The times., 1898-05-23
The Philosophy of a Shine.


(From the Kansas City Star.)
Them shoes o. yourn won't take g
purity er shine as de ole ones did" said
bered into the beotbIack's chair and
placed pair OF new "tans'' on the backs
of the brass camels that stand patiently
all the day bearing the burdens of many
feet.
The shine artist picked up long, finn
sy brush broom with his right hand.
slapped it two or three times with his
left hand and began playing Hot Time"
ron the mans trousers, as he turned them
up at the bottoms. Why bootblaek al
ways plays tune as he whisks the dusc
out of the "shinee's" trousers is one OF
the unexplained mysteries.
'tWhy won't they shine?' asked the
man.
si4'oh, dey'n shine all right. But dey
won't shine like de ole ones did. Dem
ole ones TUX IS fine er shine s / ever see.
b HDon't you soil those tops. said the
man.
""Oh, I won't do dat. boss came the
reply with a grin that exposed mouth
full of cleaning worries. AN I'll Civ you
er good shine, too"
But why not as good as-yeu put on
the old shoes?"
"'Cause dey's new, for one thing, an
cause de leather amt shine-leather
Some leather is shine-leather an some
amt. Now dem ole shoes wuz fine shine
leather, but dese-dese-
He hesitated, not liking to east asper-
sions on the character of his customers
foot-gear, yet It came out
Desc amt so good"
But why?
''Lordee boss, I dunno-only dey amt
Now, ] can tell jes' by rubbin my han
over dem shoes dat dey amt lax dem
shoes you wuz wearin'-dem light shoes,
mean. De big heavy shoes is all right;
dey's soft leather, and desc is finished.
But you can't tell why?''
Nav, sur; can't tell Sny-but / knows
jcs soon as ! feels of EN-. You see,
boss he went on, as he felt around for
a sponge and bar of soap, after wiping all
the dust off the shoes, "deys all kinds O.
leather, 1esf as dey is all kinds o. folks
some folks shine and some folks is always
dull and grumpy-but kin you tell why?
Nav, you don see whuts in EN-. Now,
so tbs 18th leather
What are you washing them for?"
so dey won't turn black en- ugly"
How does that help it?"
The negro grinned at his superior wis
dom
Dat takes all de dust outen de pores
of de leather. Amt you wash you self fer
TO- be clean? OATS way with shoes. Deys
lax people, dey's washed and dey's clean.
Put de polish on while deys dirty and dirt
stays under it and course de shoe turns
| black. So do men less dey wash
BUT how about the dressing that you
/ put on?
"Tain't no good, lessen it go on clean
shoe boss. When 1 gifts dis shoe clean
den de polish kin work inter it,"
The bootblack began vigorous work
again with the big whisk broom.
ITO dry emp
.Yassur." grinned the negro, "dats to
dry EN-, SOS dey4l take de polish"
He poured out some shiny, sticky stuff
from bottle and put 1t on the shoes.
/ Then he rubbed II In vigorously, in per-
feet rag time" He could no more help
giving vent to the music in his soul than
he could fail 10 grin at his own superior
knowledge OF shoe-shining. His elbows
worked rapidly and soon the shoes looked
much as if they had been through hard
rain: Then he rubbed them with a cloth
| a soft piece Of canton flannel, with the
woolly side next the shoe.
tsiiaMhy don't you use wooien rag?"
asked the man.
| n,*Idit's too hot. De wool heats de leath-
er an draws out de oil of de polish. Dat's
whut er shoe man toie mean l reckon
ne > right, cause de best shines come
| from dis kind o. rag"
The looks of the shoes improved vastly
The cloudy, rusty appearance slowly
merged into pretty fair shine. Then the
energetic Senegambian grasped a brush,
an ordinary polishing brush, and used il
| on the shoes.
isn't that a new wrinkle?" asked the
man.
Not wild de artists, sur" was the re-
ply, with Just shade of pride mingled
with the satisfaction in his voice. '.Pse
knowed dat trick all dis season.
Whats it for?"
Dat puts de oil inter de pores o. de
leather-see? An hit doan' wear out so
| quick. Mos fellers jes rub de oil on.
and den slop it wild cloth-any ole
cloth-and put de paste on. but dat amt
emmy way t give gen'rman's shoes
shine. Dat shine doan las till he gets
on de cyar. Dis yer shine'H be good tell
-tell-well, tell tonight, when de gen'r-
man goes out. Yah, Yah.'' and the ne.
gro broke into gale of laughter.
The artistic process had been going on
for nearly ten minutes.
Pretty near done?" asked the man.
''Yassur; only y kynt hurry dis shinin'
business. Got t give EN- time to be fix
ed right, and he began smearing the yell
| low paste over the oil he had Just put on
After that he took a fresh cloth and be-
gan the final polishing process.
Didn't l tell you dem shoes wouldn'
| take tad good old shine? Dey won't do
| hit. But denis fine Shoes ne added
half in apology. dem tops is sporty. Say
boss, I puts in my bid fur dem shoes
| right now
| The man laughed.
I'm going to shine 'em myself after
this with a banana skin. he said
l 'I)Oan do dat boss dat'S do 1,n,,
| kin do. Wy, a banana skin amt never
made to shine shoes wuth 'Taint no good
at all. Lordee, boss, dat'll spoil dem,
| sure
But 1 thought it was good thing to
use"
Nav, sur, 'tain't no good at tall. what
fur-say, boss, did you ever seen shoes
shined dataway what was shined-really
| shined?''
The man confessed that he did not
| Den don't try dat fool scheme" the
negro added. Then he smeared over all
the pretty polishing he had done with a
fresh supply of paste.
| Why's that?"
| "Say, boss, you don know much bout
shinin' shoes. does you, boss?" came the
reply with another exhibition of ivories
| Oats to make de shine las De good
shine den is two thick see, and Wen de
! first one rubs off dey's another one unner
| hit OATS it. Much 'blige, boss as he
pocketed a coin and began another tat
too with the big brush.
The shine lasted a little less than an
| hour. But the talk was worth the price.
Baseball and Bull Fighting.
(From the Chicago Times Herald.)
Sport is a serious matter after all A