Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-05
WEAR OUT HALF A TON
OF SHOE LEATHER DAILY
<<KT1. but don't shoes wear out

I'M i.: =: don't .a's, wear it,, ss,
cry of rine out Of ten people at least once
in their lives. and the average person
makes his little complaint about once every
three months.
1t is simply wonderful the amount OF
leather which is daily ground to dust by
the passing feet of the city throngs. The
proprietor of one OF the leading shoe
stores. speaking OF the subject, says:
ut has been calculated by some OF our
experts that the average person wears off
about one three hundredth and twentieth
OF pound OF their shoes every day. OF
course. this is only a general average.
Many people. especially those whose work
keeps. them out OF door all the time. wear
OFT q great deal more. and then there are
those who have To stay at home most OF
the time who hardly wear any. Clerks
in stores whose work keeps them on their
feet all the time walking or wooden floors
are the hardest on shoes. Next to them
are children who play out OF doors all
the time. 1t surely is big question, this
shoe business.
Indeed there are few larger businesses
in TIE world than the shoe business Take
right here IN Washington. If every one
Of the three hundred and some odd thou
sand people who are said to make this
city their home grind down their shoes TO
the extent of one three hundred and TWEEN
tieth of a pound il would mean that at
least d half ton o. perfectly good sole
leather daily COS 10 waste light here at
home. Think of il. a hundred and eighty
three IONS of hide used annually. or rather
forced back TO dust whence it came.
And when it is considered that the hides
of cattle, at least that portion which can
be Used for soles. only weighs about fif
teen pounds per animal II can be seen
how many animals give UP their lives
that people should wax in comfort
ninety-three cows. steers or whatever they
may use a day--,3,945 A year and just on
sole leather alone. Why. if they took all
OF the leather that is used for Soles in
Washington every year they could pave
Pennsylvania avenue from the Treasury
TO the Capitol with leather and save all Of
the people from buying shoes-maybe
Numbers of Pairs Bought
Nearly everybody buys at least three
pairs OF shoes year Children and those
whose work requires it. not TO speak OF
the wellto-do classes and millionaires.
who have couple Of pairs for every day
in the week and some others for special
occasions. buy all the way from six 10
twenty pairs each year. Consequently 1t
would be only giving a safe average to
say that 10G0.CW pairs OF shoes are sold
annually right here IN this city.
The shoe business. besides affording
a protection from the rough spots in the
pathway of life. gives employment to near
" 1000 people in the District of Columbia
There forty-three stores that sell
nothing else besides shoes and eighty-five
stores that sell shoes in connection with
their other stock. Then, besides. the shoe
maker In a small way, must not be disre-
garded. 1t seems to casual observer
that there must be one OF these humble
members of old shoes to every square OF
the city.
Where does all the sole leather go? Not
Lens of
Universities being of a curious turn OF
mind made a sweeping of the duct Of one
of the most trayersed corners in the city.
Upon ana1yzing this he discovered that
:, per cent OF the dust was made up Of
leather which the passers-by had ground
from their shoes. and this result compared
with some of the others he got is quite
interesting. He found that only seven
eiShths of ] per cent was metal from tho
shoes of horses and that a half of per
cent was rubber from the skidding wheels
of automobiles.
Shoes certainly wear out fast.