Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-02-01
WOODEN FOOTWEAR.


w %WEAR.
~" Fop"iarity Among the Peasant. n,
Northern Germany.
many Herman and Scandinavian i'm.
migrants who have settled In Villages
or communities OF their own IN the
Northwestern States and Territorios
have brought with them the custon, =,
wearing wooden shoes, such as thew
wore In their homes In the old world. Al
rule, however, they soon abandon the
practice. For while they insist that
| wooden shoes are better than any
other; that they keep out the mud and
dampness better than leather, and are
cheaper in first cost, besides wearino
much longer.
| Alter a little time, however. the
usage OF the new world becomes too
strong for the old world wooden shoes
which are then thrown away. The
Wearers find, too, that In our severe
winters high leather boots and Shoes
are more protection, and keep out the
snow better than wooden ones, which
are very like slippers In being cut low
at the heel, though they are high and
pointed at the toe. There are few
northwestern communities even among
those almost wholly inhabited by Ger.
mans or Scandinavians. where neonia
In wooden shoes are often met at this
day. AS these shoes are quite bulky
they are seldom brought across the
ocean, and, so far as they are WON at
all, are made by hand, of poplar or
Eastwood.
On the European continent wooden
shoes are very common among the
peasants OF the North, as well as in the
greater part OF France. France is per-
haps entitled to be called the true home
OF the wooden shoe, which is there
called the sabot. 1t is very skilfully,
and even gracefully made, and in the
province OF Auvergne, in Central
France, it is customary to decorate the
wooden shoe with delicate carvings of
flowers and with sentiments.
A pair OF wooden shoes is a favorits
i, gift OF lovers to their affianced brides,
or OF gallants who wish to win a sweet
heart. These queer lovers gifts are
decorated with Carved representa-
; tions of garlands of forget-me-nots or
narcissus, or with pair of doves, or
!, with two hearts joined together. This
custom has given rise to the proverb
!, In Auvergne, uttered of some poor,
. unattractive girl who has no sweet
! heart, Her sabots are upgarlandedr
Skillful carvers of wooden shoes even
decorate them with portraits of the
persons they wish to present them to,
or, If they are little conceited. with
their own. II the shoes are made for
wedding present, as is often the case,
upon them are carved the names of the
parties, the date OF the wedding, and
such other facts as there is room for.
0 And on the sdbots of some of these
stalwart peasants there is room for a
s good deal. These gift shoes, as
may be imagined, are not worn
to ''knock around the barns and
barn-yards with. They are kept fol-
state occasions, and sometimes are
put away as precious souvenirs. The
: peasants have no idea of being ashamed
: Of their Sabots. as the German immi
o grants in our Northwest ofte1 become
n And the peasants, indeed, say thai
Y Queen Marie Antoinette once wore g
5 pair of wooden shoes in the palace o.
r the Trianon. 1t is not probable, how
r ever, that any queen ever wore Sdbot:
T as habit, or for any other purpose
;. than to set the people an example Of
frugality; because they are not com
Portable except to people who weai
r them great deal and become accus-
toned to them.
il The peasants of several European
l. countries have song, varying almos
:, with each province, which tells thu
st mythical story Of still another queen
n with her wooden shoes" The son!
l. is legendary, and tells that countr,
d maiden, on account of her woodel
Ne shoes, was scorned as Every plain" b.
IS all sorts of people. But at last tn
J. king himself came her way, and fallin
II in love with her simple grace, Xix
lie King Cophetua, astonished his court
Of iers by making her his queen. Tn
lie song has "a constant refrain, with m,
Y, wooden shoes, and the last stanza run
TO something like this:
t. $50 1 was not quite so plain.
n, With my wooden shoes,
- With my wooden shoes,
i, But the king from his throne
1t Came to take me for his own,
:, With my wooden shoes"
n 1t is said that a machine ha
~ been inve. ted in France for maxim
- wooden shoes, and it is feared tina
under its influence, the rustic artist
,o will give up carving the SabotS by hant
= and consequently that all the pic
uresque side of a pretty country Gu
tom will be lost.-Iouth's Companion
IN Increase of Noxious Insects.
. Noxious insects are more numerol
and destructive now than they wei
fifty years ago. Where nature has
~ chance to work out her laws, all an
~ mails. from the highest to the loves
~ do not increase beyond proper limit
- Even man himself is no exception
" this great law; but let a break occur
Az, ,x,,,,t ,at,,ral chain and 1t Is It