The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1918-06-19
LOOKING AFTER
SHOE TRADE IN
SOUTH AMERICA

WASHlNG1ON, June 19.-FOr the
assistance of American shoe manu-
American trade, the bureau of for
eign and domestic commerce has i'm
ported more than $50 samples of the
kinds of footwear most generally used
soon series of special reports on
the South American shoe trade by
Herman G. Brock, of Brockton, Mass,
who recently returned to this country
after a long tour as special agent
for the bureau.
The best opportunities for the sale
of American shoes were found by Mr..
Brock to be on the west coast of
South America. High grade shoes
are scarce there, while the countries
are very prosperous from the sale
of unusual quantities of nitrates,
other minerals and foodstuffs at war
prices. On the east coast there is an
over-production of fine shoes by the
numerous and up-to-date factories in
Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Ar
gentina recently doubled the duty on
imported shoes for the protection of
her home industry and tariffs in the
other two countries are also very high
Peculiarities of the Latin-American
foot must be considered in making
goods for sale in those countries.
1t was with this in mind, particularly,
that the bureau collected represen-
tative styles of shoes to illustrate the
very high instep, broad ankle, short
vamp and high heel, which the South
American demands.
In styles, the South American fac.
tories generally copy the American
types, adapted to local conditions. The
modes are varied frequently to main
tain the advantage of domestic over
imported shoes. Nicaties of finish are
required, rather than long-wearing
qualities, and objection frequently has
been made to high-grade American
made boots for women because there
was some roughness of detail or be-
cause they were too heavy The South
American buyer wants piano finish"
even on the bottoms of the soles
which must be made flexible and also
light, and any lose threads are likely
to prevent sale.
Another demand made is that shoeI
uppers should come together over the
instep, which is directly contrary to
ideas OF perfect fit in this country.
Except in the very large cities there
is no such thing as fixed price for
an article. Every purchase is the
occasion of much bargaining, so that
the American custom of stamping the
price on pair of shoes is not in favor
American machinery is used almost
exclusively in South America factor
les Buenos Aires alone has more
than 200 factories some of which have
daily capacity of 5000 pairs.
Before the war, England led in the
sale of mems shoes to South Amer
lea. Austria, France and Switzerland
sold the bulk of women's and chill
dren's shoes, but all of the Austrian
product was cleared through Hamburg
commission houses and the trade sta
tistics gave Germany the credit for
the sales. American firms have an
excellent reputation, for fair dealing,
the quality of their goods and the
manner in which the goods are packed,
which probably accounts for the in
crease in business in recent years.
Mr.. Brock pointed out that the small
population of Cuba buys more Amer
lean shoes than the 5O,0O0,00O inhab-
1tants of South America. He said that
in spite of export restrictions neces-
seary for successful prosecution of
the war and Notwithstanding the diff
ficulties of doing business abroad at
present, American manufacturers who
are seriously interested in building
up permanent export trade, cannot
be too strongly urged to acquaint them
selves with South American needs
now.