The Washington times., 1910-09-13

sees it." was the rather caustic reply
Beg pardon Mr., Mr. Johnston, is
it2 Well, M Johnston did not mean
to question the ability Of man Of your
experience to tell a good shoe when he
sees it What I am driving At is just
this:
The old handmade shoes were
good shoes Not always as stylish and
as finely finished as present-day foot
vea-, you vii have % admit. but COM
Portable and se-viceable. Now tell me,
Nj Johnston. If you VIII. how do these
| Craddock. shoes that we see being made
right before our very eyes compare with
| the kind you used 10 make, the old re-
| liable kind. as they used 70 ssy?''
( wei. Mr.. Newspaperman.' came the
slow reply, its mighty hard for a man
, who for fifty years and more has lived
With a community 10 turn his back upon
that community as travelling too slow
when some stranger offers him a ride IN
an automobile In the old days, my
shoes were my friends why, man. they
werethe children % IOWA creation. I'm
not going back on them now. But, %
wistfuIy, Il wish that in my tine it
had been granted 70 me the opportunity
to make such a shoe as these here Grad
! docks"
Then Craddocks. M Johnson, are
better made shoes than the kind you
used to cobbleY
ct didn't say Just that quickly re
I plied the old fellow II / do say L
/ myself. stronger shoes than those used
10 cobble, a. you call II, cannot be
made. but these shoes are more beauti-
ful and more, symmetrical &c look N
than those Of my day. Then, again,
they are more comfortable on the feet
Those Of my day were principally made
on a straight last. whitfield out by hand
20 q casual measur ement Of the foot
I The right last wouId not measure IN
outline. or shape ike the left, for, being
| a handmade affair II could not be done
These lasts are made BY MACHINERY
and both right and left are exactly ike
the foot after being measured
In the old days women folk, TO keeT
themselves busy. cut out the leather for
the uppers. stitched them together oy
hand with bristIe and waxed-end, while
TODAY you use the finest OF machine
made threads IN Cottons and linens
which make q finer and neater looking
stitch than those OF the old days We
had no tips to protect the toe Of the
shoe and hold il IN shape. but had what
Twas called the Napoleon, plain, square
toe
IN the old DAYS mems boots, as we
i called them, were principally pegged and
some nailed In CObbler Keiser's time
! nothing but pegs were used, whiting
ont Of small piece Of wood Iengthwise Of
the grain the pegs that II used To
solidifv his sole leather, he used the
old-tine Iapstone and hammer, pounding
bv hand on his lap the grain Of the
leather to CONCEAL It 81 that was pos
sible. making il flexible, but firm, which
would produce more wear than any
i other way in ny day known But ]
see here that you have machinery that
rolls under intense pressure the fbers OF
the leather, and the top lift of the heel
is pressed with tons OF pressure to solid
ify It before YOU attach It to the shoe
It is a long foregone conclusion that
this is the proper way for accuracy
! combined with qUickneSs Of operation.
In the old days. 10 make one pair OF
shoes such as these CraddOCks, TO say
nothing OF the uppers to be stitched
would require all day, while here the
average, I understand, in the CraIdocB
factory is about one pair complete II
/ from seven to ten minutes.
Mr. Newspaper man, this IS why
hold my hands up with surprise at the
wonderful progress made IN this line
which I can conscientiOUsly call an art
In the old days. II was simply to give
something for idle hands TO do on the
farm We did not know what art was
but here with these wonderful machines
that ! see operating with such precision
and accuracy you are now able 10 Sc
cure shoe that is perfection IN style
in fit and in workmanship at $3.50, :
price that we would never thought o,
connecting with such quality in M
time.
The shoes or boots that I made II
the old DAYS, computing in dollars
anu cents Of today, which were pence