The San Francisco call., 1897-06-27
CASTOR OIL GLAD SHOES.

A Comm uting Suburbanite's Invention
for WaterprOOfing His FOotgear.
It was still showing and the sidewalks
were covered ankle-deep with snow when
two commuters met on their way from the
ferry.
"Whewp said one This is a corker.
isn'til? Let's go in and have something
to drink"
They went into place that was handy,
and while the bartender was preparing
their potions the genial heat of the place
was melting down the snow that they had
brought in with them. Glancing down at
his com panion's feet one OF them evinced
surprise and exclaimed:
MY l should think you would caIch
your death OF cold with such thin shoes
on and no overshoes."
"Oh, mol said the other, 'I have worn
these same shoes right along through ali
the snow, slush and mud of the past two
months, and haven't had my feet wet
even, except the first time OF caught in
rain with them on, and the m most curious
part of that is that the soles are made OF
some sort OF stuff that in its natural state
ahso1b' water like ia sponge.
"The first time [ got caught in the wet
with these shoes on gave me a remarks abb g
experience. l had worn the shoes only a
couple of times, and as they came from a
reputable dealer supposed there were OF
good quality and wonid Withstand at least
little waller. Ny first surprise was caused
by the fact that l had not walked a
block in the rain before l felt that the
water had soaked up through the soIes.
and that the bottoms of nv feet were as
wet as if had been barefooted. Then I
found another popularity develop and
this was source OF great danger to me.
The soles grew as soft and fexiole as wet
parchment, and the heels of the shoes and
the soes also felt as if thew were
creased. My feet went slipping and
sliding out from under me. and 1 had 10
walk with more care over the pialn. wet
pavement than would have been neces-
sary on smooth ice. l had to keep every
muscle of my legs tense and never let NV
center OF gravity get beyond my heels or
toes or | should have fallen. / had about
dozen blocks to walk, and at the end I
was all tired out by the tension.
THE next day | examined these soIes
They looked like leather, but were SO soft
and of such weak material that l could
gouge piec out of them with my thumb
nail. | felt so much interested in them
that went down into the Swamp about
the Brooklyn bridge to find out what tbev
were. The dealers told me they were leather
but of kind that is generally discarded for
soles or any other i'm portant purpose They
were cuts from the belly or neck of the
hides, and the dealers assured me that |
was not mistaken about their ability TO
absorb water or to slide. Then l deter.
mined to experiment with them and see
if l couldn't make good water-uroof and
non-slippable soles of them, and [ have
succeeded. / made mixture of real bees
wax-not paraffine-and castor oil. half
and half, melted it, and put it on the soles
hot, and dried it IN over the stove until
the soles woCld absorb no more OF it.
treated the uppers with castor oil alone.
/ can walk through slush all day now.
and the soles won't even get wet to the
touch; and they are wearing as Well as
the best oak-tanned leather, and a little
touch of castor oil on she uppers now
and then keeps them waterproof also. /
have since met quite a number of
people who have been swindled with
these kind of sponge-soled shoes and
recommended them to tsy my remedy. -
New York Sun.