The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-04-15
SECRET OF THE BOOT TRADE.
Cid Harness Finds Its Way Into
Chenper Footwear.

| "Old harness thrown away? Not
likely" said d 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 find that for making a
| serviceable article at low figure there :
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
] being twOpence per pound. These
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 il to the
boot manufacturers and others.
Nov, if it wasn't for the enormous
quantity of old harness used by boot
manufacturers, workingman would
not be able to purchase a pair of new
boots for a 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
profitable saddle to cut up is a riding
saddle You see, they contain a ire.
mendous quantity of good, sound
| leather; and then they are frequently
| thrown aside more because they are
dingy than anything else. Undoubted-
| ly a 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 eN.
! posure to the weather.
The demand for 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 bootmalking, 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
Zeal of the cheap harness. In the win.
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 sc
cheap; but, then, some men prefer tc
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 for repairing 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.