The Dickinson press., 1889-10-26
WHIPPING THE CAT.
THE WAY TIE SHOEMAKER WORKED
FIFTY YEARS AGO.

THE WAY TIE SHOEMAKER WORKED
FIFTY YEARS AGO.
He Tramped from House to House and
Worked Up the Leather the Farmer Had
Tanned-He Knew His Business Thor
oughly and Was a Well Informed Man.
"Any occasion today, bossm
"Perhaps so. What's your stint|
II can box the craft"
"Where did you have your last benchW
"At Goodft & Sellem's, but the last six
months I've been whipping the cat through
Rural county,"
However strange and unmeaning the above
conversation may seem to tho average reader,
to the old fashioned shoemaker it is quite
familiar, and will bring to his mind the time
when he himself may nave asked IL shop
boss" if he had any Occasion today" instead
of asking the now familiar question, "Have
You a vacant jobw
1t is asserted that fifty years ago the shoe
makers were distinguished above all other
operatives for their thoughtfulness, shrewd-
ness, logical power and the knowledge which
they derived from books. Their reputation
in this respect has been characterized rs
unique.
WHO WERE GREAT.
Again, many knights of the awl have bro
ken the bars of circumstances and climbed
the steps where flames proud temple shines
affair."" Was it not Linnnus, u shoemaker,
who founded the science of botany! Did not
Winckelman, Il shoemaker, disclose the beau
ties and ma:vels of antique sculpture: Who
was the mainstay of the society of anti
quarians! john Bond, u shoemaker. Who
wrote the Farmers Boy?" Bloomfield, a
shoemaker. Who founded tho Society Of
Friendsa John Fox, Il shoemaker. Who
started the Baptist mission in India? William
Carey, a shoemaker.
That the shoenlakcrs' craft has been pro
life of so many noted persons has been much
commented on, and many reasons therefor
have been advanced. Ye olden shoemaker
was a very different style of parsonage from
the shoemaker of today. In those far off
days the shoemaker went from house to
house, "wl:ipping the cat, as it WAS termed,
carrying his kit and bench with him. 1t is
possible that his mingllng in varied COM
lanionship, his acquaintance with new
scenes, the exchanging of ideas, and the
reading of new books, all tended to make him
tho philosopher that he was. But the adj
vent of machinery revolutionized the trade,
and now the shoe operative follows some
particular branch of ~shoemaking for his live
lihood.
IN the various processes of the making OF
factory shoes the work is divided aud subdi-
vidrd, so that the amount Of labor perform
ed upon Il Shoe 10y amy one operative is limit
81. 1t is the constant repetition of his nllot-
ment of work that makes the operative an OK
pert ill that particular branch, or, as the
shoemaker of twenty years ago would term
it, his "stint." Thus ii WAS that the "shoe
boss would ask, "What is your %s:int!'-
meaning what part of the Shoe do you work
OH. Ii the shoemaker who WAS looking for
an '"ccasi"n' uo worlD happened to under.
stand his business in all its detail from the
making of an infants shoe to that of IL leg
boot he would say, II can box tho craft.n
WHIPPING TIE CAT"
In carly days the farmer would take to the
tanner hides to i,c tanned; when returned the
leather was carefully laid away until some
son of st. Crispin came "w,ipping the cat
through that section. AS this only occurred
about once II year tho advent of the shoe
maker was an event of great Importance,
particularly 10 the younger members of the
family, for it meant to them not only "new
shoes" but the covering of many Il new ball,
numerous whip l%asiies, Shoe strings and other
1rifics that make glad the childish heart. If
the shoemaker happened 10 be II Young man
and unmarried then the ~,nuidcIs' heart beat
i'll that uncertain way that nIni,lens' hearts
are sometimes wont to do, for the shoemaker
wa, looked upon as Il very desirable 'catch."
.Atter erecting his bench in some favorite
corner he would proceed To take the measure
OF those OF the family for whom new shoes
were to be made. Sometimes the farmer had
lasts of his own, but il he had not and there
happened to be mono suitable among the
meagel stock carried by the shoemaker, lasts
had To be got. Thus u successful "whipper
of tho cat WAS expected to possess some of
the carpenters landicraft as well as that of
tho shoemaker.
The farmer was usually prepared for this
emergency by having at hand several pieces
Of well seasoned beech or rock maple. Then
by the Use of saws, chisel, draw knife, files
and rasps, carried for the purpose, tho shoe
maker would mako his lasts, and although
they might not have been made in quite rs
ahapeiy Il manner or upon so scientific Il prin-
ciple US are lasts in The later days, they nl-
swared The requirements of those times quite
as we'll as the ''Davballs' or "purrots' of the
present.
Using tho foot rs IL model, the iourneyman
would cut his pattern. He would then cut
o:t tho "uppers." While tho uppel.s were
OIL the %''criinping forms he would occupy
:lls time III doing whatever patching or other
repairing was to be done.
"Factory shoe pegs were sometimes to be
had, but more frequently the shoemaker made
his own, and they were quito as good us any
that could be purchased.
AS only ono last for each size was made,
one shoe had 10 be completed before ulothe,
could be lasted.
As the stock Of shoes for the coming year
had to be made and the process was slow, tic
shoemaker's visit would bequltc an extended
one, the usual time being about three weeks.
to provide for the wants of IL family of seven
oreight pcrSonss SIX weeks would scarce suffice
The pay amounted to about So Il week witt
board and lodging. AS the visit of the shoe
maker was known to all the %ncighbors the,
would call around every evening in order I,
hear him tell his funny stories or free hi
mind Upon the various topics Of tho day
Tom CuilIic' III Drake's Magazine.
ba-. g w.