News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-10-16
ST. CRISPIN AT HOME.
THE MASSACHUSETTS, sHOEMAKERS
OF THE OLDEN TIME.
How they Compare with the Machine
shoemakers of the Present Day.

OF THE OLDEN TIME.
How they Compare with the Machine
shoemakers of the Present Day.
A letter from Randolph, Mass, says:
The attention of the stranger in this old
town is often attracted by small, one
story buildings, 15x20 feet, attached to
many of the cottages of the mechanics.
Although too Substantially built for
woodsheds and outbuildings, they are
now used as such. They belong to an
interesting era in the history Of the
manufacture of boots and shoes III
eastern Massachusetts, before the advent
of machinery revolutionized the business,
and before the bringing of it into huge
steam factories left the little shops of
former days to do inglorious duty as
henhouses or rubbish bins.
Step back over the pathway of time
thirty years and pay visit to one of
these shops. Say that it is a cold, frosty
night in the fall, for the men worked in
the evening when the weather was cold.
The ruddy light CLEANS cheerfully
through the tattered curtains, and we
hear sounds of laughter and the click of
hammers as we draw near. On entering
we find ten or twelve workmen seated
on benches crowded into little room,
briskly working by the light of lamps
suspended from the ceiling. The walls
and ceiling are black from the smoke OF
years, and the inky efforts of artistically
disposed loungers. The floor is buried
in layer of leather chips foot deep.
From the midst of all little red-hot
cylinder stove sends up its rickety pipe
along the ceiling to the chimney at the
end. A board placed upon shop tub
serves as seat for neighbor who has
dropped in to hear the news or to par
ticipate in the arguments which in many
shops is the feature of the evening
Perhaps, if we look close, we may see on
convenient shelf dictionary or few
works of reference, which are often con-
suited to substantiate an assertion or
settle a dispute, for in those days, before
machinery came with its rattle and roar,
conversation was easily carried on, and
habits of discussion naturally formed,
so that practically each "gang" was a
debating society on small scale. Thus
it was that in these shops of the olden
time was nurtured that spirit of intel
ligence for which the shoemakers of
Massachusetts, are noted to-day.
In those days it was not necessary for
men to work too hard. They had more
time for self-improvement, and they
were one of tine most intelligent bodies
of mechanics in the country. From
their ranks sprang such men as Henry
Wilson, of Natick, William Lloyd Gar
rison, who learned the trade in Lynn,
and Benz. w. Harris, who worked in
Bridgewater and was not noted for
superior workmanship. One day Mr..
Harris arose from his bench in a moment
of temper, and, Selling hammer,
nailed the half-fnished shoe ON which
he was working to the wall, and, leaving
the shop, remarked that he was done
with shoemaking forever. He never
came back. 1 might mention many
others who have made their mark upon
the history of the country, though they
began life with the peg hammer and
awl.
Now for look at the present mode of
manufacturing boots and shoes. The
little one-story buildings have been re-
placed by huge structures four and five
stories high. Instead of each man MAX
ing his own "case" throughout, he has
one certain part assigned to him, and
does nothing else. On the lower floor
of the building is the sole leather room.
Here the leather is received in rolls of
two or three hundred pounds. This,
after being soaked in water until soft, is
run through machines by which it is cut
into strips, skived, rolled, and died out
into soles, inner soles, and taps, the
smaller pieces cut into lifts for heels.
This is the most dangerous room in the
factory for the workmen because of so
much knived machinery. It is rare
thing to find such a room that does not
contain one or more employees minus a
finger or thumb. Sometimes frightful
accidents-oeesSz--< The racer, huge
machine modelled something after the
guillotine of France, is used in cutting
the sides of leather into strips. 1t con
tains knife four feet long that would
cut mans arm off as easy as scissors
cuts thread.
In the cutting room we find long rows
of men at work at high benches cutting
calf, kip. split, and other kinds of
leather into various patterns for vamps.
This is very particular work, and can
not be done by machinery. From the
cutting room the leather is brought to
the stitching department, where at long
rows of sewing machines men and wo-
men are putting the vamps together and
preparing them for the bottomer.
The bottoming room, which we next
visit, is the largest in the factory. Here
the ''stock" from the sole leather room
and the vamps from the stitching room
come together and are made up into
boots and shoes. Around the sides
benches are arranged at which the last
ers work, while in the centre are the
machines. TIE lasting of boots and
shoes by machinery has not yet been
accomplished in satisfactory manner,
and, owing to the nature of the work,
probably never will be. By the laster
the work is made ready for the filter,
who tacks on the soles. By the use of
the fitting machine one man does the
work of twenty under the old method.
The shoes are now ready to be pegged.
The pegging machine was one of the
first labor-saving inventions introduced
into the business, and has probably
done more to break up the old system
of manufacture than any other. 1t does
the work of twenty or twenty-five men,
the work is done better, and the ma
chine occupies no more room than two
men. The lasts are next drawn out,
and the work is taken in hand by the
edger. The edging machine, like most
of the boot and shoe machinery, does
the work of twenty men, though it oc-
cupiesonlp the space of two.
The work is now transferred to the
heeling department. The heeling of
shoes by machinery is one of the most
interesting operations to be seen in the
factory. The heels come from the sole
leather room all prepared for the ma
chine, and are fed in one ut time. The
shoe is placed in position. the nails
driven, the heel shaved, and the shoe
released, all in fear seconds. With this
machine some operators can heel 1000
pairs of shoes per day.
The shoes are now made and ready to
be finished. In the finishing room the
bottoms are secured and brushed and
the heels secured and FURNISHED by
steam power, and the work is done bet
ter than by hand, with saving of so to
IS per cent. of labor. When finished
the boots are taken to the freeing room.
Here the vamps secure the handsome
form and finely FURNISHED surface which
make the shoe so attractive in the shoe
store. This work is dose by hand. As
it is upon the freeing that many grades
of work depend for their sale, they re-
Quire closer attention to details than