El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-08-17

b central power plant. such machines
can be easily moved from place 10
place, and they could be carried along
with the army. As IL is now the shoes
Of the soldiers when repaired are
half soled by machinery. the sOles be-
ing nailed on by a patent mailer,
which can fasten on sole in one
minute The government has ordered
] 400 such machines and We have sent
/ hundreds or other repair machines TO
different parts Of the country"
Comparison With Hand Power.
Most OF the shoe machinery Of the
world is made IN the United States.
It is manufactured here and shipped
Z TO shoe making establishments all
over the earth. 1t was only a few
years ago that most Of the shoes
were made BY hand. The parts were
cut out and given TO the cobbler, who
seWed the leather together. II took
man one day to make three shoes
or a PAIR and one half. It took so
much labor that II the so. 600. 900 pairs
made for our soldiers had been manu-
factured in that way il would have
taken $4,000 cObblers three years TO
make them. BY means Of shoe ma
chinery We have single companies
that have made as many as 10000
pairs Of shoes in one day. and the
McElWain factory. which / visited at
Manchester, was turning out 5000
pairs OF army shoes per day at the
time OF my visit
A Million Dollar Machine.
As Il is now there is scarcely an
operation connected with the max
ing Of the army shoe that is not done
by machinery. The heavy sOies are
cut out by machines at the rate of
eight pairs per inmate and the heels
are trimmed by rotating cutters which
viii trim more than 800 pairs in a
day. They are nailed on by machines
which viii drive more than $50 nails
In one minute, and the welt and the
upper are fastened to the insoles by a
shoes in a day.
The brass eyeIets are put in by
machine which sets 5000 per day and
the uppers are made ready for last
ing by the wonderful pulling over"
machine whose plncers Of steel work J
as though they were human fingers.
They automatically pull the leather ]
into Just the right shape so that il can I
De lasted and fasten IL with tacks. I
doing what for years the cobblers in !
with the hand This pulling over I
costs more than 100000 to /
bring ii 10 its present perfection. /
and IL took five years of experiment. /
ing to make it fit for use on all kinds 1
Of leather, canvas and cloth
- Machines for PershinE Shoe.
In all IS different machines are
=
snoe. and the shoe machines OF one
kind or another made by the United
shoe Machinery company run high /
up into the hundreds. The factories
mere ship over 10000 different ma
chimes every year. while the machine
parts shipped are about 100000
During my visit TO the Beverly plant I
{ went through the stock room which I
,ontains these parts ready for ship
nent on telegraphic order 10 any |
= p nHH=HH . H. =
covers about an acre and a half. and /
Z Is filled with shelves containing |
boxes, each Of which has its own
special piece or part OF machinery. J.
There are thousands Of different 4
larLs stored IN this room and they L
ire SC arranged and labeled that any
an be reached in five minues- Some |
u the parts are as small as a watch
)lFor and others weigh as much as |
-wo tons I asked the manager Of the
Dom how many parts he had stored
mere he replied Just about as
many as there are families in the Uni
ca states we have more than 20
.uu,uuU Individual pieces OF one kind
y another and We are now shipping
tut ABOUT 100000 parts every week"
Z takes so men TO take care Of the
took room. and the messenger bows
20 back and forth through the aisles
N roller skates. d
Plant Covers l. Acres.
But I am getting ahead OF my story
ct US take an airplane view Of this
uge plant which is turning out the / {
many machines for making the shoes ID
Z our soldiers The United Shoe Ma
hinery factories at Beverly have a /
lOor space OF more than Il acres.
hey consist Of great buildings of
tone IRON and glass. each 1000 feet ]
ong, 90 feet wide and four stories
Ugh Their walls and roofs are Of I
lass set in a framework OF stone s
nd steel. up the sides Of which the 7
W has climbed until they look more {
Ike medieval castles than a great in !
ustrlal establishment II YOU look J
losely you viii see guards here and ]
here about the buildings Their work ! I
S such that they have to be carefully I
rotected, and no one may come near s
hem without a pass and the proper {
redentials- Z
Entering TIE factories you find ev- I
ry floor filled with a maze Of nov 7
1g machinery or the most compli- 7
ated description The plant makes 2
othing but machinery and machine {
arts, and the story Of its various {
rocesses would form an encyclopedia q
lmost OF the whole steel making in (
ustry. There are enormous foun- Z
ries where the molten metal IS cast q
nto parts, and there are great forg- Y
n Establishments where huge steam @
ammers shape the red hot steel as q
asily as you could shape shoe max ?
rs wax with your fingers. {
There are lathes which cut the hard {
ST Of metal as though It were cheese G