America ; though just as many buyers were present at the London 

 auctions as at the Montreal and New York auctions. It may have 

 been because Europe is short of money. It may have been because 

 Europe is always a market for a certain class of furs and America 



