Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-26
THE LADIES' PRETTY FEET.
What a Dealer Has to Say About the
Way They are Clad.

THE LADIES' PRETTY FEET.
What Dealer Has to Say About the
| Way They are Clad.
WOMEN BUY MORE SHOES THAN MEN BECAUSE
THEY ARE MORE FAsTIDIoUs AND DO NOT WEAR
| THEM SO LoNG-THEY PAY MORE MONEY FOR
| THEM Too-MEN LOOK MORE TO COMFORT.
| $40 men or women buy most of you?" asked
STAR reporter of prominent dealer in boots
and shoes.
Ladies are our best customers" was the re-
ply. '.Now, you would Think he continued,
that as men are mostly out of doors and are
heavier on their feet, while ladies spend the
greater portion of their time in the house, the
men would buy most shoes. But it isn't So"
what is the reason?"
''Well, in the first place, ladies buy boots
which are lighter in quality, and then they are
more particular about the appearance Of their
feet. A man will wear a pair of shoes until
they are thoroughly worn out. When the soles
become worn and the heels are run down he
will have his shoes half-soled and the heels
built up again. woman doesn't do anything of
that kind. When her dainty boots begin to
run down at the heel and get out of shape. then
she wants new pair. and she gets them. As
a young lady said TO me the other day while
trying on a pair of boots. Il do like to have my
foot look well. I'd rather have a new pair of
boots than a new dress That's the feeling
with most of them. The majority of ladies
have well-shaped feet, and of course they look
better
IN NEAT-FITTING BOOTS"
"What is the average size that Washington
ladies wear!'
The numbers in ladies' sizes run from one
to five and half Very few can wear number
tbouub 7 hay rb,;
| ried woman, and over thirty years DID, who
wears number thirteen. misses size. Still,
though her foot is so small, it is not near so
well proportional as some who wear a larger
boot. | think the neatest and prettest foot
that ever fitted belonged to the wife of an
ex-cablnet minister She wore a number one.
and her foot was very shapely, with highly
arched instep. She knew she had a beautiful
foot. and she always had it clad in the finest
kind of boots. The average size. suppose is
number three. though know women who wear
tours and fOur-and-a-halfs whose feet are so
well proportional that you would think they
wore much smaller shoe. The sizes have
given you are for shoes and boots and not for
slippers A lady can wear a slipper at least a
size smaller than her boot"
What is the run of mems sizes in this citv?'
1.-The numbers run from to TO- and sup
pose the average is about Z. There are a great
many men in Washington who have very small
feet considering their size. / have one Gus
tOhACA VIM NtISHs. presume, ZUU pounds. ana
yet he only wears a number gaiter. have
two or three gentlemen who buy number g.
boys size. and one of my regular customers. a
man of forty, who is feet inches in height
wears
A NUMBER 4, BOYS SIZE
His foot, however, though short, is fat and
squatty. 1t would look better in a number 5.
Those gentlemen who have such small feet are
in luck, for they always get the BOYS sizes a
dollar oh tbo,,
mems. There are some small-sized men,
though, who have large-sized feet. know one
who is good deal of dude in his dress and
would give big sum of money to be able to
wear number ). but who is compelled to put
his feet into what he believes to be an 81 shoe.
but which Is really number 8. If his brain
was as big proportionately as his feet he would
be giant in intellect. Men generally are not
SO particular about their foot gear as ladies.
vi course there are exceptions, and some men
are as fnical the most capricious woman
about particular style and make of shoe, but
the average man buys his shoes for comfort
The English laced walking shoe with broad
sole, low, fiat heel, and round toe is a general
fayorlte, because man can get some comfort
IN 1T. Men buy mostly laced or congress
CATERS; some get buttoned but it's too much
trouble to fasten them for most men,"
Not many wear the long-legged boot now?'
NO indeed, we have very few calls for
them. gentleman came in the other day and
ged boots for fifteen years, but as he was get
ting along in years now he thought he ought
to look out for his health and believed that
THEY WOULD PROTECT HIS ANKLES.
1 hadn't pair that would fit him and told
him that L would order a pair. He said he
would come in again and he did the next day
and bought pair of congress CATERS, saying
that he didn't believe we were going to have
cold weather enough to justify long-legged
boots. That was last week. II he had waited
until Monday L might have sold him pair of
boots with legs"
which do you make the most money on.
ladies' or gentlemen's shoes"
Il suppose you mean how do the prices run
Well, ladies pay more for their shoes than men.
They pay from $3.50 to $500 pair for regular
wearing shoes. As to fancy slippers they run
to any price they choose Some of these dainty
things are marvels of beauty, being richly
stitched and embroidered. They have to be
made with a great deal of care, and of course
those who wear them must pay for the privi-
leSe. Now men pay from 50 to 50 for their
shoes. the average being about SIS. Among the
laborlng classes cable screwed and begged
shoes are worn and they are cheap. There are
great many machine sewed shoes Sold for
machinery for making shoes has reached such
a high state of perfection that shoes of excel
lent quality are turned out by the big factories
linen, you know, there is a difference of at
| least dollar between machine and hand -sewed
shoes, and that Is quite an item"
How about children's shoes?''
The demand for them is always good The
little ones wear out their shoes quite rapidly.
| They seem to have faculty of knocking out
| the toes, and then they run and Jump SO
| much that the soles soon wear out /
suppose in the number of sales children's
shoes take the lead, but they, you know
they don't cost SO much as mems or womens'.
They run from S1.25 to $500, though 1 sup
/ pose the average is S1.5O. People are buying
| better shoes now than they used to. and better
shoes are being made. The community is
learning that its economy to get a good article
and that a machine-made shoe for $500 is far
! preferable TO the brown-paper soled affair that
formerly sold for SL50. In what / have told
you have considered the average class of
! goods and purchasers. There are fancy shoes
and boots that command fancy prices, but the
great mass Of the buying community only con-
| slider them curiosities."
| A collision between freight trains on the Bal
| timore and Ohio road. near Paw-Paw, w. Va,
| resulted in the destruction of large quantity
Of merchandise and wreck of many cars.
The Park place, Centralia, and ALL the Le-
high company and individual colleries in the
Lehigh coal region have shut down, owing to
| their market being overstocked with coal and
| 1000 men are thrown out of work.
The Rev. DIR. j. Henry Smythe, LID, of
Philadelphia, will sail for Europe to deliver
lectures in England and Scotland in the inter-