Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-12-10
A CHAPTER ON SHOES.
The Clumsy Footwear o. C-entsi
Countries
Blow Evolution Of Our Modern and Hand
sem0 Create from the Primitive
Ferns Of the Ancients-SandaIso OF
tho Greeks and Romano.

The Oldest form OF the shoe Is the
sandal. which is nothing but sole
The Egyptian priests wore sandals of
palm leaves and papyrus. while those
Of the common people were n;de of
leather The papyrus shoe was inter
woven like n mat Homer generally
speaks of his heroes as barefOoted but
the use OF the sandal was general
among tie ancient Greek and Roman
women. and gradually became fashion
able for the men also
The Greek crepida consisted Of
thick sole. weited on to a piece of
leather. which had in it a number of
eyes. through which throng passed to
bind Il to the foot, or sometimes
loops merely were welted on to the
sole and passed over the foot
The Romans had shoes of various
kinds. says the Waverly Magazine The
calceus covered the whole foot, and was
made on . last Senators wore a cal
ceas different from that Of other citi
zens, with straps wrapped around the
ankle. The calceus repandus was
very old style. being found on Egyptian
and Etruscan monuments, and is the
origin of the long medieval shoe. to be
mentioned hereafter The soldiers shoe
was very strong. and it's sole was
studded with nails The Roman patrl
clans wore an ivory crescent on their
shoes.
Heliogabalus had his shoes covered
with white linen. and Caligula orna,
mented his with precious stones. The
simple sandal was worn by both sexes
among the Romans. but usually in the
house only, it being considered an aEec-
tation going On the street with them
They thus correspond somewhat to our
slippers. They had also a slipper with
out any tie. which completely covered
the foot and was worn only by females
and performers of comedy. and many
other styles Of footgear Some Of the
Greek and Roman shoes had soics four
inches thick; such were worn by 81 ort
females in order to appear t;-ller The
streets of Rome. in the reirn Of Eomi
tan. were at one time SO filed with cob
blers' stalls that the emseror issued an
order for their removal
The ear Y Saxon shoes were sha BED
on the Roman model. indeed. the only
difference between the ancient and II cd
ern laced shoe seems to be that the for
mer was laced to the toe the latter to
the instep only
In the m;,.t.:,' ages shoes Of an ex-
travagant length i"rame popular In
the reign of Ric!i;rG /: tho tips of some
reached to the knee. to which they were
secured by gold and silver Chains. The
upper parts were frequently cut to irni-
tate church wic,,,vs such Shoes were
called "Crao.sows after the city of
Craclsow They were introduced into
England during tie reign Of Richard
H. by John. the grandfather of his
queen Several bills were issue.
against these cxtr:v, canoes. bu; lCng
tocd shoe, hciu u sway fer nearly
three hundred yea:
The Lnglish pai.; ment at one time
regulated by act MOI .'i.ly the quality Of
the leather. but tiiC I:i;inbcr of stitch s
to be taken in every shoe In 1862
parliament prohibited the making Of
any shoes for tie uaprivilegcd classes"
with points moro than two inches long
The top boots. SO familiar to US in the
pictures of the carly i'uritans. were in
troduced some time during the sixteenth
century
Shoe-mal1ing, shoe mending and shoe
selling are distinct branches of indus
try in China Chinese shoes exhibit
great variety of share Except in the
hob-nailed shoe. for wet weather. there
is little leather used, the materials be
ing principally calico. silk. satin, vel
vet and felt
ChildrcnS summer shoes are made of
fine open rushwork. with bright lining
Ladies' shoes are made and mendcd by
their wearerS From their childhood
girls of the upper classes have their feet
tightly bound, and they are thus. at the
cost of years CT suffering, enabled to
wear shoes about three inches long
The Chinese cobbler goes from house to
house, and announces his presence with
a peculiar rattle
In European countries wooden shoes
are in general use among the pcasantry
They are clumsy. but comfortable and
cheap The Malay women generally
go barefooted. but they arr v;'rv s!.illfuI
in embroidering sip."r>, d tinsel
which. like those OF t,e Turks, are
worn just over the toes by ladies of the
higher class.
The inhabitants of northern climates
/ travel rapidly on the broad surfaces of
snowshoes Both roen and women wear
them, and the stories of the runl Der OF
miles sometimes got over by able bod
'
sound extravagant to one net aware OF
the facility with which t:.ev can be
| managed by an expert
The snOwsilOc consists e fat
frame from eight to f., ;rteen inches
in breadth at Its vt.i.'st !'-,rt. and
sometimes as much as sven feet
long, though generally fou feet 1t is
either made wholly Of wool or is a
wooden frame filed il with wicker
work, and has cross straps to fasten 1T
on the feet
The present form of Shoe was adopted
early in the seventeenth century, and the
buckle was added about sixty years
later The style of shoe has not varied
much for many years. the narrow sole
the broad sole. the 'boX-toe' and the
high and low heel being the principal
differences between one pair and an
other
Where Girls Are fhcap.
"A traveller on the Ivory Coast. West
Africa. says that for three kegs of pow