TIES MADE OF SNAKESKIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 May 1934, Page 5

TIES MADE OF SNAKESKIN

PRINCE OF WALES WEARS ONE. LONDON, March 25. An exhibition opened at Northampton .yesterday is a reminder of the monopoly' the town of boots and shoes is rapidlj’ winning in a new field of industry—the tanning of reptile and fish skins.

Comparatively recently the country had to buy all the reptile skins it wanted from abroad, but British enterprise,aided by tariffs, has changed all that, and Britain not only tans as many reptile skins as it needs, but. is also making a bold bid in the export market. Since the recent examination at the Imperial Institute, London, there has boon a, remarkable increase in the demand for reptile skins. The Northampton exhibition is held al. the new College of Technology, where students from all over the world study the latest, methods of shoe production. Northampton has been (•’mean because it Jias become the centre of the new reptile skin tanneries, next door to which are springing up factories for the making of snakeskin ties, ofc.

These ties are said to have four times the life of an ordinary tie, they never shrink, and :: hot iron takes out all wrinkles. The Prince of Wales has accepted one, and wished the new industry every success. At the Exhibition are skins tanned with alum so that they appear just as 'n the natural stare, whilst silk shark skins tanned by another method look as if they are studded with jewels. Also on view is the skin of the tompot. fish, a native of southern seas. Phoes made from its skin are very exclusive —at present. There is a. tremendous demand from boot manufac Jurors for samples, however. In the heavy-weight section are python skins 30 feet long, and huge crocodiles.