Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-06-06
SUNNY SIDE snoES

From the Pissseurs commorcial- Gazette.

From the Pistseurs commorcial- Gazette.
You newspaper fellows have had your whack
at great many of the frauds of the day, but
you nave thus far overlooked the CON-
mones' ana In some respects the meaneet Of NIL
FRAUDS, mat In shoes. Why don't you expose
it3 Inc speaker was q middle-aged man az
natty oress, evidently O member OF the craft
known as commercial travellers, and the one adj
dressed reporter for the Commercial ra,efe.
The latter, overlooking the filppancy with which
Journalists had been classed as fellows" asked
Tor plans and specifications as to frauds In shoes
and was enlightened in this wise.
1t would take too much OF your space 10 GO
into minute details as TO how frauds are perpe.
trated on the purchasers Of shoes. 20 numerous
and ingenious are they. ] VIII therefore merely
ten you about some of the most ordinary wars
OF getting up cheap shoes OF deceptive appear
ance. Good leather Of all kinds, a. you are
aware, costs money, and a great deal of e. la
comparison with prices twenty-five years AGO.
and great deal OF Yankee ingenuity has beea
expended I'm deyising methods for making q
little Of the tanners product 60 A Great way.
Sole leather Is the most expensive OF all ard
naturally there Is more fraud in the soles Of
shoes than In the uppers. In a great many OF
the cheaper grades of shoes new eold the soles
consist OF very thin sheet OF leather for the
bottom. Just enough to hold II together, and tho
space between IL and the so-called insole which
usually consists OF . strip OF muslin, is filled
ether with leather shavings pressed together or
with common straw board. The wearers Of this
Kind OF leather goods should always be careful
TO avoid the shady side OF the street as damp
ness Is ruinous to this sort of shoe, causing the
biggest part OF the sole to crumble to pieces
1.-The uppers, which the seller always assures
the purchaser are genuine calf-skin, are split
cswhide, and wear little II any better than the
soles. The heels are In strict keeping with the
other parts, consisting Of a thin outer rim
OF leather and a slender bottom Of the same ma-
terial, the remainder being made up OF scrap
leather. Half the ready-made shoes worn II
plttsburg, L don't hesitate to assert, ara
shams OF one sort or another, In part or In
| whole.
"The Justification is not confined TO mems
shoes; oh. no. There is fully as much or more
fraud In women's foot-gear There Is pebbls
goat made out Of blackened muslin, with
soles OF plated hash,' as pressed scraps are
termed
"Sheepskin Is skilfully dressed to initiate Md.
and many Of the shoes made OF II and sold for
sewed work are merely pasted together and dis
solve, so TO speak, the first time they are wet.
This sort Of fraud sets hardest on the poor, ana
especially the unreasoning poor who must econ
omize from force OF necessity. and always bny
things that are cheap without much reference
to their quality or durability. Shoes at half
price are always a temptation to the poor but II
they would give the matter a little study thief
would soon discover that one pair OF honest
shoes sold at @ fair price, would outlast three
or four pairs of the other kind though when
first put on the latter look Just as nice or nicer
than the better kind"