Daily camera., 1897-07-02
BOOTS FROM OLD HARNESS.
Cheap Footwear Made from Cast
. or Horse Trappings.
Enormous Quantities of the Material
Consumed in This Way-Dis-
carded Saddles Also
Utilised.

"Old harness thrown away? Not
likely said a dealer in old leather.
Every scrap of it is worth money; in
fact, l can't get enough of it. Old har-
ness collecting is as good as gold dig
ging, if a man can only forage out
enough horse owners to keep him well
supplied. When you just think how
many thousands of horses there are
working in harness in London alone,
you can imagine how great the supply
is.
Nearly all the cast-off harness is
consumed in making cheap boots. Peo-
pie will have cheap boots, and the boot
manufacturers fnd that for making
serviceable> article at a low figure there's
nothing to beat old harness. Then
again, whip-thongs and bootlaces are
also made from old horse-trappings.
''In the first place, the greater part OF
it is bought up by big marine store
dealers, who collect it from the harness
makers, and from army sales of con-
demned goods, also from railway com
panies' sales, the average buying price
pSibS t'OlShSS pNi PoeiiNA- iiN''N
dealers have it taken to their ware
houses, where it is sorted into different
qualities and prices ranging from one
penny to siXpence a pound. 1t is then
sold to smaller dealers of the same
kind, who in turn distribute it to the
boot manufacturers and others.
"Now, if it wasn't for the enormous
Nv of old bornnSc 11Cpfl nv h0pf
manufacturers, a workingman would
not be able to purchase pair of new
boots for few shillings. No boot
maker could afford to sell a pair of
mems boots made entirely of new
leather for three and sixpence; yet hun
dreds of pairs are sold at this price
every week in our great towns, and, as
long as horses are worked in harness,
will continue to be.
"Old saddles are mostly used for max
ing the inner sole of a boot, as they
are generally composed of the best
leather, and, besides being more durable,
will not crack or perish. The most
saddle You see, they contain a tre
mendous quantity of good, sound
leather; and then they are frequently
thrown aside more because they are
dingy than anything else. Undoubted-
ly hunting saddle makes the finest
boots; but military riding saddles are
usually made of the very best leather.
''The 'reins' used for driving horse
form an important item in the con-
struction of cheap boots, being split by
machinery and laid under the sole.
Then the 'blinkers' and traces are
never very much worn, especially when
they come from rich people. Some sets
of harness such as is used by omnibus
companies, are very often useless when
thrown aside, being cracked and per-
ished through hard wear and long eX-
posure to the weather.
''The demand Tor old sets of military
harness is much greater than the sup
ply, as it is very little worn, and, being
well cleaned and always kept in good
condition, is much more pliable and
works up newer. Any goods made from
the cast-off harness of railway COM
panies are also pretty serviceable, the
large size and good quality of the leather
making them very useful for working
up into other goods. In fact, this
leather, when used in bootmaking, looks
so well when trimmed and ironed that
it is impossible for anyone except those
in the trade to detect it.
"Small shoemakers use up a great
deal of the cheap harness. In the W in
ter time they use most of it for football
boots. 1t is cut into strips and nailed
across the sole of the boot to prevent
the wearer from Slipping. You'd hard
ly think anybody would have this done,
considering that football boots are so
cheap; but, then, some men prefer to
wear out their old boots in this way,
as they are generally more comfortable
than new ones.
There is really no cast-otf article
where the material is so little wasted
as old harness, every particle of it being
used in some shape or form. The
buckles and ornaments are cut off and
sold by secondhand dealers, the collars
are cut up and used forrepairing leather
bags, the hay stuffing being utilized for
resulting old chairs and coaches.
Indeed if the supply of disused har-
ness were twice as great as it is it would
not fully satisfy the demands of the boot
and other trades. London Answers.