Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-04-05

VA w Clllu oiIcct, near lie new City
hall, is show window that holds many
attractions for horsemen and lovers of
the curious, says the st. Louis Globe
Democrat. 1t contains nothing but
rusty, discolored horseshoes, but such
is the variety and character Of the col
lection that it is surpassed by but one
other in existence. Shoes ranging in
style and beauty from the dainty rae
ing plate that has been worn by
thoroughbreds in record breaking per-
formances to the antiquated patterns
used more than $50 years ago are in the
collection, and about each shoe some
thing of interest can be told by F. G.
Snow, the owner of the collection.
Probably the oldest and most valued
of the collection is a shoe known to
have been made by Pontiac Indian in
l743. The shoe was for years an ex-
hibit in the Detroit Historical society's
headquarters, but came to it's present
owner through a member of the Case
family, in whose possession the shoe
has been kept for generations. Con-
sidering. the tools and the period, the
shoe is really an excellent piece of
workmanship. The calks, or toes, as
people unversed in shoeing lore would
term them, are small, the whole shoe
showing that, with the exception of the
improvement in manufacture, the gen
eral conception Of the horseshoe of that
period is still the basis of manufacture
Other shoes of interest rarely seen in
these days are those for oxen. Each
OK wore eight shoes in the old days, one
on either toe on each foot. Like the
horseshoes of the early part of the cen
tury, those for oxen now used In the
west have been changed but little in re-
cent decades.
The smallest shoes in the collection
are those of burros from the Rockies
and old Mexico. In contrast with them
the huge shoes commonly used in Eng
land and Belgium are most noticeable.
Both the larger makes are clumsy and
exhibit poor workmanship. The aver
age size of English shoes is greater
than that of any other country.
Comparison Of American horseshoes
with those of other countries easily
gives the palm to the manufacturers
in this country. A specimen Of the
French shoe of the variety known as
country shoe" shows clumsy work
manship on poorly shaped shoe with
which square-headed nails are used.
From Arabia Mr.. Snow has secured
two specimens of the shoes used upon
the famous steeds of the deserts. One
is rough-shaped plate of hammered
iron. From this blank the shoe is
shaped to provide what horseman know
as .''roller motion" The toe is turned
up at an angle of 45 degrees, the ends
being shaped and fastened together
with rivet instead of being welded as
in this country. Such a shoe would kill
horse if used upon the cobble stones
of st. Louis.
Probably as odd shoe as is found in
the collection is one that was used in
Ireland. The iron shoe proper is of
common pattern, save that it has two
lugs, or projections, pierced with screw
holes. By means of screws the shoe is
fastened to board platform two in
ches thick and about twelve inches
square. When it is desired to use the
horse upon one of the peat bogs the
wooden platform is screwed or bolted
fast to the horses shoe. Despite the
awkwardness of such footwear the wear
ers soon learn to avoid stumbling and
make surprising headway. Similar
shoes are worn in the peat bogs Of
California.
Among the new varieties of shoes are
those with rubber heel plate or cush-
ion, designed to break the conclusion
of the heavy blows struck by horses
when moving rapidly over granite pave
ments. Such shoes are worn by the
horses in the city ambulance service.
Among the other curious in the collec-
tion are mule shoes from Havana and
Santiago, one from Guayamos, Porto
Rico, near which battery A came so
close to a baptism of fire. Shoes from
Australia and from dozen other conn
tries, all of which are little better in
workmanship that those used in this
country half century ago, and not
equal to the shoes worn by the average
dray horse in this country. Though
many nailless shoes have been invent
ed, they have never been successful.
CHINESE TEACUPS-