Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1885-01-21
SHOE MANUFACTURING.
How: Barnett, GaII8her a. 60. turn
Ous SHOES by tue Aid OF MschIn-
cry

Ah Nv i0hobiJ LuctF b5th u kItdJti
revolution than In the manufacturing of
shoes. One half the people now living
remember when there werr no shoes ey-
cept those made by hand with the aid of
lasts, avis, hammer, lapstone, knife and
a polishing block made Of hard wood,
sometimes OF iron, sometimes of bone.
Many have been the long winter evenings
spent In the shoemaker shop by the neigh
bors, who called in TO talk of politics, i'm
provements and reforms, and by way of
variety throw In spicy yarn or two to
size up the winter evenings entertain
ment.
Rut those days Of good "Auld Lang
Syne" have been numbered with the past.
The big rough '...stogies"o of our "daddies"
have departed to return no more, and the
calf-skin boots, that to cover all the
"calf" would in many instances have to be
made over six feet high, have hidden fare
well To olden times and have stepped
down and out to give way to the wonder
iul march of improvement that has sup
planted the Crispins OF past age.
Everything in the shoe manufacturing
line 10 done by machinery. The tiniest
I little shoe that encases six-month in
iant's foot to the larger sized shoe the
home of the old woman aud her numerous
itIuuTtu are flOW luIDtu ouL ny iuhCulu-
cry Only keep the machinery running And
the shoes keep coming out trimmed and
brightly polished ready Tor the market.
, How our fathers would tear their eyes
open could they tu. arise from their mus
" beds and see the progress that has been
| made iu shoe manufacturing.
In this art the Massachusetts, Yankees
/. take the lead. Marblehead, Danvers, " or
cestpr, Milford, Arlington, Quincy and
| Is aintree are noted places for the manu-
featuring OF shoes. But the art is spread
ling. Philadelphia presses New England
closely in the shoe trade, and even WI
| mington, our own Wilmington, in the
Stale OF Delaware, Fthe land Of the Clay
tons and Bayards, has caught the
spirit OF shoe manufacturing by machu-
Iery. 1t if true that one or two other
shoe manuiactu' ing firms have gone up
aud down with the tide OF tate in the
past, and finally disappeared from public
| view, hut not discouraged ard animated
with young ana vigorous blood, the firm
oi Barnett, Gallaher IL Company, have
battled the tide, and have come to the
front
| This young ,enterprising firm, composed
OF John W. Barnett, j. Hayes Gallaher,
and e. w. kitselman, all Wilmington
ans, has established itself in the third
story Of the McComb building, southwest
corner Of Third and Orange streets, where
they carry on the manufacture OF women
and children's shoes.
| A visit To the place revealed to the rep
rcscntative of the tEPUBLICAN, the mo.
Idus opcrandi OF making shoes by ma
chinery.
| " See, here is the starting point" says
,.i, t. tr,l- IA,
where q gentli man In liuen apron with
knife in hand and pattern was mauipu-
latiug delicate blue linings IRON u soft
sheep skin. Here were patterns Of all
sizes and Styles some Of them with nova
ble slides TO accommodate themselves to
the size of the shoe required. The same
geutlt who is called the cutter, also
Isnipped out the ankles and uppers with
remarkable celerlty from the neat mo-
rocco skins, and when ready he handed
them over to a number of ladies, who put
them, in wonderful short space of time,
Through Wilson X Nhe ,ler sewing machin-
es Before leaving these ladies, the uppers.
iankles and Innings are all neatly stitched
/ together, the button holes worked and the
buttons fastened on.
From this operation they are handed to
the lastefs,swho dexterously slip last
inside, and in few minutes the uppers
are all tackled down aud handed over to
the soler, who puts them through pow
erful sewing machine, that, with strong
Baxter thread, uhites the uppers and the
soles. BY this time II begins to look deci-
! dedlylike a shoe and the heeler takes 1t in
hand, and with the skill OF practiced
| artist builds upon the rear end of the
sole, the beautifully and symme;ricaily
shaped pyramid that ladies call dar-
| ling" oil heel. Our shoe is getting along
finely.
From the heeer it passes on to the
trimmer, and then to the burnisher aud
polisher, ho gives 1t the finishing touc hes
From here it goes to the table where it is
supplied with laceltts, and after pasting
a stamp upon the heel, that marks II as
the genuine article, it is ready io- the
market.
" How are the heels and soles g,t out
are we asked" This seems to be an ope-
ration by itself. There is no great art in
the operation. A side of sole leather, a
great big section of a tree three feet in J
diameter turned end upwards, big NAL !
1T, and die, and man 10 hit the die |
with the mallet are all that is require :. !
TIE dies, though, are nun. erous 10 suit all |
sizes OF shoes.
This enterprising firm use nothing in
the composition OF their shoes tut good |
solid leather, which they guarantee to
give satisfaction. None of the shoes they |
IN lnufacture are sold TOR less than Si.T5
a pair by the wholesale. They are agents
for line of men and women's shoes from
Ncw York and Boston, which are sold |
much cheaper than their own manuiac-
tured stock.
They do entirely wholesale business,
and are supplying a large number o, ths
shoe stores in this city with shoes They
have also spread their trade down the
peninsula. Their business has grown to
such large proportions that they are high
ly encouraged. MIR. Gsllaher was for
merry a travelling agent for the sale of
shoes, and now supplies customers with
shoes of his own make. The firm em-
ploys Is hands, but ii orders come in as
last as they have been coming, they will
have u increase their force.