The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1883-07-26
Shoddy Shoes.

y
whack at q great many of the frauds of
the day, but you have thus far over
looked the commonest and in some re-
spects, the meanest Of all frauds, that in
shoes. "Why don't you expose it?" The
speaker was mIddle-aged man of natty
dress, evidently member of the craft
known as commercial travellers, and the
one addressed o reporter for the Com
mercial Gazette. The latter, overlook
ing the fippancy with which journalists
had been classed a. fellows"
asked for plans or specifications as to
frauds in shoes, and was enlightened in
this wise:
1T would take up too much of your
space to 90 into minute details as to how
frauds are perpetrated on the purchaser
of shoes, SO numerous and ingeDius IRE
they. will, therefore, merely tell you
about some of the ordinary ways Of get
ing up cheap shoes of deceptive appear.
ance. Good leather Of all kinds as you
are aware, costs money, and 9 great deal
of it in comparison with prices twenty
five years ago, and great deal of Yam
kee ingenuity has been expended in de-
vising methods for making little OF the
tanners product 60 great way. Sole
leather is the most costly of all, and nat
urally there is more fraud in the soles of
shoes than in the uppers. In . great
many of the cheaper grades Of shoes
now the soles consist of very thin sheet
of leather for the bottom and, Just
enough to hold it together, and the space
between it and the SO called insole, which
usually consists of strip of muslin, is
filled with leather shavings pressed TO-.
gether with common straw board. The
wearers of this kind of leather goods
should always be careful to avoid the
shady side Of street, as dampness ID ru-
inous 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 COW hide, and wear little if
any better than the soles. The heels are
in strict keeping with the other parts,
consisting Of thin outer rim OF leather,
and slender bottom Of the same mate
rial, the remainder being made mp Of
scrap leather. Half the ready made shoes
worn in Pittsburg, I don't hesitate to AS
sert, are shams of one sort or another, in
part or in whole.
1.-THE fabrication 10 not confined TO
mons shoes; oh, NO. There il fully -
much or more fraud in women's foot
gear. There 10 pebble goat made Of
blackened muslin, with soles Of plated
hash - pressed scraps are termed"
''Sheepskin il skillfully dressed to i'm
itats kid, and many of the shoes made Of
il and cold for sswed work are merely
pasted togefher, and dissolve, % to
speak, the arst time they are vet. This
sort OF fraud sets hardest ON the poor,
and especially the unressoning poor,
Who must economic from forco Of me-
cessity, and always buy things that are
cheap. without much reference to the
quality or durability. Shoes 1t half price
are always . temptation to the poor,
but il they would give the matter little
study they would soon discover that one
pair Of honest shoes. sold ct fair price,
would outlast thres or four pairs OF the
othsr kind, though whom first put on, the
latter look Just - nice or nicer than the
better kind."-Pitt6burg Commercial
0asstts.