FRANCE.

ROUBAIX.

The export from this consular district of articles mentioned in Department circular is inconsiderable.

Very recently, the press of Roubaix called the attention of French. manufacturers to the fact that Americans without distinction of class make wide use of knit underwear, and that America is the finest market in the world for this class of goods.

In the same article, it was stated that the French neglect to make themselves acquainted with tastes and requirements of American consumers, and that the trade has passed entirely into the hands of the English and Germans, the largest exports being from Chemnitz.

It is impossible in this locality, either in Roubaix or Lille, the fifth town of France, to find knit woolen underwear with finished seams. In order to obtain this class of goods, orders must be sent to England or to Paris, where English goods are on sale. The French goods in this district are awkward in fit and roughly finished.

Mr. Dubois Gregorie, United States consular agent at Lille, has sent the following information concerning the manufacture in this district:

The machines employed in Lille, of Tourcoing manufacture, are the same that were in use twelve and fifteen years ago, with slight changes that increase their production. As a rule, women are employed for twisting and winding, and their pay is gauged by the amount of work they can turn off. They earn from 20 to 25 francs ($3.80 to $4.83) weekly.

The prices of yarn vary widely, depending entirely on the use that is to be made of it, there being different prices for bobbins, balls, and skeins. The color and quality also affect the price. When the purchaser demands a very low priced article, the yarns are filled with inferior short qualities.

Very little is manufactured either for the United States or South America, the charges for shipping, insurance, etc., being regarded as

too onerous.

Only skein thread is manufactured, in insignificant quantities; England buys good qualities in skeins and balls. Three-fourths of the English purchases, however, are of écru bobbin thread of superior quality, the price varying from 3.50 francs to 5.50 francs per kilogram (67 cents to $1.06 per 2.2 pounds). It is wound on spools. in England and sold with English marks, as of English manufacture. W. P. ATWELL,

ROUBAIX, July 18, 1899.

Consul.

TROYES.

Consul Prickitt, of Rheims, under date of August 15, 1899, transmits the following report from Mr. Gaston Baltet, the consular agent at Troyes:

For making ribbed goods, the Bordiret & Parigot machines, manufactured at Troyes, and Cotton's patent perfected, made at Chemnitz, Germany, and also at Troyes, are used.

The circular machines are constructed by the firm of Lebocey & Co., of Troyes.

The Société Générale de Bonneterie is said to make the finest goods in the city. By the term "bonneterie" is meant all kinds of underwear and hosiery.

Men, women, and children are employed. The hours of labor are about eleven a day. Men receive 5 francs (96 cents); women, 3 francs (57 cents); and children, 2 francs (38 cents) per day.

The price of yarn varies from 1.50 to 8 francs (29 cents to $1.54) per kilogram (2.2 pounds). It is produced mainly at Lille, France. The goods exported to Central and South America are about the same as those sent to the United States, to wit, undershirts, drawers, stockings, and socks.

The firms at Troyes sending bonneterie to the United States are: Etablissements Manchaufée, Société Générale de Bonneterie, P. Raquet & R. Vignes, and Wilson Brothers. The American correspondents are, respectively, H. Jaquin, Spichman & Co., A. Kitz, and Wilson Brothers, all of New York City. By calling upon these correspondents, anyone can see the kinds of goods made at Troyes.

I see no reason why knit underwear and hosiery should not be made in the United States as well as in France or Germany. The machines and the material can be readily purchased. Those interested should send skilled representatives to the manufacturing cities. of Europe to investigate this industry. One not in the business can not describe the complicated machinery, or report very intelligently upon the subject.

KID GLOVES AND KID SKINS.

KID GLOVES.

The kid-glove industry of Grenoble is of ancient and doubtful origin. The town itself is situated in the center of the finest kidskin region in France, and is surrounded by mountains where the cheap labor of the peasant women can be economically employed in hand sewing. Several centuries ago, Grenoble won a well-deserved

reputation for the quality of its gloves. The actual quantity of gloves manufactured was small in comparison with the output of today, but we find that in 1691 the glove corporation of Grenoble was organized and founded, and that ever since that time records have been kept which testify to its importance.

Since the invention of the sewing machine this industry has been gradually decentralized, and kid gloves are now made in almost every country of the civilized world. Commercial competitionnotably in Belgium, Germany, England, Italy, and Austria-follow ing close upon the heels of this invention, has been perhaps the chief reason why Grenoble has lost its preeminence in this branch of manufactures. It may justly be said, however, that Grenoble always has been and is still the center of the kid-glove industry, especially for the finer qualities of gloves.

This industry may be conveniently divided into four main branches or departments, viz: (1) The raw-skin business; (2) the dressing or alum-tanning process; (3) the dyeing or staining process; (4) the actual glove making-i. e., the stretching and thinning down of the skin to its proper size and thickness, the cutting out into the shape and size required, the sewing together of the different parts, and the embroidering.

KID SKINS.

The quality of the skin is best judged after the tanning and dyeing process is complete, and may be said to be based on the strength, softness, and pliability of the leather, and on the size of the skin, the fineness of the grain, and its freedom from defects, which are mainly caused by scars or diseases. These qualities of the raw skin depend on the care given to the young kid, on its breed, on the nature and abundance of its food, and on climatic influences.

