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| THE ELEPHANT HIDE - In the north end of the
main floor of the Shoe and Leather Building at Jackson Park, the hide
of an African elephant was displayed in the manner shown by the
engraving. It will be seen that the hide extends well around on the
other side of the post and partitions. On the board or sign was the
following statement which, for convenience, is here copied: "Elephant
Hide - the largest in the world; green weight, eight hundred pounds;
tanned weight, five hundred pounds, taking two years to tan. Length
from tip of trunk to end of tail, twenty feet; greatest width,
sixteen feet; greatest thickness, three inches. This hide was tanned
for polishing leather by Hans Rees' Sons, 17 and 19 Ferry Street, New
York City." The tail may be seen extending along the beam, and the
trunk extends up the post. This hide may perhaps be called the chief
object of popular interest in the Shoe and Leather Building, and it
happened that the next most interesting feature to the masses was an
automaton of an old cobbler near by, who sewed a sole, and discoursed
by pantomime on the comity of nations, the decline of philosophy, the
folly of making a shoe in fifteen minutes as they were doing upstairs
in the gallery, and the want of respect for old age, as shown by the
young, all emphasized by nods and motions that were grotesque and
pleasing. |
