Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-09-19
THE CARE OF SHOES.

Means by which Lady Can Keep Her
Foot-Gssr in Good Condition.
Awoman who understands the econ
omy of dress will never buy q. cheap
pair of shoes. No poorer investment
can be made, for besides giving out in
shorter time than first-class article
it will look shabby and worn long be-
fore it should do so. But any shoe. no
matter how costly or well-shaped in
the beginning. will lose its freshness
speedily if not properly cared for.
This is especially applicable to those
made of French kid, which every little
bruise and touch turns purple. A rule
observed by many woman. and good
one it proves, too, is never to wear .
street shoe in the house. 1t receives
harder treatment, strange to say, from
numerous inevitable collisions with
articles of furniture than ittwould in
double the amount of street wear.
Another sensible custom is to re-
serve pair of boots for wet-weather
wear, leaving them to rest in COM
Portable bag between times. Nothing
tells against the beauty of footgear
so much as getting it wet, and even
with rubbers no amount of diligence
will prevent the dampness from the
skirts reaching the ankles. Shoes
should be removed Immediately on
arriving at home, the dust and soil
wiped away with clean, soft rag,
and then they should be placed
together in a separate pocket of the
shoe-bag until wanted again. If this
course is invariably pursued con-
siderable saving of money, time and
temper will be added to the increased
service derived from even an inferior
quality of leather.
Meyer wear a shoe unbuttOned il
you care for its shapeliness. and
never be satisfied when you do button
it if all those little necessaries are
not in place. The wearing of shoe
even once or twice with pair or trio
of buttons gone from it tells on its
appearance in the long run. Patent
button fasteners are unsatisfactory.
for if the shoe draws even the least
bit about the ankles the metal clamps
show, and even the most persistent
system of Clackening fails to keep
them from looking brassy.
A small box of round shoe-buttons
with curved needle and lengths O!
coarse linen thread already cut should
have place in the top drawer Of
every woman's dressing-case or chit
fonier. Then the task of replacing a
missing button simplifies itself
wonderfully. On children's shoes
particularly the patent fastenings
should never be used. for in their
romps buttons, fasteners, leather and
all are apt to disappear. A good plan
to carry out regarding shoes for the
little ones is to rub them we'll with
castor oil before they are worn at all.
This makes tho leather p-iable. flls
up the pores, and prevents it from
cracking. For their everyday shoes
once in two weeks is not too often to
oil them. At fist the oil will give
them gray look. but after an hour
or so is passed the finish they show is
nice and soft.
If shoes get wet smooth them into
as good shape as possible and place
them in medium warm atmosphere
to dry. This takes a longer time
than if dried close to the fire, but
they will be in much better condition
when wanted. Leather hardened by
drying too suddenly can be restored
by the application of castor oil well
rubbed in. -Chicago Times.