The finest kid skins are undoubtedly to be found in France, but this does not mean that French skins are uniform in quality. For instance, in the departments of Savoy and Upper Savoy, the skins, as a rule, are large and heavy, with a fine grain for the size; they are soft and elastic, and at the same time strong and well suited for men's gloves. The rich pasturage of this country is an important element in the superior quality of these skins as a class.

In the region of the Vosges, in the northeastern part of France, kid skins are much smaller and less elastic, owing to the fact that the animals are not so well cared for. Here, the poverty of the soil is one of the reasons for the inferiority of the skins. To the west of the Vosges, on the line between Paris and Lyons, the kid skins are of a better quality. Still farther west, towards the center of France, in Touraine and Poitou, where the pasturage is good and the animals well cared for, the grain of the skin is fine, the skin itself is thin and

strong, and comparatively free from scars and disease. Farther south, towards the Spanish frontier, the quality of the skin is inferior as a rule, the poorer pasturage and hotter climate having a marked effect upon it. The peasants in this part of France are careless in their methods of work. They neglect the kids while alive and after they have been butchered take the skins off carelessly, and prepare them for market in a slovenly manner. At least one-third of these skins are so dry that they are fit to be used only as linings for boots and shoes. Kid skins have the same general characteristics throughout the southwest of France—that is, from the Rhone to the Spanish border and the Bay of Biscay.

Kid skins generally pass through several hands before reaching the glove maker or his agent. The skins of kids which are bought by the butchers in the towns and used as a substitute for lambskins are sold to the skin merchants or their agents. The skins of kids which are butchered by the peasants themselves are sold to country peddlers, who wander through the region from cabin to cabin collecting them, in order to finally dispose of them, at a town fair, to the skin dealers or to the agents of the manufacturers, tanners, or large skin merchants. The more important butchers of the large towns sell their kid skins directly to the agents of the glove manufacturers or skin merchants.

Formerly, the regular fair or market brought together all the dealers in the neighboring district, who exhibited in the market place their lots of kid skins, varying in number from five, ten, and twenty to several hundreds and sometimes thousands. These fairs were watched with the greatest interest by those who were in the skin business, as the prices obtained there for skins were an indication of the probable prices for the entire season. This is, to a certain ex

tent, true to-day; but the town fairs no longer play the important rôle that they did twenty years ago. The railway, the press, and general education, as well as the enormous importation of skins from the Argentine Republic, Chile, the Cape of Good Hope, Arabia, Mexico, Russia, and Asia Minor, have brought about a revolution in the skin business.

The leading fairs in France, where kid skins are particularly in evidence, are held at the following places. Romans (Drôme), Anneyron (Drôme), St. Marcellin (Isère), Valence (Drôme), Clermont (Oise), Tours (Indre et Loire), Poitiers (Vienne), Lusignan (Vienne), Riom (Puy de Dôme), Aurillac (Cantal), Chalons-sur-Saône (Saôneet-Loire). The names in parentheses indicate the departments in which the above-mentioned towns are situated.

At one time, the annual fair at Valence was considered by kidskin dealers to be the most important of all those held in France,

because the prices obtained there regulated the year's prices for France and probably for other countries as well. Its great impor

tance in this business was due to the fact that Valence is situated in the center of a large, fine kid-skin-producing country, and its fair was held at the beginning of the season for the southern central portion of France. These conditions brought many fine and large lots of raw kid skins (several thousand dozens) to the Valence fair, which fact was sufficient to draw thither the big purchasers or their agents from Grenoble, Annonay, Paris, and other places. This fair still exists, and its prices are quoted every year; but it has lost its former importance, because, its importance being recognized, speculators have manipulated the market in order to bring about fluctuations to their own advantage.

In Italy, the finest kid skins, many of them equal to the best French skins, come from the north, above the line from Turin to Venice. A heavy, coarse skin is found in the neighborhood of Genoa, and a finer, smaller skin in Tuscany. In Rome, the kid skins are very small and the market unimportant. Naples, a great center for the manufacture of cheap gloves, is noted for a low-grade skin, as well as Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica; those that come from the Abruzzi district, northeast of Naples, are very much better.

Switzerland stands next to France in the high quality of skins produced.

Spain and Portugal both produce large quantities, but, as a rule, they are far inferior even to those of southern France. The best Spanish skins are to be found in Saragossa and the surrounding country.

Germany produces a large number of kid skins, of which the best come from Saxony. Bavaria, Baden, Thuringia, and Silicia

furnish large quantities.

The best Austrian skins are to be found in the Tyrol and Styria; those from Bohemia, Hungary, and Transylvania are not so good.

Kid skins from eastern Europe, northern Africa, South America, and Mexico are used principally in the manufacture of Suède gloves. The inferiority of these skins is due chiefly to the fact that the kids are poorly fed and neglected while alive, and the skins carelessly torn off by the butchers and allowed to dry in the sun. As a rule, European butchers—that is, the butchers of western, southern, and central Europe-are much more careful. The skins are taken off by them without being torn or cut. They are carefully stretched and dried in the shade, and when brought to the market present a clean and uniform appearance.

GRENOBLE, July 26, 1899.

GEORGE B. ANDERSON,

Consul.