60 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
last, and some idea of its extent may be got from tlie fact that the 
roofing of the various buildings covers an area of 56,625 square feet, or 
nearly one and a half acres. The beam house is 92 by 104 feet and contains 
sixty large double vats. The yard is 280 by 64 feet, and contains two hund¬ 
red and fifty double vats, equal to five hundred of the ordinary size. The 
grinding and leaching house is 232 feet long by 32 feet wide. The engine 
house is 52 by 35 feet, and contains the main engine and three boilers, each 
26 feet long by 44 inches in diameter. This building has an iron roof and 
is wholly fire proof. The chimney is one hundred feet high, and the only 
fuel used is the spent tan bark which is burned wet as pitched from the 
leaches. The finishing building, or currying shop is 204 feet by 70 and 
is two stories high, containing all the modern improvements for finish¬ 
ing leather. This building has attached an engine house, engine and 
boilers of its own. * * The receiving house is 44 by 80 feet, and 
one or two other smaller buildings with six hundred feet of improved dock 
line on the Kinnickinnic river, used for receiving tan bark, fuel and 
other heavy freight from vessels, completes the manufacturing department 
of the establishment.” 
“ The tannery is devoted exclusively to the manufacture of upper and 
harness leather, and so is called by the trade an upper leather tannery. It is 
supposed to be the largest upper or harness leather tannery in this country, 
or in the world. It has not as yet been worked to its average capacity, which 
is stated to be the tanning and finishing of about 7,000 hides per month or 
168,000 sides of leather per annum.” 
The following from the Milwaukee Sentinel , concerning the 
so?e-leather tannery of this same company, is also full of inter¬ 
est as farther illustrating the extent of leather manufacture 
conducted by Milwaukee men: 
“The Wisconsin Leather Company has also a large sole-leather tannery 
at Two Rivers, in this state, which they continue. The tannery has 150 
double vats, and is the largest sole-leather tannery in the west. They had 
a large upper leather tannery also at Two Rivers, which is now discontinued, 
and merged into the larger one built here. The trade of this company is 
very heavy, and extends through a large portion of the states. Hitherto 
they have been wholly unable to meet the demands upon them, often having 
orders two months ahead of their ability to fill them. Such is the charac¬ 
ter and reputation of their harness leather, of which they have made a 
specialty, that it is purchased from them by heavy saddlers in New York, 
Philadelphia and other eastern cities. And what may be a little remark¬ 
able in a western house, over 90 per cent, of their sales are to parties re¬ 
siding and doing business in the eastern and southern states.” 
“ In addition to the works of the Wisconsin Leather Co., our city can boast 
of a number of other heavy establishments engaged in the manufacture of 
