Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-13
S~QUEAKING SHOES.
Cause of the N~Oise-Once the Swell
Thing-ShOes Get Tired.

Cause of the NOise-Once the swell
Thing-ShOes Get Tired.
What is it that makes my shoes creak %
The little shoe maker locke up and smiled
for a moment, and then went on for a
time with his tapping, relates the New
York Sun. 1t was an old. old question
and it was not easy to answer it with any
thing new.
Take them off, first one, then the other"
he said, land M see II 1 can fix 'em-while
you wait"
OF came one shoe and the owner Of It sat
down with his stockinged foot over his knee
to watch the squeak-curing process. The
shoemaker simply pulled the shoe over an
iron last and drove four or Ave nails
straight up the middle of the sole, covering
perhaps three inches. Then he hanked this
row with two on each side.
TRY that" said he.
The man tried 1t and found himself walk
ing around the shop with one silent shoe
and the other a mass of s~queakings. So
the process was repeated on the noisy foot
covering and the man went off down the
street In silence and in comfort.
The next day, when he had more time, the
man sought the shoemaker for more in
formation.
OuCS, bdlu InlS man OF laSI ana WaAeQ
string, people seemed to think you had
not given them their moneys worth IL the
shoes you made or mended for them did
not squeak. That was about the time that
swells were reluctantly giving up hair oil
and similar things.
at is usually easy enough to make shoes
that will not squeak and all but the cheap
est kinds are supposed to be anti-squeakers.
The noise comes from the chatting of the
two pieces of leather that compose the sole,
not counting the welts. II left TO them
selves these pieces will sooner or later
part sufficiently to make a space about the
point where the ball Of the foot comes,
where there is not perfect contact-and
this is where the noise comes from.
The cheapest shoes should be the
noisiest, for the leather their soles are
made of is tanned in hemlock bark. This
makes what we call red leather. 1t is
rough and harsh. The next grade is Union,
a combination Of hemlock and oak bark for
tanning giving 1t it's name. The next high
est grade is white oak, and with this we
lave the least trouble so far as squeaking
is concerned.
when the public made up it's mind that
its shoes must not squeak, we had to stir
about and find something to put between
the soles. For the cheaper grades we use
leather chips and for the more expensive
shoes we have cork, and then there is this
specially prepared tar paper. We put a
little of any OF these materials between the
two soles and there's an end to the squeak
usually. Sometimes, however, the chips of
the paper get out of place or are ground
into powder and then the creaking is heard
from.
1T is very strange how some shoes will
wear for six months without a murmur and
their owners will tread lifes pathway in
peace and comfort. Then, without the
slightest apparent reason for 1t, they will
set up such a din that the wearer's life
will be made almost uncomfortable II he be a
nervous man.
ut seems almost as If they were tired
and wanted a rest. and l honestly believe
shoes do get tired. Sounds odd, but I'm
satisfied 1t is a fact. Chuck a pair Of shoes
into the closet and let them alone for a
couple Of weeks and see how comfortable
they'll feel when you put them on again"