The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1897-11-19
HANDMADE SHOES.
Rarely Seen in Comparison with tho
Machin e. Made Articles.

mucnine-hAuea hTticitS.
The making of shoes by hand is an
art that is now carried on as extensively
now as it was 80 years ago, when L
first came to this city to learn my
trade" said a leading New York shoe
maker to a writer for the Star recently.
Nowadays there are very few first
class bootmakers, that is, men who are
capable of turning out fine shoes from
the raw material without the aid of ma
chinery. Those who work in factories,
or do team work. are no more shoe
makers than an iron molder is steam
filter, or street payer an engineer. a
ready-made shoe takes only from Is
TO 90 minutes to make. and in the pro-
cess of manufacture passes through no
less than 70 hands. This work at its
best calls for no independent thought;
it only requires a systematic machine,
a thing of limitation. A good pair of
handmade boots or shoes, with oak
tanned soles, will wear 12 months. and
look well all the time. and even after
that they can be repaired and will serve
for second best for several months long
err. The price will range from seven
to ten dollars. according to finish. Such
shoes are light. almost impervious to
wet, springy and cling to the feet like
second skin. There are no nails or
pegs perpetually cropping up to injure
the feet. no breaking of the shank. no
running down at the heel, nor turn
ing up at the toes.
THE great difficulty in getting ready
made shoes to fit is the variation in the
size of the feet during the day. They
are smallest the first thing in the morn
ing, and expand most during the after
noon, especially in hot weather. A
man who makes handmade shoes usual
ly understands this. and consequently
makes due allowance for the variation,
but if you buy machine-made pair of
shoes in the morning, they are apt to
pinch you regularly toward evening,
while if you take the afternoon for your
shopping, the shoes will feel uncom-
fortably large every morning. In eth
er case Germs are created.
1.-THE majority of peoples feet are dis
torted and turned from their natural
growth by the obstinate and misplaced
vanity of the general ready made shoe
buyer. Very few persons get their shoes
long enough. The masses buy short,
broad shoes, so that widths such as
double C and double D, that ought never
to be manufactured. are much in de-
MI nd nc
pecially, tell the size OF their feet, they
like to make use of a short number
nothing is said about the breadth. Be-
sides, when one goes into store to
try on shoes the feet are usually con-
tracted from the exercise of walking
They are then ia the best condition for
making them feel easy and comfortable
in new and ill-ftting shoes.
"A woman who habitually wears No.
3 shoe can, when necessity demands,
don 31a without great sacrifice. She
still retains the integral number 3,
which in some measure compensates
her for the added fraction, but new
integer, No. 4, is distasteful by reason
of its formidable sound. If shoes like
hats. could be graded by eighths Of
an inch. she would take refuge in a
37s shoe. and yet be comparatively
happy. But from a No. 31s to No.
4 is too great Il trial for woman's
nerves, and she usually insists upon
examining her feet into shoes that bring
torture whenever worn.
THE Chinese are not the only race
who disfgure their useful extremities
They go Systematically to work to ac-
complish their deformities, while Amer
lean men. and women especially, do
il by blindly ignoring the pedal space
that nature demands. The Mongolian
feet are shortened by long turning up
of the toes. ours by cramping the mem
bers in poor shoeleather till the instep
is slowly raised in self. defense. A nat
uraliy high instep is thing of beauty.
but one that is elevated by force is
nothing if not grotesque. When Amer
leans think less of appearances and
more about the fitting and quality of
their shoes. more walking with less ia
tigue will be accomplished. and we shall
then perhaps become nation of pedes-
TRANS. instead of nation of wheel