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Show THE SQUIRREL 8KIN CRAZE. Fashion Made to Help Along a Project of Russian Finance. Tho story of tho sudden rise to popularity pop-ularity of squirrel skin in tho world of dress this season Is not gcnorally known. It was brought about by tho ingenuity of a Russian official. For years and years certain Russian peasants In Siberia paid their taxes In squirrel skins. This being an old custom, the Czar's government did not care to cause hardship and breed discontent dis-content by changing It. Uut thcro was llttlo demand for Russian squirrel skins. Tho whole American trado took only 20,000 skins per annum at tho low prico of twelve cents each. Tho skins accumulated In the Russian Rus-sian government warehouses In Siberia. Si-beria. Thcro wcro millions upon millions mil-lions of them piled up thcro. Tho official In question, knowing that the skins wero light In weight, soft and warm, docldcd last year to test tho enprico of fashion in respect to them. Ho went over to Paris, called upon a famous dressmaker, and persuaded him to uso some of the skins. Tho Idea was a success. Paris set tho pace. English society folk took up tho fashion and fashionable Americans Ameri-cans brought tho squirrel skin crazo across tho water to this sldo. Tho result in this country has been that In 1002 tho United States Imported Import-ed nearly 5,000,000 squirrel skins at about 37 cents each, wholesale, as against 20,000 at 12 cents each in 1901. Tho rest of tho world was equally liberal. lib-eral. Tho great demand emptied tho Siberian Sibe-rian warehouses of Russian squirrel skins at a considerable profit. New York Sun. |
