Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-27
.SHAW'S FOOTWEAR
AN OMAHA SHOEMAKER HAS A
DISTINGUISHED CUSTOMER
IN FORMER IoWAN. i

has Made ShoeS TOR Mr. shaw since
the Former Governor Was Mere
Lawyer in Observation-Disclosures Of
Pairs Required is Growing Less.
Omaha, Neb, Aug. 2O-All shoes
worn by the secretary of the United
States treasury are made in Omaha.
That is to say, the footgear Of Leslie
M. Shaw OF Iowa is manufactured es-
pecially to order in this western city of
superior advantages notwithstanding
the shoemaking skill that obtains at
the national capital 1t is no passing
fancy of Secretary Of the
Treasury Shaw but a matter of con-
venience Long before he was called
to his present position Mr.. Shaw had
his shoes built in Omaha, and the 9TH
er day his last order was expressed to
Washington.
G. J. Palmquist is the man who
makes the secretary's shoes. He has
small shop at 107 South Fifteenth
street. The small room is half filled
with wooden lasts of curious feet as the
proprietor for many years has made
speciality of manufacturing covering
for pedal extremities that were out OF
the ordinary. He came here in 1883
and has been a cobbler ever since.
The First Order.
On April /, 1892, Mr.. Shaw passed
by the Palmquist shop, then located in
the Karbach building at Fifteenth and
Douglas streets. The lawyer-banker
from Denison was in Omaha attending
a big Methodist meeting. He needed
pair of shoes and he knew by vast ex-
perience that shoes such as he want
ed could not be obtained in the stock
of any dealer, either in or out of Oma-
ha.
The Palmquist sign about shoes
made to order was observed by the
Denison man and his subsequent action
was accelerated by the fact that there
was no shoemaking of high order in
his town. He went in and took off his
old shoes and had Palmquist sketch tho
outlines of his feet.
Not a Trilby Foot.
In this case the feet are the thing.
They are not ordinary feet in any sense
of the word The right member has
outpointed the left in more ways than
one and hardly would fill Little Billie
with the same emotions as did the foot
of the wonderful Trilby. This is not to
infer that the secretary of the treasury
has big feet. They are merely good
No. 8, but customary No. would
come long way from making the sec
rotary feel comfortable.
Mr.. Shaw wrote his own name and
address in Shoemaker Palmquist's
order book. He also marked $50 in
| Ia IL.
and handed Palmquist the money.
Lastly the Iowa man enjoined in pen,>
Gil that the shoes be shipped by ex
press.
| Wears Patent Leather Now.
That was the first of many orders.
Since it was filled Mr.. Shaw has NOT
been able to bear anything on his feet
other than Omaha-made shoes, and he
| still calls for them. His last letter,
written on the official stationery of the
secretary of the treasury, demands
patent feathers, som ething that he ney-
er positively demanded until he got ia
going out in Washington society and
being necessary at all the big doings
in the east
The patent leather question has
l. DS0h a OHS lOI 9iSOlIlS IliQ6,
however. Mr.. Shaw had made a spe,
cial call on Shoemaker Palmquist to
induce him to use the shiny leather.
but the latter had politely refused, say
| ing that he could not make it perform
the peculiar Office necessary to cover
the secretary's feet
| But the last letter bore a command.
| Make them at my risk" said the sec.
| st,xy IN
Palmquist labored and succeeded, and
the other day he received SIS and the
secretary's thanks.
| Life of His Footgear.
1t is a curious fact that while Leslie
M. Shaw was directing his energies
to the law and banking business he
used to wear out four or five pairs of
shoes each year. After the oratorical
inundation of 1896 and the governors
chair was considered none too good
for him, the yearly consumption Of
shoes dropped off perceptibly. 1t ac-
tually got down to three the last year.
But now in the cabinet position it APP
pears the secretary uses his feet ev.
en- less than when ruling Iowa, and he
has worn out but two pairs since call
1
There was a time when Mr.. Shaw
thought seriously of having his shoes
made elsewhere than in Omaha This
was just after his election as governor
and before he left Denison for Des
Moines He called on Palmquist and
demanded his wooden lasts, which
were handed to him. He placed them
in suit case and said that inasmuch
as he was going to live in a city he
would let some Des Moines shoemaker
do the job. The Des Moines shoemak-
er, whoever he was. tried and failed,
and within a year the lasts came back
to Palmquist, who fully expects to keep
them for life.
1t has been a year since Secretary
Shaw paid the Omaha shoemaker a
visit. The latter does not care to dis.
cuss his distinguished patron or his
orders for fear of offending him.
FIRST WOULD HEAR LACEY.