New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-04-24
TIE SHOE TRADE IN LYNN.

One of the oldest merchants of Boston observed in
1926 that he had been acquainted with the shoe trade
for many years that the business supported many
people but few grew rich. that he had never known
n man in the trade who had accumulated $1,000.
Had Inc lived until the present time he would have
given us somewhat different results. Fifty years
since the water power applied to the spindle ana
the power loom. and the disaif and little wheel
were sent to the attic but few supposed that the
awl hammer bristle. and lap stone would be super
seeded by tho steam engine and other mechanism.
Half n century since the streets OF Lynn were lined
with small tcnements. hauked by dingy, ten feet
shops where the master workman. with his Journey
men and apprentices sat from morn TO night Ill ms
leather apron with his lap stone on his knees, and
followed his monoiOnons occupation.
Before his shop were piles of waste leather ana
cppinps whose odQr tainted the breeze under whose
influence Holmes must have written those cruel Dut
expressive lines:
or nrhy SNampEcOtt, salt Nahant,
And lcatlcry smells Of Lynn"
But the scenery aud the odOTs have passed away.
The humble houses and shops, innocent OF paint
have yanisbed the lap stone, the awl, the hammer,
have been vanished the realm; the unseenly aud I'M
savory piles of leather have undergone Protean
change. Tasteful houses with front yards fedOicnt
of flowers and shrubbcry and trelllses covered Win
Crane vines have succeeded the dccaycd shop ana
decaying cottage. The streets are fringed with
waving elms. naples. or horse cheSlnnts. Ihe waste
leather has been changed by conversion or transmit
houses and factories replace unwhoesome work
shops. Engines are planted IN the cellars or In the
rear. and iron workInen arc set III motion Oy the
gigantic power OF steam. III You enter the basement
Won see heavy stamps descending and shaping tho
sole or heel 10 exact patterns by single blow.
Above. machines are cutting or splitting the leather.
In other stories the pegging or stitching machines
achieve in few minutes the previous work OF hours
In others tho sewing machine, guided by delicate
fingers closes up binds the galter boots Other
mechanism inserts the eyelet Meanwhile steam.
mills cut the secoud growth pine INTO cases Tor tho
distant market.
The growth of business keeps pace with the pro-
gress of art and wages double as skill comes III to
direct senses, snews, ana muscles
Wills trade was in It's transition state, stock was
cut in Lynn and sent by express 10 the interior to be
finished by the farmers IN the Winter evenings but
now mostly the business cllngs to the factories, and
male and female artisans resort from distant towns
10 large establishments and such is the demand for
room that every house is occupied, and new cottages
pay 20 per cent upon the investment.
Every morning by o'clock "a train OF omnbuses
laden above and below by operatives arrives IN tho
business centers and returns again to other towns at
night with those who cannot find lodgings in Lynn:
And every morning the early trains bring in flood
Of artisans from Beverly, Salem and possibly Mar
behead who return by the cars in the evening to the
great benefit of the railway. The seats they yacato
in the morning arc filled by passengers from Boston,
aud vice in the evening. Under such influences
the shoe trade of Lynn has expanded, having risen
10 $lS0OOO0 per annum Indeed, II rs computed that
in Lynn alone one pair OF shoes or gaiter boots Is
made yearly for every female in tho United States
above the age of infancy. In the interval between
1926 and 1857 men gradually accumulated capital in
trade, and above the level of $4,000 but long
credits were given, aud goods were sold on time
consigned TO NEWCOMERS or B0stonians in the
Southern trade. and in live TO years there
came Revision which swept away the savings Of
prosperous years Since the reaction of 1857 and tho
fall Of Fort Sumter more caution has been used and
less credit given. Improved mechanism has given
dispatch TO business and effective power to capital.
More work IL done 10 order and business il OCCASION
ally checked or expanded TO meet tho varying de-
mand Indeed, the shoe business is now more elastic
than other, aud Is easily contracted expanded.
lis volume is thus cOnfored TO the requirements OF
the market and serious losses are thus ayered.
Since 1857 the business has been very remuneratvo.
This Is eynced by the new school houses and taste
full residences daily rising in all parts of the city.
costly hotel and stately city hall have been erected
and public library founded, but suitable common
and play ground are still required Many gentlemen
OF Boston, alured by tho beauty Of the bay and
beaches between Lynn and Nahant have built
Ocenn-st. and along the Swampscott shore. embow-
cred their cottages IN trees and shrubbey and thus
cultivated n taste for the beautiful.
Thus has tho aspect of the city been changed and
the population exceeds 10000. Brick side walks have
been laid, gas posts erected, the harDor dredged.
street railway laid, and by the United States assess
ment OF 1860 and 1866 no less than sixty firms re-
turned net incomes averaging $40 600 EACH in addition
TO tho returns made by smaller dealers. This surely
is progress since 1S, when tho accumulation of tho
richest man for lifetime in tho trade. under low
wages and old appliances, did not exceed half the in
come OF sixty firms In n single season.
Lynn now compares well in the amount Of its
business with New-Bedford. Fall River, Lowell,
Lawrence, Worcester and Springfield and If we
may Judge from the notices that daily attract the
eye III the shop windows of more cutters, binders,
and stItchers wanted and tho scarcity of houses.
may infer that 1t is still progressive. Massachusetts,
in the shoe trade more than half of the production
of the Union, IL thus enriched, and tho trade of the
shoemaker, which John Quincy Adams 80 well de-
Tended at Cincinnati, is raised to n science and car
ried to the level of the highest branches of manu-
facture. IL Is 10y such arts that the deposits in our
Savings Banks now exceed the whole valuation oi
South Carolina.