45 



FUR MARKETS. 



In the early days, St. Louis was the fur market of the 

 United States, as it was the starting point of all the expe- 

 ditions to the Far West, and the place where the skins 

 received from the Pacific Coast and the interior trading 

 stations along the old overland route, were either offered 

 for sale or reshipped to New York and Boston. Naturally 

 all the large fur companies had headquarters there, and 

 it was the Mecca alike of the trappers and fur traders who 

 had peltries to dispose of, and the furriers who were look- 

 ing for supplies. For a number of years, however, New 

 York, owing to the advantages it enjoys as the commercial 

 center of the country and the principal port of entry for 

 foreign merchandise, has been the place to which manufac- 

 turers and fur dealers from all parts of the United States 

 have gone for their skins, and manufactured furs. It was, 

 therefore somewhat of a surprise when it was announced, 

 after the government had taken control of the fur industry 

 on the Pribilov Islands, that the first annual sale of seal 

 and fox skins by the representatives of the government 

 would be held at St. Louis on December 16th, 1913. 



Heretofore, the skins of these animals were sent by the 

 leasees of the islands to London, to be sold at auction ; and 

 the December sales there attracted buyers from all parts 

 of this country, Europe and Canada ; so the action of the 

 authorities in designating St. Louis as the place for the 

 government fur sales will do much to restore that city to 

 its former important position in the fur trade, although 

 the facts do not warrant the statement made by the Asso- 

 ciated Press that the auction was awarded to St. Louis, be- 

 cause it was the largest fur market in the United States. 



Tens of thousands of Russian sables, hundreds of thous- 

 ands of ermines, millions of squirrels and large quantities 

 of other Russian skins are sold annually at the fairs held 

 in Irbit and Nijni Novgorod, but Moscow is the fur center 

 of Russia, where a large part of the world's supply of 

 Russian Squin-els, Ermines, Persians, Ponies, jNIarmots and 

 Foxes are originally marketed. 



