Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-12
IT'S A HAPPY
DAY FOR
THE COBBLER


then these war days ought to be gala
days for them. Everybody is going tc
the cobbler nowadays. and cobblers
have sprung up whore once there were
none Actually there are many men
and women who once never wore re-
paired shoes who now plan 70 have
patches and mends put on their shoes
with a feeling akin TO pleasure. SEQ
retary McAdoo. they say. makes per
sonal excursions 70 his cobbler'H and
takes real pride in wearing shoes that
have been resoled.
Not long ago the news came 70 us
that in Hungary it costs twenty thres
dollars to have your shoes rcsolcd
Perhaps there - some grim comfort
IN that thought. In our own land shoe
repairing prices have gone UP cons!d
erably OF late. this IA due TO the tn
creased price and demand FOR leather,
the general rise IN all labor prlcer and
tho fact that this particular kind OF
labor is particularly useful at the pres
ent time. for tho cobbler IS the con
server OF leather snd leather almost a >
much as wheat II something that must
be conserved.
But I'm spite OF the Increased price
OF shoes and tho faot that there has
been . great demand for shoe repair
ing the fact 10 also apparent that
there has been an enormous demand
Tor shoes since the war began. In tho
first place women soon discovered that
they could not DO real war service
without some sort OF serviceable shoes.
You can't march four miles on a warm
day in Red Cross parade with high
heeied pumps on that arc run down at
he heel and rather ill-fltting. anyway.
and you can't do war gardening in
pair OF shoes that gives your feet no
support. Women are wearing more
shoes than ever before. and they are
wearing them out faster because they
are vastly more activs than ever be
fore. They walk more and they stand
mora and this means that they must
hs~e more shoes They have also
dscovered that there is extremely poor
economy an wearing a pair or shoes
that 10 pot comfortable. Even when
leather Is high it4s far better to throw
the uncomfortable pair Of shoes away
although as a matter OF fact there IS
usually some one to give them 10
than to try to endure in discomfort
Re.antly when the question OF the suit
ability Of women for work O. : street car
large cities the fast was brought o'lt In
= series of interviews with the indi-
vtdual women thus employed that the
women IN general who found the work
not too ardous and who were thriving
on il ami wanted TO keep at il were
the women who wers property shod;
whereas the women who agreed with
the directors who thought that street
car conducting was distinctly insult
abls for women-they apparently found
no objection TO having women scrub
office floors and slave over washtubs
were those who were trying 70 hold
down their Jobs IN a pair OF ill-1ttirg.
unsuitable French heeled shoes To
say that these women were frivolous
or something OF the sort because they
wore such inappropriate footgear
would Re unfair. Probably the work
that they had been doing could he done
we'll enough IN that type OF shoes and
Il Is quite likely that they dId not want
10 invest in q pair Of shoes particularly
adapted FOR the new line OF work til
they knew Il was 20 be permanent
Volunteer workers have had the same
experience thst these women have and
the fact "a being borne in upon shoe
dealers more and more every day that
omen have UP 10 this time beal
rather badly fitted as TO shoes The
whole idea is that their present u orlx
requipes better fitting. and more sub
staff 81 shoes.
Is Il ever possible 10 have the In
adequate pair OF shoes made adequate?
That is q question that must come up
sorpetimes for eooooTny's sake. and IL
the lea ther situation becomes anv more
acute here than - Is II will really ba-
hoovs ell OF US 10 DO what we can TO
make every pair OF our old shoes wear
lhle for our new work. whatever that
may be-
Rubber soies really DO wonders 10
The old pair OF shoes, A good cobbler
san put heel on your old high French
seeied shoes that Will not be exCes-
iively high and that Will be straighter
Than the first heel and will therefore
give better support At the same time
Il will not be so low as 10 throw the
shoe out Of plumb. Remember Il never
pays TO have a really low heel put on
shoc that Is designed for a very high
heel
Sometimes It is possible TO have shoes
stretched 70 very good advantage. II
Fou wish 10 have this done take the
bought them Often there is no charge
for the service. but the repairers do not
guarantee the result. II the stretching
breaks the stitching they take no -e-
sponsibility. However. usually a pair
of shoes can be increased from one 10
two widths without doing any injury.
Before we get 10 the point Of paying
twenty-five dollars 20 have our shoes
soled let's spend a half day inventory
Ing our shoes and taking stock Of
them. To do this you should call into
requisition all the shoe trees you pos
sess. q bottle Of shoe backing, various
sorts Of shoe brushes and an old nail
bruh with some old clothes and posi-
bly, q cake Of securing soap and some
shoe whiting. Needless TO say, you
should protect your hands with an old
pair OF gloves Now collect all your
shoes-do not omit the most abject
Take them If possible. 70 place where
YOU Will have the combined advan-
tages of open air and running water
Perh2ps there Ia a place ia your laun-
dry where YOU have this advantage
Now 20 over every pair OF shoes.
hrst cleaning them thoroughly. remov-
Ing any old laces that are broken or