The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-06-27
SHOES OF WOOD.
A Unique Oobbler in New York's
French Quarter.
How He Makes Sabots For His
Countrymen.

Tn the heart of the French quarter,
where South Fifth avenue loses the
provincial tone given to IL by Washing
ton Square and becomes more like n
Paris slum, dwells shoemaker who
has not his like in New York city and
possibly in the United States. His is
the only branch of the trade which has
not succumbed to the machine made
process, and, as he is the only one of
his kind, he enjoys monopoly.
The sign which proclaims his calling
is nailed under his workshop window,
and is unique in its way. II looks
something like Aattened- -out brogan,
and on il is painted the legend, "Fa-
brique de Sabots." On the window
sill, above the sign, are displayed his
wares; heavy-looking, clog-shapen ar
rangements which remind one of the
coverings on the feet of the figures in
Millet's "Angelus."
Inside the shop the proprietor, Julius
Hourtoul, successor TO Peter his
father, can be seen working away with
the strangest shoemaking tools ever
used in New York. He is a young
man, and talks volubly in French of
his art. And high art il is, sculptur-
ing moulds for the feet out of solid
blocks of marble.
Sabot and sabot-making are large
necessities in rural France, but here
in New York they seem odd and get
more amusing when seen and told
about. Sabots are used very often
on the stage, and il is from this source
that Hourtoul derives his largest rev.
enue. Yet sabots are used also to
some extent among French laborers
in the city, and Mt times the clap
clap of their heavy bodies can be
heard even in South Fifth avenue and
Bleecker street.
The sabot proper is made of wood,
carved from the solid block, but 80
expert are the makers that to the foot
they are as soft rs patent-leather
pump. Hourtoul at work uses some
thing like an immense spoke shave,
| loosely secured at one end to give
leverage. This is for the outside.
For the inside he uses what looks like
an immense cheese scoop. He will
take the measure of the dnintiest foot
and with his primitive tools carve out
a covering which is guaranteed to
raise no corns and to thoroughly re-
tard the growth of bunions.
Hourtoul, in n broken patois, will
tell you that times are dull in the shoe
trade. He was born in France. He
says he is the only one in the United
States who makes sabots. His pri-
vate customers are, of course, taken
mostly from the French residents
here, but he gets fair sprinkling
from among the Italians.
Hourtoul manufactures leather sa-
bots with wooden soles, but, oddly
enough, these are not considered high
toned by the sabot wearers The all
wood affairs are considered the pro-
per thing, and even these have their
grades of excellence. Those who
want to have respectable foot cover
ings h ve maplewo od put into their
sabots, but the re al swell affairs are
made of walnut.
Italian laborers use tho leather va
riety which are really brogans with
wooden soles. They cost $1.5O. The
atwood styles are worth so. A good
pair will last all of six months and
sometimes longer.
Outside the roar of the elevated
trains disturbs the peacefulness of the
little French shoe-shop where the
sabots are made, but not more, per-
haps, than did these same sabots years
ago in France, in revolutionary times,
when their ceaseless tread, 80 wonder
fully described by Dickens, disturbed
the peace of the old mansion in "a
Tale of Two Cities. New York
World.
| lao