El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-07-20

the higher grades Of shoes. The bend
for the Pershing shoes must be not
more than 50 inches long from the
root Of the tail and not more than %
inches wide The wording is such
that there can be no question as to
the character Of material
Trench Shoes.
1t is the same with orders for
trench shoes which have already been
Issued The Specifications for them
are so many that they would fill about
three columns Of this NEWSPAPER. They
relate TO the kinds of leather used
Tor the uppers, for the outer soIes.
middle soles and inner soles They
specify the leather for every part Of
the shoe. including the heels. (which
are 70 be from oak, union or hemlock
sole leather Of good quality, free from
holes or blemishes which viii affect
the wear They specify how the
leather is 20 be cut, and give an in
finite detail Of technical requirements
which would not be understood by the
man outside the tannery and the fac
tory
Becomes Famous Tanning Center.
shortly after the establishment Of
these first tanneries Roxbury. now a
part OF Boston, became tanning cen
ter, and other tanneries were estab-
lisheG throughout New England until
the tanneries. shoe factories and other
leather making plants Of one kind or
another employ more than 100, 900
workmen and produce something like
S400000,00o worth OF leather goods
per annum-
Tanneries were established in the
colony Of Virginia almost as soon as
In that Of Massachusetts,. and as the
country grew they spread throughout
the United States. They are now
everywhere and the establishments /
leather goods Of one kind or
another are in the neighbOrhood OF
1000.
The value Of the annual product is /
more than S100O,OG0,000 and the cap
ital invested in the industry IS per !
haps SS.000,e00000. The business has 7
been widely diversified and it is Z
carried on through a long series Of Z
complicated machinery. each branch F.
embracing a vast number OF inven- /
tons and new processes Of one kind I
OF another
Armies Have Own style Of Shoes.
Every army has its own footgear
I have before me photographs Of that
worn by the armies OF Europe now in
collection OF the United States Ma
,hinery company OF Boston The
shoes and boots weight from three TO
i've pounds a pair and they take an
enormous quantity OF leather. The
j Ha-.H IS Ele-AAa aAaAA AAH e
pounds per pair. In another letter /
han describe 1t and show how it Is
made
The hides and skins we use in our
hoes for the soldiers are largely I'M
'orted- Many Of them land at New
York, although a large number areI
hlpped to Boston and some to san
francisco, New Orleans and Chicago
7hey 90 from the ports 10 the tan
leries, where they are cured and
made into feathers Of one kind or
mother
Methods Constantly Change.
The methods Of tanning have great
y changed within recent years. The
anneries Of colonial days were much
Ike a small country Erist mill. The :
aiming mixture was oak and hem E
1ck bark cut from the trees OF the
crest nearby, and ground in a little E
ron mill moved by a horse or mule E
The hides were soaked in water TO E
often them and after that the hair :
nd bits OF fat we've scraped Off They
-ere then tanned by putting them in
its with layers OF ground bark be I
Teen them After that water was let
D. and the tanning material soaked ]
rom the bark mixed with the water Z
-ent into the hide. giving IL the pre- =
arvative quality which makes the
ifference between raw skin and b
.ather- In such tanning the hides O
ere often allowed to soak for 7
.onths. When tanned they we're
ken out. dried and finished as the e
seds OF the market required The fl
.nneries Of today do most Of their o
ork the same way, but everything
On a large scale, and modern ma
linery is used
There are special machines for al il
0st every process and for every q
lriety OF tanning. There are ma 6,
lines for manipulating the hide and --
II taking of the hair. A leather
lifting machine vas invented when
lomas jefferson was president, and y
Nv we have splitting machines that n
10 be adjusted to the thOusandths Of e
q inch BY means OF belt as It q
hirls around the thin steel knife b
.arpens itself On an emery wheel 1T s.
III split a hide into sheets as thin as b
lper II required
There are also measuring and cut h
lg machines, which relieve the tan cl
IFS OF mathematical computation q
achines for stOnings polishing and q
TL14D0O1S0E10