The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-01
Tricks and Deception I'm the Shoe
Trade-The Enormous Profits tnas
are Nade-semeaning About Rab,no.


RATS.
There are honorable exceptions in every
trade. and II is casting no reflection on good
g C;ispln or tAe Natick cohhier TO say that
nv ladies' soles mems souls are sorely
crieyea." For the cnterpriSing men who
1rive large manufactures and do an open
business. we have not word Of complaint.
10 The Morocco men Of Newark should be
as,rihcd all praise for supplying the best
French" skins from American watts just
when we can't get the celebrated Paris arti-
r}c. c>rcciallv when this is the "partickier
VANITY we Ike The flavor on the best" And
perhaps they deserve to live in tine houses,
..talS horse and drive stylish turnouts
m Tho Immense profits OF their business :;
h,t .his does not prove that every lazy snob
who open> a seven by nine shoe shop, where
" rIeniy 10 set and little 10 do suits his
co.1UlaIut uncommon should grow rich
* clothing the feet o! the families Of q very
few lard-working men.
"RuLL MOROCCO"
Manufacturers who Src reliable and hon
o.. assure us that there are more tricks,
yo,.c downright cheating. in the shoe trade
thsr IL almost any other business. The de-
InauG Tor VII article 10 supply the class Of
dealers il such that the morocco manufac.
turcrs and others. once vulgarly called tam
ncrs, sre compelled to make kind of lea
fhcr - suit their trade. Cow-hides, once
u>cd FOR hroCans only, are split and moved
about in mysterious WAY till they appear
in shop windows, "chcap at 3 per pair"
s>},vClv morocco. This material is known
~ tac trade n " bull morocco" The mate
rial in pair Of balmorals made from it.,
including buttons, nails, etc., costs the
manufacturer about fifty cents. and a
team Of five men and three girls will
nut pair Of shoes through from it Una
caine work. and sew on the buttons ready
,aT The feet in fifteen minutes. EStimating
their wages at IS per day. the labor be-
slowed upon each pair would amount to
siNiv cents. The manufacturer seldom
.e:> = for them, and this leaves the man
who sell, larger profit than the man who
makes the leather or he who makes the
shes. 10 prove this, We weighed pair
t! la!moyal boots, and found the weight to
tc Just one pound. Halt pound Of such
so.t-!eather AS is used for these costs twenty
cents. and he bull morocco" uppers. at
half the price Of morocco, about fifty
cents.
ENORMOUS PROFITS.
4 manufacturer in Biddeford, Maine,
with tArtv men and twenty-five girls,
makes 10000 pairs OF ladies' and misses
shoes per wear. Ii he pays Newark wages,
wHchi> improbable. his men get 50 per
day and hi girls Al average of S1.15, which,
II 800 working days in the year, would be
81 600, or 81 Tor each pair OF shoes. The
upprr>, for second grade article, which
:c:..ils from 81 10 $3.50, cost, according to
manufacturers statements, 81. the soles
9Gc. and trimmings 10c. This brings each
pair o: shoe, up TO 3 80. If the retailer
buys ~ s. it leaves the manufacturer 20
r,N,. on each pair, or SIS, 900 advance per
Wear l9r his own work, the use of ma
yaiucgy, interest on building, etc. If he
makes a lower-priced article the cost is
prrro.tionately less, and the profit about
Il" sane. Besides. skins are bought by
the square foot, and the feet estimated
tor pair Of balmorals, though nobody ever
A't.a 81 Il pair OF shoes requiring more than
feet. Al this rate a skin OF certain size
j. estimated 10 make 4 given number Of
shoes, hut the surplus small odd pieces fur
i.sh material for chidren's shoes. which
command high price for so little leather.
And il has been alleged time and again that
il i in the leather that the shoe pinches.
The demand for leather during the war was
indeed enormous, and our brave boys wore
il uUt IaStcr than the hides could crow on
TIE cattle. But the price Of ladies' shoes is
higher ROW than II war times, and even
TIN oUr soldiers did not wear morocco.
We have shown that the leather for
Tie best and highest priced shoes does not
exceed Sl.+0: yet that does not matter. 4
Ilau il Maine has right to make SIS, 900
p"ryear if he chooses, and it is none OF our
business, so long as New York clerk, who
oM,y earns 800 and has wife and six
CA,idrcu TO be- shOd, does not have to con.
trlau:c To the pile about SO profit Oh the
sixteen pair required for himself and family
\ gcnd skin on pebble morocco, batmo.
raj. >v.l, from 81 80 10 s.. Another kind
com" i dollar higher, because they are
Preach" morocco. Yet this French
morocco leather is sold TO manufacturers III
Lhe same price a other skins. a Newark
1aiu SAYS he makes more Of this kind o.
lea;ncrln his factory in Newark than the
whole amount imported from France. Some
Varieties Of sheep in the mountainous dis
t!c,> OF Europe, said to be about =" hal
>oat." arc discovered TO be whole goat the
moment the skin is taken off, and our ma
I've s!!tep>kinS selling for eighty cents cacn
%rrva, urc dOctorcd into Il kind OF hogu,
morocco and worked off by Cheap Johns
aud others skilled i'll "ways that are dark ,
Tor real goa1skiu morocco, and even re-
cpectabIe dealers sell children's shoes made
ut il.
Avery common trick largely practiced is
10 put good leather III the toe Of the shoe
ana work in an inferior article where the
bulk OF material is required, over the in.
step and around the ankle--in other words,
Tie leg Of the balmOTal Is made Of Door
trash. 4 pair Of handmade baimorals, re-
curing The same quantity of leather as the
oilers, cost from $3.50 10 50. A man for
doing this extra work is paid 50 per day,
earns from - to 81 per pair for his employ
er, and finishes two pairs per day.
A pair Of shoes for child two years old
SELLS from Sl.1O 10 -, while the material in
Them cost The manufacturer thirty-tive cents
and the labor about thirty cents. Though
II" high price Of leathcri is claimed rs rca-
son !or keeping up the price Of mems shoes,
mems walking shoes, sold at from So up
ward, have very little leather in them. The
upper> contain less than half pound Of
c@i>kin, worth about eighty cents. The
s"ieS contain hal; pound OF sole leather,
valued 1t twenty cents. The labor be-
slowed on the shoe is less than or lady's
aalInOral, and costs about fifty cents. These
sacfH, handmade, retail for So. Congress
G~itcrs. at corresponding rates of cost, Yield
Ahout the same profits.
The wholesale price for the best French
GALS SKINS Is > per pound. A pound of the
iealuer viii make o pair Of boots. This
pound, cut and crimpcd, and freed, is sold
10 the shoemaker Tor $50, and he finds the
soIcs and puts them on for S.. Boots put
up III this way are sold from $3.50 to Sl3.
enc pair is days work, for which the
workman gets %. A man buying material
and employing men to work it up has g
advanced on each pair Of boots, if he pays
80 Tor crimping, lining, and sewing up
the l"g-.
HOW LADIES' BALMoRALs ARE MADE.
one Of these boots can be made in less
tllnt than 1t takes US to write description
Oh 'ae process. The uppers and Innings are
cut Nv hand. by q nattern laid on the ma