their export business to this country the proper attention, and seem to regard Europe merely as a good dumping ground in times of overproduction at home. One of the largest houses of this district told me that they had actually gone to the expense of sending a representative to the United States in order to induce our manufacturers to send their goods to this country. If the initiative has to be taken by the customers themselves, it shows a lack of interest on the part of our manufacturers and dealers.

In order to promote American interests in Germany, I would suggest that a number of our manufacturers whose interests do not clash, and who manufacture the various kinds of leather required in the German markets, combine to establish a general agency in this locality, which is the center of the German leather industry, and consign full lines of their goods in bond to this city, as a convenient point for distribution, so that orders can be filled promptly. I have the assurance of local dealers that a large and profitable business can be done. One of the local houses has expressed its willingness to enter into negotiations looking toward the establishment of such. a general agency on a large scale, with headquarters in this city and agents throughout the country.

So much for the leather industry in general. The following particulars may prove of interest to some of our manufacturers:

The class, finish, and quality of upper leather principally used by shoe manufacturers in this district, are: Calf, brown and black, glazed and chagrin; patent leather (kid), chevreaux, horse leather, colored calf, colored buskskin, and colored goat.

In calf, the good medium qualities are the most desirable at 70 to 90 marks ($16.66 to $21.42) per dozen; in goat, at 40 to 55 marks ($9.52 to $13.09) per dozen; and in buckskin, at 30 to 40 marks ($7.14 to $9.52) per dozen.

Besides the leather manufactured here, the following countries supply most of the upper leather used in Germany:

France. Chevreaux, calf, and colored lining sheepskin.

United States.-Colored calf, chrome calf, and chrome chevreaux.
Italy.-Lining sheepskin.

Of the total amount of leather used, about 10 to 15 per cent is colored. The demand in colors is mostly for brown, and, for this year, especially for the lighter shades of brown, and to some extent for green.

The leather industry is one of the most important in this city, no less than ten large manufacturing houses being located here. These manufacture colored calf, goat and buck, fine calf, chevreaux and patent leather; none of which, however, can surpass or even equal the American product. As far as I have been able to ascertain,

no American manufacturers of upper leather are represented in this locality.

By the wholesale dealers and boot and shoe manufacturers, American leather is greatly preferred to that of any other make; especially the American colored calf, chrome calf, and chrome chev

reaux.

The terms on which dealers and shoe manufacturers buy leather from foreign houses are usually as follows: First-class houses buy for cash with 3 per cent discount; other houses take three months' time and even then deduct 2 per cent; while still others take four or five months' time, and after two or three months give paper.

This is the situation to-day of the leather industry of this section, and the above facts may possibly have a stimulating effect on our manufacturers and exporters. It is certainly a pity to see an open market for our product neglected as it has been in the past. WALTER SCHUMANN,

MAINZ, March 4, 1898.

Consul.

ARTIFICIAL MARBLE IN SICILY.

Having been requested to give information,* in addition to that printed in CONSULAR REPORTS No. 206 (November, 1897), concerning the manufacture of artificial black marble, its practical uses, etc., I have made further inquiry and submit the following:

The process is not made known by the proprietors, but I have learned that asphalt (which, I stated in my former report, was mixed with tar) is no longer used; it seems that the soft white sandstone, after having been sawed and cut into the desired forms and smoothed, is only boiled in coal tar.

It has happened that large stones have burst during the boiling process, either from too great heat or on account of having been carelessly and improperly placed upon the iron rails or grating in the bottom of the tanks. Now, a layer of the black tiles (described in the report before mentioned) is first placed upon the rails, in order to furnish an even foundation for the stones to rest upon and keep them from moving up and down during the boiling process, and also to protect the lower ones immediately above the fire from being overheated at the start.

I have seen lying in the factory yard a number of large blocks of this black stone which had broken in two during the boiling. They are as hard as granite, and, in this state, difficult to work; therefore, the stones are always cut into the proper forms before

* A copy of the report has been transmitted to the parties desiring the information.

being put into the boiling tanks. I noticed that the black had thoroughly penetrated, and that the broken surfaces glistened like coal.

The coal tar is not put in hot; it is gradually heated up to 70°, controlled by a pyrometer near the furnace. The black liquid pene

trates to 20 centimeters (nearly 8 inches) from all sides. blocks are too large, they are made hollow in the center.

When

The oil which accumulates on top of the tar is drawn off during the boiling process by means of a tube leading into a recipient; it is afterwards distilled and produces naphthalene.

The use here of artificial black marble is, as yet, not very extensive, it being a new product, and anything new not being easily introduced; besides, the immense lava beds furnish cheap and good stone for many purposes, and white marble from Carrara (upper Italy) is used largely.

