Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-09
HANDMADE SHOES.
Rarely Seen Nowadays In COmpa risOn
With the Machine-Mnde Articles.

Rarely Seen Nowadays In COmpa risOn
With the Machine-Mnde Articles.
1.-THE making of shoes by hand is an art
that is not carried on as extensively now
as it was thirty years ago, when l first
came to this city to learn my trade said
a leading New York shoemaker 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 machinery. Those who work in fac
tories or do team work, are no more
shoemakers than an iron molder is steam
filter. or a street payer an engineer.
ready-made shoe takes only from eighteen
to twenty minutes to make, and in the
process of manufacture passes through no
less than thirty hands. This work at It's
best calls for no Independent thought; II
only requires systematic machine, thing
of imitation. A good pair of handmade
boots or shoes with oak-tanned soles Will
wear twelve months, and look well all the
time, and even after that they can be re-
paired and will serve for second best for
several months longer. The pricessxill range
from 81 to 80, according to finish. Such
shoes are light, almost impervlous to wet,
springy and cling to the feet Ike second
skin. There are no nails or pegs perpetual
~ cropping up to injure the feet, no break
ing Of the shank, no running down at the
heel, nor turning 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 morning and
expand most during the afternoon, es-
pecially in hot weather. A man who makes
handmade shoes usually understands this
and consequently makes due allowance Tor
the variation, but if you buy q 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
CHI NffNyf
large every morning. In either case corns
are created.
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 manufac-
tured, are much in demand. When men
and women, especially, tell the size of their
feet they like to make use of a short num-
ber-nothing is said about the breadth.
Besides, when one goes into a store to try
on shoes the feet are usually contracted
from the exercise of walking. They are
then in the best condition for making them
feel easy and comfortable in new and ILL
fitting Shoes
"a woman who habitually wears a No. .
shoe can, when necessity demands, don a
312 without great sacrifice She still re-
tains the integral number }, which in some
fraction. but new integer, No. 4, is dis
tasteful by reason of its formidable sound.
If shoes. like hats, could be graded by
eishths of an inch, she could take refuge
in 3B shoe, and yet be comparatively
happy. But from No. 81 to a No. is
too great 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 eXtremi:les. They go
systematically to work to accomplish their
deformities, while American men and wo-
men. especially, &c it by blinGly ignoring
the pedal space that nature demands. The
Monaghan feet are shortened by a long
turning up of the toes, ours by cramping
the members in poor shoe leather till the
instep is slowly raised in self-defense. A
naturally high instep is a thing of beauty.
but one that is elevated by force is nothing
II not groteSque When Americans think
less of appearances and more about the
hitting and quality of their shoes, more
walking with less fatigue will be accom-
plished, and we shall then perhaps become
a nation of pedestrians, instead of a ma
ton of wheelmen."