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The business referred to is that known as fur skin dressing.
The fur skin dresser treats certain raw skins in such a way, as to
render them fit for being made up by the furrier into trimmings
or articles of clothing. Skins to be so treated are usually received
in a more or less dried condition in parcels or bales, and may consist
of skins of the following animals, viz.:—
Small Skins. Large Skins.
Mole. Stone Marten. Bear.
Fitch. Opossum. Tiger.
Skunk. Sable. Leopard.
In order to give some idea of the way in which nuisances may
arise from this business, it is necessary to describe briefly the processes
the skins are subjected to on the premises.
The first part of the treatment, after unpacking and sorting,
is to place the skins to soak in an astringent solution such as alum.
They remain in this solution a variable time from 12 hours to 3 days,
depending upon the size of the skins. After sufficient soaking, the
skins are taken out of the solution and the water drained from them.
The under or fleshy side of the skin is then scraped, by means of a
special knife which is fixed with its sharp edge pointing upwards.
Over this sharp edge the skins are scraped. The fleshings, as they
are called, which are removed by the knife, consist of flesh, connective
tissue and fat. The scraped skins are then placed in a
heated room to dry, and after drying, grease is worked into the
hairless side of the skins. They are then placed in layers in a large
tub, each layer being separated from the next by a layer of sawdust
(satin wood), then trodden by men with their bare feet—the men
standing in the tub and holding on to its edge; or the skins are
treated in a machine which has the same effect as tubbing.
After this process, which lasts about from 1 to 6 hours, the
skins are taken out of the tubs and well shaken and beaten, to get
rid of the sawdust. They are then ready for the furrier.