The St. Johns herald., 1901-06-22

in L1te Years.
 On Twelfth street, near the new city attractions for horsemen and lovers of [, the curious, says the St. Louis Globe Democrat It 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 rac- ing plate that has been worn by thoroughbreds in rd-breaking per formances to the anticipated patterns used more than 150 years ago are in the collection, and about each shoe some thing of interest can be told by F. c. Snow, the owner of the collection.
 Probably the oldest and most valued of the collection is shoe known to have been made by a Pontiac Indian in 1743. The shoe was for years an ex- hibit ill the Detroit Historical society's headquarters, but came to its 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
  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 a poorly shaped shoe with which square-headed nails are used. From Arabia MT. 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 notion" The toe Is turned up at an angle of 45 degrees, the ends with rivet instead of being welded as in this country. Such shoe would kill a 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 Jugs, or projections, pierced with screw holes. By means of screws the shoe is fastened to a 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 CTS 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 a rubber heel plate or cush- ion, designed to break the concussion 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 baptism of fire. Shoes from Australia and from a dozen other coun- tries, all of which are little better in | workmanship that those used in this | country half a 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.