Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-10-20
Fashionable Shoes.

Many fashionable ladies would be
surprised to learn how very many of
the French shoes and boots which thew
consider superior to all that America
can produce are in reality of home man.
utacture, and that there are scarcely any
shoes imported for the American mar
ket, and none at all for New York. On
the contrary, there is considerable eX-
port trade, and families living in Paris.
with all the manifold marvels of the
Palais Royal and boulevardS at their dis
posal, order their boots from New
York, whose manufactures stand un-
rivaled for the finish and style of their
shoes. The leather alone comes from
foreign sources, that employed by the
best manufacturers mainly from France
French kid. either polished or dull. the
latter being known in the trade as mat
kid, forming the staple material for the
purpose of uppers.
This kid, either dressed or undressed,
is found better suited for wear than any
other kind So-called morocco is of
home production. and is generally made
from South American gcat-skins, tanned
and expressly prepared for the native
manufacturers. The finest shoes in the
trade are made in New York itself, and
many of those which find their way to
the West and are manufactured in Mas
sachusetts are made upon lasts fur
nished by firms in this city. In spite of
the vast improvements made in ma
chinery and the extent to which it is
employed in this industry, the best
shoes are always handmade, and in this
we find the reason for the high price of
American as compared with foreign
Shoes
English work stands high for durabil-
ity and the care bestowed upon it, but
it is generally wanting in finish and
style. English mechanics coming here
are considered valuable workmen on ac-
count of their thoroughness. but are al
ways subjected to certain drilling be-
fore they are equal to the requirements
of the American manufacturer French
shoes and French workmen, on the other
hand, are noted for the lightness and
style of their work, but almost equally
so for its wants of durability; tbs in the
combination of the excellences of both
that the American expert stands un-
rivaled at his trade as a shoemaker.
German shoes have nothing to recon-
mend them to the American public, who
would as soon think of wearing a sabot
as boot imported from Germany. The
mention of sabots reminds us of a curl
Gus use to which we have seen them put
in Holland, where, in the heated DAYS of
summer. dusty and travel-stained wom-
en- and children may be seen at the city
fountains deliberately making the wood
en- shoe which has been worn in from
the village many miles away serve as a
drinking vessel
These sabots, with their clatter, clat-
ter, come back to memory as most i'm
pOrtant factors in Dutch life: probably
in many village around New York
they might be found slowed away as
relics OF the Fatherland, long since re-
placed by the substantial leather boot
OF the American artisan. The study of
boots and shoes. if one had time to in
dulge in it, would indeed be full of in
terest. What changecmight be rung,
what histories and adventures imagined
in considering collection of modern
boots and shoes, from the stout miner S
boot, high up the leg, to the fragile fab
rication of embroidered kid or satin
which has played its part in some rev.
for the moment at least, lies rather in
The practical details of the manufact-
ure OF these most indispensable arti-
cles, and we must not wander into the
realms OF fancy. Everybody, it is pre-
sumed, admits the need of being well
shod; everybody, that is, except few
visionary mortals, like late Bishop of
Honolulu, with whom we were ac-
quainted. who objected to coverings
for the feet upon hygienic principles.
and condemned six lusty children to go
unshod until they reached the age of
seven. when they were held capable of
choosing for themselves. Perhaps it
was inherited depravity which made
them unanimous in the choice of the
largest and heaviest boots they could
ma when once that age was reached.
IL Is satisfaction TO find, upon in
curry, that heels are entirely out of
fashion in children's boots, what are
known as spring" heels only being
adopted; that is to say, just sufficient
increase of sole at the heel to raise it
above the level-N. T. Times