The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-10
THE SHOES OF OLD.
A Very Interesting Study for Visitors
to the Great Fair.
From the Plttslurg Dispatch

! - OAS 4AOoEesJ414B SIuuy 4OE NlSAJOES
to the Great Fair.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
jackson Park, Chicago, Sept. A pa
tent examination Of the shoe and leather
| department will convince any one that
shoemaking Is a lost art. That is, if the
art of making shoes well consists in max
ing them graceful and comfortable When
we have to pore among the ruins of Her
! culaneum for the most artistic, and UNI
! doubtedly comfortable, woman's shoe,
| and 60 to no less vile barbarian than
! Attlla for the most elegant masculine
| footwear, there cannot be a shadow of
doubt that the Wanted progress of the
cobbler has been a retrograde movement.
The conquerer of Rome wore a shoe all
| in one piece and with the long wavy hair
still on the goatskin, it is true, but the
shape of the shoe is eXquisite-a perfect
outline, even like a mould of the foot
| The llI-starred Roman matrOn's shoe was
OF the same shape, of velvet or cloth, with
fine leather soles and binding around the
ankle-snug, elegant and neat, and leav-
ing the unhappy foot, which in modern
| times has no comfort save the shoe be
| many sizes too large, perfectly untram-
meled. Her Etruscan sister sisters had
for hOusewear little cornucopia, too
dainty to be slovenly, into which the foot
was negligently thrust. The same slip
per was used in the Orient 1000 years
later, the turned-up point having a ball
| on 1t. In the way of foot covering these
two simple devices are all that can ever
be comfortable and neat, and modern
shoes are uncomfortable and inartistic
according as they diyerge from the origi-
nal plan.
RATHER ANCIENT FOOTWEAR.
The shoe and leather building is close
to IArupp's gun, and Is one of the favorite
! exhibits In addition to many colored
plates of old styles, it has valuable col
| lection OF shoes and sandals belonging to
an antiquarian of Newport, which fasci-
mates even the most hardened. Some of
the exhibits, for instance, those have
cited, bring tears of envy to the eyes of
! the tootsOre sightseers. Among the inter
esting shoes shown are those of Caligula,
! Cesar, Rameses TX, George L and IL
| Hadrian, Thotmes IL, Mrs. Tom Thumb,
| Richard II and Prince Shonisski
| They are-saving the senseless mod
ern ones-much alike in giving the
sole of the foot full play and the
! top almost perfect freedom Thotmes.
| 1000 years ago, before the Shepherd
! Kings in Egypt, wore a morocco sandal
shaped like the modern insole with a
| couple OF fine leather straps. This was
found in his tomb His successor,
! Rameses, tinted it green and added a
| long upcurved point like an old-fashioned
| skate. CAESARS shoe was of purple cloth.
| loosely encasing the foot. the sole and
! straps being leather (taken from his
! statute in the l.ouvre); while Caigua.
! for his own imperial use. reserved q sim
| liar shape, but much neatar, with an orna-
mented feather band around the ankle
| Hadrian was more luxurious. his shoes
| being OF rich velvet ornamCnted with real
/ gems.
/ The Roman shoes were all the incarna-
| ton of comfort The centurion, with tall
/ leather boot reaching above the knee and
embroidered in gold, the wOrlmen's shoes
/ pulled on by the tongue, the sandals leavu
/ ing the toes all bare, even the Calirae
! with their spikes introduced by Caligula
for the soldiers all lacked heels and pre-
clSely cOniOrmed TO the foot. The Egyp-
tlan sandals worn by rulers and priests,
the former of corrugated leather with
( elegant embroidered straps, and the lat
ter a long leather strap wound around
the foot and leg and cast away when
soiled, were even an Improvement over
4 the earliest shoe of their
country, piece of leather
soWn up the back and down the toe-a
pocket for the foot. Some ancient curos
were the krepida, shoes of loops attached
to sole; the AmaZOns' boots, of metal
| close-titted to the leg, and the Roman
soldiers mailed boot of metal, leaving
the foot unprotected. The Greek shoes,
whether of cloth or leather, also con
formed to the shape of foot and leg. the
soccus, close fitting slipper with a frill
around the top, used by comic actors,
and the buskin, a high boot, used in
tragedy, being no exception. The Be
douln woman of to-day wears boot like
Prince Shonisski, high and close fitting,
OF soft flexible morocco. She enjoys life.
SOME SPECIMENS DECIDEDLY QUEER,
Come down to medieval times and you
stumble over the snaky point of the enor-
nous tro-foot shoe of Richard H. The
Hunchback was very luxurious, but for
tunately kept the torture for himself, let
ting the common people walk in "crack-
owes, y sensible Roman Shoes laced from
top to toe And you go on stumbling in
ever more fashionable fOOtgear until you
get into the squeezed toes and high heels
of the Georges. Even the babies were
consigned to sohd leather shoes with
wood sole and iron binding The womens
patterns Georges time), like the toes of
ball slippers, were the first hint of the
modern point-toe, high-heel, unnatural
| shoe.
About the queerest footwear shown are
the ivory shoes worn to match his curule
chair by the Roman magistrate; the
Greek dancing sandal, which had bel
lows in the sole to time the step to music !;
Manila philippine Islands) shoes, with
wooden soles hinged to the instep; and
the Tangiers turtle skin shoes, with the
claws-the turtles foot simply made into
a pocket. And the daintiest sandal shown
is the medieval Italian, of Belaygio. 1t
has a wooden sole, with high heel neutra-
hzed by an elevation under the toes, and
with a pretty yellow vamp laced with a
red cord; such a sandal as the little Tessa
-Romola's husbands ''other wife,
must have worn when she came to town
on the feast day to buy a dispensation,
and met and married wicked Lilo.