St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-11-22
INVITATIONS OF LEATHER.

How They are Palmed or Upon the Pub
lie for Footwear.
'sThe oft-quoted statement said a
veteran shoe dealer to reporter yes
terday afternoon, g There are tricks in
all trades but ours, is the completest
fallacy ever perpetrated upon an I'M
suspecting public, The fact is that
there is no given trade in which frauds
are not continually conjured and sue
cessfully worked. 4"
"Specify,"
II will tell you few in our business,
for am best informed on that subject,
having been in the wholesale manufac-
turing trade for score of years. Right
here let me tell you the cause of it. In
any business there is continual strug-
Gle between manufacturers, and this
makes it necessary for them to eeono-
miZe and figure to reduce cost in the
most trifing details, for it is the few
cents margin that makes the profit
which enables the fortunate to wear
diamonds and drive fast horses.
81 see.n
"Sonae years ago there was rage for
cheapening goods, Cheap substitutes
for standard stock were eagerly sought
for. They found them, too"
'sDo you know of any local deVices?"
81 do. A prominent manufacturer
here, who has a good reputation and
does business amounting to hundreds
of thousands annually, devised a scheme
some time ago which was destined to
make BIG profits. He made q great
many tipped shoes. The advantage is
the extra protection to the toe, making
two thicknesses of leather there, and
giving better service, especially in chill
dren's shoes. Well, this man cut a
piece off the vamp at the toe, and join
ed the vamp and tip by stitching them
as usual The result was only one
thickness of leather there, and when the
tip was worn through there was hole
in the shoe.
''That surely could not make much
Of a saving"
9 Couldn't, e hp it saved just SO
much whole stock, and reduced the
estimated number of feet for a case.
Then it saved the best part of the skin,
for the flanks can not be cut up into
Yamps
g WAS the trick discovered"
Unfortunately it was. The manu-
facturer overstepped himself there, and
the shoes which he sent out ripped
badly. The consequence was that he
had a lot of shoes to take back. He
was money out in the end.
What are some others?"
Some manufacturers, in making
double-soled mems goods, have cut
heeLlifts out of the first sole, and filled
it up with pasted stock or leather
hoard. Then I've heard of cases
where the tap-sole was reduced to q
mere strip around the edge, with some
cheap material for the center filling.
Heels are often made almost entirely of
cheap manufactured stock. Only the
best Of shoes have sole leather coun-
tiers.
"How about the uppersP'
..There is deception everywhere.
There is no prime stock made which
has not an accompanying imitation.
There is imitation French kid; imita-
ton Curacao kid; imitation everything.
More sheep-skins are made up to re-
semble kid than you would imagine.
There is even imitation sheeprskin."
:" How can they be detected?n
.Only by years of practice. No
plain, ordinary, everyday buyer can
tell India kid from Curacao. The In
dia kid is made of sheep-skin."
ssAnd sold for genuine kid?"
"Often. Its a conscientious dealer
who will say this shoe is not kid, but
sheep-skin, made up to resemble kid. y
''Are these receptions practiced as
much in Rochester as in other citiesP''
'sNo. Eastern towns are the hot
beds of shoddy shoes. Rochester shoes
are generally good, but there are tricks
in the trade everywhere. Come around
again and I'll tell you some more. ~
Rochester IN z. Democrat and Cbro1sa
sole