496 SADDLERY AND HARNESS. 



of the scamps who, shut out from all honest employment, exist by prac- 

 ticing upon the ignorant, or by pandering to the selfishness of the reckless 

 portion of society. 



The fellows purchase faulty leather. This, when made up, necessarily 

 has the under surface concealed ; it then requires a sharp and an edu- 

 cated eye to detect the nature of the fixed and highly polished material. 

 The men, however, are fully aware that, with most gentlemen, stoutness 

 is the test of quality. The prejudices of the general public are therefore 

 propitiated, only the well-known shops being solicited by the peculiar 

 order of workmen now under consideration. It is^a common trick with 

 the fraternity, before using, to line the flimsy stuff which they employ. 

 This artifice is practiced as a bait to catch the notorious weakness of 

 those persons in whose parsimony they find their most profitable cus- 

 tomers. 



Stoutness, however, may frequently deceive, even where excellence is 

 really present. A good piece of leather is not always characterized by 

 its bulk. The article which possesses the greatest strength may be thin, 

 but it will feel supple and mellow to the hand. A skin of such a nature 

 may confidently be trusted to wear. Persons, however, who are not 

 educated to understand these qualities, would do well to avoid the showy 

 harness which, in leading thoroughfares, is stuck prominently forward, 

 and is very low in price. This generally fails when stress is put upon it. 

 A fair proportion of all accidents reported spring from that cause, a com- 

 mon form of which is snapping of, the reins when these are subjected to 

 more than ordinary tension. Such things are either cut from unsound 

 leather, or made of imperfectly manufactured material, or the furniture 

 of the harness is designedly deficient in some most essential quality. 



By the furniture of harness is strictly implied that portion which is of 

 metal, and which is always added to the leather before the fabric is com- 

 pleted. The best metallic ornaments are a London product, and are 

 always forged or cast, but never stamped. The best quality of iron 

 alone should be used for such a purpose. Recently a very superior 

 article has been adopted by the trade. This is made of the metallic 

 combination known as German silver. That substance was, when first 

 brought under public notice, far too brittle to be employed by the har- 

 ness-maker; but late improvements have endowed it with a strength 

 and a tenacity equal to that exhibited by the very best Swedish iron. 



After the furniture has been shaped, it has to be plated. It is as a 

 plated article that German silver is most valuable. The butler's pantry 

 is characterized by greater delicacy than commonly distinguishes the 

 stable, though, in both places, goods the same in kind may have to be 

 operated upon. When the thin coating of silver is removed, of course 



