Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-21

AIVhEhE is no appreciation oil
shoes This was the sorrow
full complaint that was poured
into the ears of the Boulevardieir by one
of the biggest shoe authorities i'm the city.
lie is manager of house which is sup
posed to appeal to the popular taste in
shoes and a house which is immensely
popular: therefore his complaint seemed
to me to be all the more strange.
There is no appreciation Of shoes" he
repeated and there was a low sob OF an
guish in his voice.
Say on
just this" complained the manager.
only this and nothing more, as Poe
saio IN one of his poems. A man will go
70 spend flfty-cent piece for a tie. He
VIII 1airiy lather with anxiety as he drifts
around the tie department of the store.
he Will examine blues and wonder wheth-
er they Will match his complexion: gray
checks with fixed conviction that they
VIII Kill the harmonious effect of his
Drown suit; combinations with the criti-
cal eye of a cubist painter. Finally he
VIII pay his so cents, take his tie away
and spend two DAYS in ARRANGING tho
proper combination to go with II
x
Or he will go to buy a two-dolIar shirt
i"o ooiiars is quite sum OF money to
spelo Iof a shirt; that is, to the man OF
iiiouerate income. So, when he goes TO
puy his shirt, he will pick out a shirt and
loss lt back; grab another and have If
called out on stripes; seize a third and
snake 1t savagely when he finds a mink
pin check in it, and finally buy shirt
mat to his mind exactly fills a vacancy
1eit by his latest blue serge suit
IN buying ties or shirts a man is the
most critical or animals. They must be
exactly what he wants or he won't take
lnem. HIS individuality is expressed In
the bits of color he chooses as cleo rlv &C
MS purse IS eXemplified and advertised
Dy the texture of the garments YET man
falls utterly to understand the most i'm
portant item of apparel in tho u,bn,s -
CORY
Here the manager pointed to man
who was being fitted in the back ma rt nf
the store. The man weighed about 900
pounds and wasn't an inch over five feet
nine in height. At the moment when the
manager pointed the behemoth-like pur-
chaser was hopping around on the car
pet like an overgrown toad in a slender.
pointed and excessively graceful TYNE az
shoe. On the face of the far man war
an expression of martyrdom such as is
found IN the autographs of ST. Sebas-
be Well filled with arrows iA -
Inc Tat man groaned as the manager
looked at him, then groaned again and
took another frantic hop.
Ihese \ break in in time, don't YOU
Think he asked of the manager Tbere
was a look of pathetic pleading in his
face. - no
'oh. surely said the manager en-
Inc tat man took off the shoe and
nuttered something about breaking them
n at nome The clerk wrapped them up
ma the tat man was permitted to re-
'lace his older foot garb. He slid into
lis old shoes with sigh OF relief-a sigh
hat you could hear clear out on the
street.
That's comfort" he said He picked
lp his new shoes and plodded sturdiy
ut of the shop
The manager turned toward mo and the
o0k or sorrow returned to his face
ABSOLUTELY no taste at ALL" he said.
Then, l demanded, why did you let
INN take those shoes? You told him they
would break in all right
What else could / do?" demanded the
In return. Tell him they
Wouldn't break in. Immediately he would
ave become suspicious. He would have
cen convinced that there was some
hins wrong with the shoe and would
ave left the store. Every man is so
tteriy and completely vain that the no
ION that his foot is crowded into too
mail space is unthinkable Therefore,
e comes In here, picks out a small shoe ;
no goes out to suffer for weeks before
G can even wear it.
And to what purpose VIII he look
etter! MOST certainly not. He is a man
mo is essentially rugged. pair of ,
luare-toed, good-sized solid shoes, built
, wear, ADDS the fitting touch of COM
ieteness to the man. Yet he refuses to ,
noerstand this simple fact and insists ;
pom buying slender type OF shoe be-
ause the slender type happens to be ,
lore generally III style. ,
IL that man conducted his business as
conducts his shoe-buying he would /
a bankrupt In a year. II he bought {
Is suits as he buys his shoes he would
, arrested for an outrageous and indie
mt exposure. He would be about half I.
'essed. Yet he cheerfully violates all \
lie precepts of common sense, hits the a
of comfort under the chin and '
flies his own sanity-all for a pair of !
loes. VIII you show me the sense in :
att '
Perhaps" l suggested. "you would do