A shoe made of shark skin. It seems a 

 good deal like any other shoe, doesn't 

 it? And it is, except in cheapness 



THIS is a new kind of shark story. 

 Heretofore, all we have heard of 

 sharks are harrowing tales of their 

 vicious attacks on man. We now can sit 

 back and smile with satisfaction at the 

 sight of these tigers of the sea expiating 

 their crimes by cutting down the cost of 

 living. The shark is no longer our implac- 

 able enemy. It is a servant that will supply 

 us with uncountable millions of feet of 

 leather. 



As soon as they are caught the sharks are 

 skinned by slitting the hide up the back. 

 All the flesh is trimmed from the hide. 

 Then the skins are laid on the floor, skin 

 side down, and the flesh side covered with a 

 layer of salt. Skins are piled in stacks 

 three or four feet high. 



In Juneau, Alaska, the fishermen place 

 shark skins in a brine bath for eight days 

 before packing them. When they are taken 

 out of the brine tanks they are dried and 

 salted just as fresh skins are treated. All 

 skins must be salted from three to five 

 days before they are packed for shipment. 

 Thick skins require a longer period of salt- 

 ing than do thin ones. 



The skins are packed in any serviceable 

 way. Second-hand sugar or flour barrels 

 answer admirably. If the hides are torn 

 by nail points their value is greatly les- 

 sened. For this reason fishermen have to 

 be careful in removing the flesh from the 

 skin. A single slip of the knife may ruin 

 a fine skin. 



Tanning fish skins is a slow and compli- 

 cated process, as in fact, is all tanning. 



Leather from the Sea 



Our old enemy the shark helps 

 to reduce the cost of living 



By A. M. Jungmann 



The method now being used was invented 

 artd patented by Kristian Bendixen, of 

 Denmark. 



Bendixen soaks the salted skins in fresh 

 water until the salt is removed. Shark 

 skins are stretched on frames and dried. 

 The scales or spikes are scraped off with a 

 tanner's knife. Next the skins are softened 

 in lukewarm water and worked over a 

 beam. The hides are then ready for a 

 three-day bath in another special solution. 

 When that is finished they get another 

 three-day bath in a solution of water and 

 slaked lime. Now comes a short bath of 

 water and hydrochloric acid. 



This is followed by bating the skins in a 

 mill containing water, poultry dung and a 

 chemical bating compound. Once more 

 they get a lukewarm water bath followed 

 by another bath in a solution of hydro- 

 chloric acid and water. Next they are 

 treated with a solution of salt and tanning 

 material. Finally they receive a six-hour 

 bath of sumach and water. 



The next step in making fish-hide leather 

 is to color the skins, smear them with oil, 

 dry them, damp them again, smooth them 

 out well, polish and bleach them. After 

 this they are rubbed well with 



The shark hides are laid over a beam and 

 scraped with knives to remove all bits of flesh 



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