The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-12-20
WORLD GIVES TO
MAKE OUR SHOES
Hardly Any Land or Any Product
That Is Not Drawn Upon In the
Manufacture Of Mod
ern Boot
DIXIE TO MICHIGAN
In Our Own Country Every Section
Contributes Something to Our
Footwear Of
Today.
DIXIE TO MICHIGAN

Whats in a shoe?
Take a factory tag that tells how
different items OF material; also diff
ferent items of labor. That shows
many OF the things in a case. And
there may be others.
Whence come the materials? When
you look at a shoe you see the four
corners of the globe pulled together
in 1T.
Begin with the bottom, or sole,
made from the hide Of a Texas steer.
tanned in oak from Pennsylvania
forests. And the heel Is OF South
American dry hide, tanned in hem
lock bark.
It's a kid-skin shoe you have? 1t
looks 1t, although one never a tell
for sure these days. The vam2 Is
made of a goat Of Brazil. 1t Is tan
ned with chrome from New Gale
donna, is BACKED with logwood from
Jamaica, and is glazed with glass
from Austria
The top is Of a kidskin tanned in
Nigeria, brought to Peabody and
there retained and finished. The
tongue is OF sheep leather. The sheep
grew in Argentina. The leather lin
ings are OF skins Of sheep that grew
In Australia The skins were tanned
in sumac from Sicily.
Some of the leather Is treated with
fat liquor" an emulsion made OF
cod oil from Labrador and acids
from one Of the new American chem
ical laboratories.
All the World Contributes.
Yet only a few of the things THAT
the tanner used In making the shoe
have been mentioned, says a writer
in an exchange. He also uses, in his
mystery Of tanning, "dividivi' from
the East Indies, valonia from Turkey.
myrobo1ane from India and algaro.
billa from the land knows where;
salt from M~ichigan; sawdust from
Maine mills; & yolk from Russia;
blood from Chicago, and degras from
France-and a few other things from
a few other countries besides.
If there's any fellow under the SUI.
from an Eskimo to a Patagonian, or
from a Hottentot to a Korean, who
has a hide or skin to sell, he can get
his price for 1t If he will show 1t to
a Yankee tanner for the Yankee tan
ner is buying pelts everywhere.
The leather of which the shoe is
made Is fastened together with thread
of Irish linen or Georgia cotton. The
lacings are of Egyptian or long fiber
| Sea Island cotton, tough and strong.
The buttons are of bone pearl or pa.
per, American or European. The eye
lets are of brass, coated with cellu-
loid. The brass comes from NUM-
lions factories, when they are willing
to give up any. The celluloid comes
from the %gunpowder factories.
Tacks and Wooden Pegs.
The tacks are made by the millions
in Massachusetts. Of steel from the
United States Steel corporation. The
same is~true Of the heel nails, and Of
the shanks in the arches of the shoe.
II a person prefers wooden pegs, that
won't scratch hardwood floors, in the
heels Of his shoes, he may get them
at a New Hampshire shop. r.
The welt may be Of pig skin. The
pig was killed in Packingtown and
his pelt was tanned in Peabody. His
bristles were saved and made into
brushes for cleaning the shoes.
Between the outsole and insole Of
the shoe is the filler" a compost
ton Of rubber from Ceylon cut with
naphtha and mixed with ground cork
from Portugal.
The insole. perhaps, is of good
bark-tanned leather. But it may be
Of fiber, coated with a sheet of leath,
er. The box toe may also be of leath-
er. But more likely it is of felt, fill
ed with shellac, to make 1t stiff.
Likewise the counter, may be Of
leather. But more likely 1t is of
leatherboard, or cellulotd or of scraps
of leather pasted together with flour
paste and compressed.
The felt is made from waste wool
en-, perhaps old coats. The shellac is
from the lac tree Of India and the
leatherboard Is made down in Maine
Of shredded leather, hemp and jute
from India, and other things.
Lasts Of Michigan Maple.
Yet a few more things are used in
the making Of a shoe. The last over
which the shoe is fastened Is of
maple from Michigan. The patterns
by which the uppers are cut are of
paper board, made from old news
papers.
brass is stripped from them, after
lhCy pSSohlC oDSolC1O, III IL Is uSeu
for brazing the steel dies with which
leather is cut for several parts of the
shoe. The brazing is done in an
electric flame, or in a fire of Penn
sylvania coal.
The snowy white lining is mad
from cotton Of Dixie Land. Let's
hope it is not stiffened with starch
from Michigan. The top facing is of
silk, made in New Jersey mills, and
the gold leaf on it ma be truly a
product of E Dorado.
The edges of the heels and soles
are FURNISHED with wax, which comes
from Brazil, and the shoes are black
ed with a backing of which wax L.
the chief part.
There are forty-seven other things
in a shoe. But enough already has
been told. What does a fellow ex-
> pect these days Of high prices7
H..