The

However, there has been one beautiful monument erected in the cemetery at Catania. It is 5.71 meters (18 feet) in height, and is made of the artificial black stone, inlaid with pieces of light marble. effect is admirable. Only the outside and the pinnacle are of marble; the inner part consists of masonry of common lava stones. The difference in cost, as compared with a white marble monument of the same design and dimensions, is great. This structure has cost 1,310 lire (about $242*). One of solid white or Carrara mable would cost 7,000 lire (about $1,295).

The manufacturers have recently completed a beautiful chapel, or family mausoleum, about 40 feet in height in the cemetery of Girgenti, Sicily, which has received the highest praise in the press. It is mostly of this black stone, ornamented and inlaid with white and colored marble.

As to resistance to heat, cold, rain, and the action of the elements in general, the manufacturers claim that their product is fully equal to the real marble, and can be used for any exterior building work.

One of the great advantages, besides the difference in cost, is that the sandstone is soft, and much more easily worked into the desired forms than marble. All the work is done before the stone undergoes the boiling process, excepting the final polishing after the pieces are cooled.

I have been shown beautiful pedestals, columns, garden tables, mantelpieces, washstands, urinals, and flooring, inlaid with borders or centerpieces of colored marble.

For flooring in certain places, and also for slabs for anatomical tables, it is specially recommended, being considered to have disiafectant properties.

*Calculating the paper lira at 181⁄2 cents.

I have not been able to obtain a fixed price list, charges depending upon style of work, dimensions, etc., and these, if given, could not possibly be a guide for American manufacturers, considering that wages are so much lower here-probably not more than onefifth of the amount paid American workmen in this line.

LOUIS H. BRÜHL,

CATANIA, February 21, 1898.

Consul.

WINE PRODUCTION OF FRANCE.

I have the honor to submit to the Department, as being of importance to the wine-growing interests of the United States, a synopsis of the recent official report of the commissioners of indirect taxes on the wine product of the year 1897.

It will be seen from the subjoined tables that the average yield was 180 gallons per acre, which is about one-third less than in 1896. The total yield was about equal to the average for the ten years before 1896, but less than the product of that year. The value of last year's vintage is estimated at $132,000,000, about $10,500,000 of which is for the high brands. The total acreage planted decreased during the past twelve months nearly 100,000 acres. It is now some 600,000 acres less than it was ten years ago. The following table shows the yield in twenty departments, the first column referring to 1875, when more wine was produced than in any one year before or since:

The total yield in all departments was 727,791,245 gallons; total acreage, 4,222,325 acres.

All of this product, except about $10,500,000 worth, is common wine, drunk by the people, bought in the vineyards or their immediate vicinity. The use of wine at the table is deemed as necessary as bread. It is brought within the reach of the most limited purse and daily consumed by large and small families. For my man-of-allwork and his wife, five children, and mother-in-law, one case of wine is purchased every three and a half months. It contains about 215 quarts and costs, at the dealers near the vineyard, 70 francs ($13.50); the tariff demanded at the city gates being 28. 10 francs ($5.40). In many families the consumption per day is about 1 quart for each grown person.

The Moniteur Vinicole stated some weeks ago that the quantity of wine made from alcohol in 1897 was 37,684,760 gallons. The wine from dried grapes (raisins secs) was estimated at 23,458,560 gallons. The alcohol product is formed in this manner: After all the wine has passed from the grapes, the residue is left in the vat a few days, when a quantity of sugar and water is added. Alcohol is thus generated, and a variety of wine called "piquette," or "la seconde cuvée," is made, which is sold as one of the varieties of vin ordinaire.

The wine from raisins is manufactured from grapes imported from Algeria, Tunis, Corinth, and (a small quantity) from Spain. The aggregate importations for 1897 were 42,000,000 pounds. The Government has recently increased the duty on dried grapes and upon wine produced from them, according to the degree of alcohol contained therein.

La Revue Vinicole of December 25, 1897, announced that the phylloxera had made its appearance in the vineyards of Corinth, that it had long been at work in the Levant, and that it had already destroyed the vines on some 150,000 acres in Smyrna. These plants of Corinth prosper in Algeria, and that colony is looked to as a source to supply the failure in the Levant.

Of the total quantity of wine produced in France, nearly onethird comes from the department of the Hérault; and this, with the three adjoining departments-the Aude, the Pyrénées-Orientales, and the Gard-produces nearly five-eighths of the whole. The report shows a notable decrease in the yield throughout the Burgundy vineyards; the departments of the Yonne, the Haute-Saône, the Saône-et-Loire, and the Côte-d'Or having produced only about a third of the 80,000,000 gallons which they yielded in 1896. The district known as the Charente yielded barely 7,000,000 gallons last year, against 300,000,000 before the incursions of the phylloxera.