Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-12-03

From the Boston Watchman
In Brockton, Mass. the queen Of all
Shoe Cities, stands the massive franz
work, glittcng with myraid windows,
Of the W. l.. Douglas Shoe Co. 5 factory
whore bales of leather change with mar
vclOuS rapdity into famous shoes. The
Shocmakcr'S bench of we olden time"
has disappeared, and in its place ponder
ous machines stamp and cIank and
growl and toss punches Of leather from
one to another like Il pack Of dogs worry
ing some haplcSS little animal. till the
ShapelcSS leather that the cutter pounced
upon in long room ut the top of the
building comes riding into the packing
room, Il rack for its carriage. Il polished
and Shapely shoe.
Probably no place in the world offers
such splendid object lesson in shoe
making as does the Douglas factory.
where everything has been systcmiZed
down to the minute detail, and so care
fully arranged that Il walk through the
streets OF this busy little world Of Il fac
tory illustrates clearly the development
of the shoe.
First comes the cutting room. Here
is little machinery. but leather is every
where, from the scraps that litter the
floor and fill the bins. to the neatly piled
'vampS" and tops" arranged ON racks
each pile labelled with the name of the
cutter. The most marvellous thing in
connection with this part of the work il
the ingenious system whereby every bit
Of leather is kept track of. The foreman
maps out the work; that is. he deter
mines there shall be so many boxes OF
shoes cut that day and each box shall
have so many pairs of certain size.
The cutters, each one doing but single
thing, such as cutting "yamp, gets
his leather and goes to work, trimming
the leather With a curved knife. accord
ing to the metal pattern. His work
passes under the experienced eye of an
inspector. who at single glance Judges
the quality Of the leather and sorts it
into different grades.
1t seems hopeless confusion: yet every
bit Of leather inevitably finds its mate o.,
the proper grade and size when they
all appear in the sewing room below,
pursued by a relentless check list. watcL-
ful to detect the slightest deviation from
the right road. In this room is wilder
ness of machines. many of which are
run by women. p at one end Of the
room the cut leather starts on IA rapid
journey. One machine SciZeS it and bites
it Il few times and seems to toss it away
Spitefully. Immediately it is thrust into
the claws of another machine that
stitches it in another place until it comes
ont at the other end Of the room in the
shape of shoe top.
Then the lasterS seize upon it, to lit
the top of the inner sole. Some of the
shoes are ''lastcd" by hand, others by
peculiarly vicious looking machines. thai
Spts out tiny nails. and pounds the un-
fortunate shoes with all the energy of a
chairman calling to order caucus. The
Douglas people never hesitate to buy tho
most improved machinery, and all the
latest methods may be seen in that
room.
Down this room. too, the half-iiniShcd
shoes pass rapidly. ON goes the outer
sole, sometimes by sewing machines.
sometimes by a machine that screws the
sole on with little brass screws. that the
iron monster has swallowed yOraciOusly
With single stamp the heel goes ON,
the rough edges being shaved off by a
whirling knife. The channel made aloi g
the sole by the stitching machine is il-
ed with cement, under the angry stamp
of metal boot the channel is made
Hat again.
Now we have the complete shoe in the
rough. But there are dozen more
machines, and dozen more processes to
be applied in the way OF finishing touches
Finally. the shoe. rcsplendent in polish
neatly shaped aud finished to the last
detail. is wheeled ON Il rack before the
eagle eye of the final inspector. II he
passes it. the shoe is finished and hay
ing followed the leather through the
hands Of five hundred and sixty work
men, the check list triumphartly re
cciycs its final endorsement, and VT
have Il perfect shoe. Fifteen minutes
is all the time they want to make IL shoe
when they hurry matters