Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 262, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1917 — GET LEATHER FROM SHARKS [ARTICLE]

GET LEATHER FROM SHARKS

Series of Tests by Government Shows That Product Is Durable and Satisfactory. New London, Conn.—A contract for 1,000 shark hooks, 300 to be completed in ten days and 700 in twenty days after the first consignment, has been awarded by the government to J. W. Fordham, a blacksmith, of this vicinity. There are to be three varieties of hook, eleven, ten and nine inches in length. A chain and swivel are to be attached to each hook. It is reported from a Washington' correspondent that the government is about to prospect in a new leather field, that of shark skins. In* a series of tests a (table and satisfactory leather has been evolved from the skins of these fish. It is believed there, is no reason why ah industry may not be profitably started.