The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-20
The American Shoe.

report was recently received by
the bureau Of foreign commerce, at
Washington, from the United States
consul at Edinburgh, which is of spe-
cial interest to the shoe manufacturers
of this country. The introduction Of
shoes Of American manufacture into
Great Britain Is already demoralizing
the trade in some parts of the United
Kingdom. The admission is made by
dealers that the shoes of the United
States "for beauty Of style, handsome
appearance and perfection of fit" far
excel those Of the British home manu-
facture. And what is equally, if not
more, to the purpose, these qualities
are absolutely causing our shoes to be
preferred to those turned out in France
for the English market
The advancement in the skillful manu-
facture of the finest grades of shoes in
this country has long been recognized
not only by retail dealers, but by Gus
toners themselves. The improvement
of machinery and all mechanical ap-
planes employed in the factories, as
well as the constantly increasing skill
of the operators, have wrought great
changes within the past decade: and
this has been accompanied, Also by a
gradual reduction In cost. The days
of the old-fashioned, handmade shoes
have been gradually departing until
they are now almost extinct.
The finest imported skins are now
dressed In Boston, Newark, Philadel-
phia, Wilmington and other seaboard
points to degree of perfection not
excelled in Paris. Indeed, some of the
best Partisan workmen in this line
have found 1t more profitable to labor
in these centers than to remain at their
homes across the sea: and these skilled
immigrants have been the means of
educating the artisans in these lines
with whom they are associated in the
Ea stern factories. The result has been
steady improvement primarily In the
finishing of the skins and secondarily
in the neatness of the completed shoe
fashioned upon lasts modelled from the
typical American foot
There are, however, thousands of
| men and women in the Eastern cities
Of this country who will continue to
curl the nose at shoe which has not
has not come from the hands of an
English or a French manufacturer,
notwithstanding the fact that there is
an increasing number of the elect both
in England and France who are in
sisting now upon being supplied with
the American shoe for the reasons
stated by the Edinburgh consul in the
report mentioned above. And, more's
the pity, there are ladies in ST. Paul
| and Minneapolis who will reject the
highly finished, handsome, stylish ar
ticle turned out in the complete fac
tories Of this city and insist upon the
product Of some Eastern establishment
while the lady of equal social position
New York or Boston or Philadelphia
demands the product of the ST. Paul
factory. The head Of one of the larg-
est manufactures in this city where
shoes of the finest quality are made
and shipped East recently remarked
that no better service could be done
for the ladies of st. Paul in regard to
their choice of footgear than to re-
mind them Of the popularity which the
shoes made here enjoy at a long dis
lance from home, while they were so
ANONYMOUSLY rejected at the very
doors of the factories from whence
they are shipped for the Eastern trade.
There is utility in this suggestion to
say nothing Of the element of home
pride as associated with home con-
sumption. But aside from this local
hint in connection with the subject,
the admission of the British merchants
conveyed by the consul at Edinburgh