The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-11-01
MODERN BLACKSMITHIE5
CRlMY SHOPS HAVE BEEN sUPPLkNT
60 BY Observation-Disclosures"

recommendation Made Plates and
Their Improvements.
What used 10 be called a smithy In
Longfellow's day, Is now and then in
this city termed "horseshoelng par
lor." This Indicates the change in
Tor" This indicates the change in
shoeing. In one OF these are FIVE
forges In n row against the farthest
wall; they are whitewashed, and the
fires are kept glowing by n patent bel
lows that is operated by a chain-gear
eontrlyance. The floor is of hard
wood, and during Office hours one
man does nothing but keep It clean.
AT each forge two men are at work.
and In an Office, separated from the
main room by a glass partition, sits a
man at roll-top desk The Office is
carpeted, and there are a half-dozen
upholstered chairs about, and on the
walls n series Of sporting prints. The
man at the desk is the proprietor. His
arms are not sinewy; he does not wear
a leather apron, and his sleeves are
not rolled up but he carries a life
insurance policy Of S25,OOO owns the
land on which his "parlor" stands,
and makes about $4,000 profit annu-
ally. He is a type Of the fashionable
farrier" of the day.
Other similar places are frequented
only by those horses that have their
shoes made to order, and that conhne
their labors to the Speedway and the
Park. The proprietor of such q place
receives for common workaday sets
Of shoes for light harness horses $3.50
a set, and he fits them out with
least one set of new shoes a month
For customers that because Of any
popularity or disorder of the foot re-
quire the farrier's personal super
vision in the making and fitting of the
shoe, the price is anywhere from SO
to $15.
Up town there are, however, shops
the proprietors of which have not
ploced their sturdy old trade on the
level with barbering and manicurlng,
by calling their establishments par
lors." And 1t is to them that that
kind of shoeing which the trade terms
scientific" and artistic" is largely
confined. That the intelligence and
skill which these men have bestowed
upon their work justify in a measure
these extravagant terms, no one who
knows anything about present-day
methods will deny.
In spite of his honesty it is doubtful
whether the robust village blacksmith
of the poet, were he to return, could
A find employment in any of the high
class New York shops. Since his time,
there have been hundreds of different
kinds of shoes invented, all of them
have been tried, and about ninety
eight per cent. discarded. The old
time sheer would probably succeed in
fitting the rubber pad used at the pres
ent time about as we'll as he would in
setting precious stones. 1t was the
Introduction of the asphalt pavement
that first created a demand for the
rubber-pad shoes that are now gener-
ally worn by city carriage horses.
Their object primarily was to prevent
slipping, and to take the place Of the
old-fashioned heel and toe calks that
were effective on cobblestones, but
worthless and even dangerous on
asphalt.
Gradually these devices were elab-
GRATED until now they serve a two
fold purpose in preventing slipping
and in relieving jar upon the animals
foot. Hundreds of these rubber con.
trivances have been invented, but
there are not more than half-dozen
that have been found practicable The
manufacturers of the two kinds most
popular at present have each made
large fortunes from their inventions
To the man, it is said, who will place
an absolutely perfect one on the mar
ket, there awaits a reward as great
as the one that inventors of car
couplers have been striving for FOL
J. years.
These pads are as much part o.
the present-day blacksmith's stock al
the shoes and nails For an entir,
new set from S. to $3.50 is the aver
age price, and with ordinary every
day use a set will last about fou
weeks.
Two men are employed on ever!
horse that is being shod-one at thu
forge shaping the shoe, and the othe
trimming the foot Two men can sho
about nine horses in a day, and tn
average salary for skilled journeymel