The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-06-01
SHOES FOR
SOLDIERS
The Kind That Uncle Sam
is Furnishing.
THEY ARE BROAD TOES.
Solid SOled aud Are Made of Good
Calfskln, Well Sewed.
NOT LIKE THE ARMY PROGANs.

ANEW IOhhs OubC i.-lA'Potidi wv
part OF the soldiers equipment has receiv-
I'd more careful study In modern times
than his shoes, and this is proper enough,
since his marching ability is necessarily
largely dependent upon his being both
serviceably and comfortably shod.
There was never moro conclusive
showing of tho necessity for rs nearly
perfect footwear as may possibly be OBJ
tained In the army than was afforded by
the recent experience of the British in AT
rica, where the boots worn by. a large body
of troops gave out completely after being
worn only six weeks. Had 1t not been
possible, almost by mere chapce to obtain
other boots without waiting to procure
them from the government in the usual
way tho campaign would have ended in
failure and not success. OF course the
contractors who furnished the defective
boots have come I'm for the severest censure,
yet it is possible that certain army author
tiles were really moro to blame than the
contractors, the failure of the boots In this
case being due to the fact that the soles
were fastened to the uppers with waxcd
threads and not with wire This latter
fastening is now fully understood to have
been necessary, because the campaign was
conducted in a rainless desert region where
the heat and the dryness and the sand con-
spired to cut the threads in an incredibly
short time.
Shoes For Uncle Sans Soldiers.
Many of my older readers will remember
the awkward, ungainly looking cheap cow
hide tongue" shoes, or brogans, that
were provided by Uncle Sam for the boys
In blue in the sixties. These shoes looked
neither scrviceable nor comfortable. Yet
they served very well, with some excep-
tions, II their qualities are to be judged by
the marching done in them, since many
long and hard stretches of right smart
walking were included in the operations
of the civil war. But the soldiers of the
present war are not to be shod as the boys
were in the fight for the Unions preserva-
tion. They are to be furnished with good
looking shoes as well as shoes that will
wear well. At least this is to be inferred
from what has already been done In the
matter
The first order for shoes given for the
new army by the government was for lOO,-
900 pairs. Many Of the national guards
men and others who had responded to tho
first call had gone into camp hurriedly
and wearing whatever they happened to
have on their feet at the time. Naturally
many of them soon began to approach a
condition of barcfootedness, while many
others, whose shoes stood the strain OF
drill all right, suffered a good deal from
the narrow toes and other unsuitable quail
itics of their footgear. Besides there was q
woeful lack Of uniformity, which detract-
cd much from the soldierly appearance OF
the men, tan shoes, yellow shoes, plain
black shoes and even patent feathers all
being in evidence.
But there was Of course no time to order
the first 100, 900 shoes made. They must
be had without delay, and that being so
they had to be taken from the supply OF
shoes already In stock. This caused a
great hustling among shoe dealers in sew
eral cities, but particularly In New York,
since the bulk OF the order was placed
here. One big dealer, who secured an or
der for 10000 pairs. sent number of men
to all the other dealers, inquiring for laced
shoes of assorted sizes, ranging from s1.60
to 81 In price, wholesale, made of calfskin,
sewed, with thick soles and broad toes.
From one dealer they secured !, 1000 pairs,
from another 2, 500, from another 5000
and so on. In less than day the dealer
with the government order had secured
Ills h1OcS anu WuS bliPPihk ehtii w sbO
various camps where they were most need
ed. The next dealer with n government
order to go skirmishing for shoes In the
New York market, though only few
hours later, was not so lucky, for the first
one had reduced the supply visibly. The
third seeker for shoes had to hasten to
Boston, Buffalo and other cities In order
to fulfil his contract.
A A1lfne~ An Grcf
hurry orders of the government it's officials
were busy making ready to receive bids
for the manufacture of shoes especially for
the army, and since that time contracts for
On enormous number have been given out
at prices ranging from S1.60 To e2. 87H a
pair Whatever typo may later be decided
upon, the first 100, 900 pairs contracted for
were plain, simple laced calfskin shoes,
with solid but not clumsy solcs--of exactly
the type that most sensible men who walk
a good deal would be most likely to order.
Uniforms.
The change from the regulation blue
flannel TO brown duck for men in the trop-
ical climates of Cuba and tho Philippines
Is the first important variation In the
United States army uniform since civil
war days, but before 1860 there were SOW
eral complete changes.
The continental regulars" in the Revo-
lutionary war wore blue coats and buff
brecches and waistcoats, the coats being
cut with swallowtails. The footwear was
top boots reaching nearly to the knee.
The hcadgcar was n plume surinounted
thrcc corncred hat The buttons on the
coat and waistcoat wcro not of distinctive
design, but were generally OF metal or
bono. Many OF the Revolutionary troops,