December 10, 1915 



Instead of wood ijassing out of use for shoe making, it seems to 

 ■be increasing. There is 'no way of telling just how mucli is being 

 used in that way, because it is employed for various purposes and 

 lecords are not kept or compiled. 



Tlie wooden heel is one of the items in shoe manufacturing that is 

 gaining ground. That use is influenced by changes' in style. Just 

 now tlie style in women 's shoes calls for high heels which almost 

 .attain the dimensions of stilts. They are generally of wood, finished 

 with a taj) of leather or rubber. Most hard, strong woods are suitable 

 for this article, but sugar maple and paper birch seem to be -pve- 

 ferred. They stand the strain well and are fairly cheap. Beech 

 possesses excellent qualities for this service. 



There are now twelve firms in Haverhillj Mass., many making 500 

 <lozen pairs a day. During the past twenty years the cost of wood 

 heels has been lowered one-third, due to the use of machinery. The 

 turning is about the same, but a new machine being gotten up may 

 revolutionize the business. The concaving machine concaves 300 

 dozen pairs a day. Heels are mostly made to order and not to stock. 

 There is also a good inquiry from Europe for wood heels. Many 

 styles of heels are in use, and they come and go as fashions change. 



In South Easton, Mass., a firm has made shoe heels continuously 

 for twenty years, and this is said to be the only company in the 

 United States that has been in that business so long. 



The Shoe Shank 



The wooden shoe shank fills a prominent place in the shoe fac- 

 tory. This is a thin splint that fits under the arch of the foot between 

 the heel and the toes. It is a flat, thin piece of wood when first cut 

 out, but it passes througli certain processes by which it is pressed 

 into the desired shape. It is inserted between the outer and inner 

 soles. These shapes vary greatly to conform to patterns and styles, 

 and of course there are the several sizes corresponding to the numbers 

 of the shoes, ranging from twelves down. 



Shanks are cut by machinery. Most of them are worked from 

 rotary-cut veneer which is peeled in the desired thickness, and is then 

 •cut by dies. The shanks pass through processes of steaming and 

 drying, and when ready for use, they are packed in bags and shipped 

 to the factories. Wooden shanks are not employed in all shoes. 

 Some metal is used, and leather is substituted in other styles. The 

 purpose of the shank is to stiffen the shoe and support the arch of 

 the foot. Wood is cheaper than leather, lighter than metal, and 

 holds its shape well when damp, which leather does not. 



Paper birch supplies most of the wood for shanks, and the bulk 

 of the manufacturing is done in New England where this birch is 

 plentiful and of excellent quality. Considerable amounts of sugar 

 maple are worked into shanks. 



The Smallest Wooden Article 



The shoe peg is generally considered to be the smallest commodity 

 of wood. It is made in several sizes, from nearly an inch in length 

 <lown to less than half an inch, and in proportionate transverse dimen- 

 sions. 



The shoe peg is not an ancient device. Its invention is attributed 

 to a New England Yankee not so many generations ago. At first 

 pegs were made by hand, each shoemaker whittling out with his knife 

 what he needed. That was a slow process, but people in those days 

 put up with slowness which would not be tolerated now. At that 

 time the shoemaker used such wood as was procurable in the nearest 

 forest, where he could nearly always find maple, birch, beech, dog- 

 wood, or hornbeam. Pegs of any of these woods held soles on shoes 

 imtil the leather itself gave way. 



No shoemaker or mender whittles shoe pegs now. He can buy for 

 a dime more than he could niake in a day. The work is all done by 

 machinery, from the cutting of the rotary veneer to the pointing of 

 the pegs and driving them into the soles. Pegs intended for cobblers 

 and small users are finished ready for use, and are sold by the pint, 

 gallon, or bushel; but large shoe factories purchase "peg ribbons." 

 These are long strips of wood, as wide as a peg is long. They are 



cut round and round the log, so that pegs may be split oil the end 

 of the ribbon, lengthwise with the grain of the wood. The shoe 

 factory has machinery for doing this. Eolls of ribbons are fed into 

 the machines, and the pegs are split off and driven into the soles as 

 the shoes pass through in process of manufacture. 



Paper birch is the principal wood of which pegs are made. A 

 few other woods, including maple, are used, but this birch, on 

 account of its cheapness and the facility with which it may be 

 worked, is preferred above all others, and New England does most of 

 the manufacturing. 



Soles and Sabots 



Large numbers of wooden soles are manufactured in this country. 

 Such are usually about one inch thick and they are fitted on leather 

 or canvas uppers. Factory workers are the principal wearers of such 

 slioes. They save the feet from burning when the workman walks 

 on hot floors in the vicinity of furnaces. Wood is a poor conductor 

 of heat and the thick sole does not heat through sufliciently to in- 

 jure the foot. Such shoes have large sales in towns where steel mills 

 and glass factories employ many men. 



Several kinds of wood are suitable for such soles; but cotton- 

 wood, basswood, willow, maple, birch, and beech are the most com- 

 mon. Alder is probably the best wood for this use, but it does not 

 attain sufiBcient size in tliis country, except on the Pacific coast, and is 

 little used. It is employed in Europe more than any other wood. 

 Such soles stand much wear. 



The shoe wholly of wood is called a sabot in Europe, but in this 

 country lias no name otlier than wooden shoe. It is all in one piece, 

 and is shaped and hollowed by machinery. It is a clumsy contrivance, 

 but it keeps the foot dry and warm. In ordinary use a pair of 

 wooden shoes is good for two years of service at a cost of less than 

 fifty cents a year. They are worn principally by immigrants who 

 have come to this country from the north of Europe. Several fac- 

 tories make them in the United States, using cottonwood, basswood, 

 maple, and birch. Cottonwood is preferred because of light weight. 



A Suggestion Brings Results 



Some time ago Hardwood Record called attention to the fact that 

 the battlefield at New Orleans where the Americans under General 

 Jackson won a memorable victory on January 8, 1815, was a neglected, 

 unkept, unsightly place, overgrown by weeds or occupied by cow 

 pastures and negro shanties. It seems that the criticism is likely to 

 produce results. The Louisiana Historical Society has taken the 

 matter up, with initial steps for the construction of a national park, 

 on the grounds where the battle was fought. After purchasing the 

 land and clearing the rubbish off, it is proposed to construct roads 

 to make it accessible, and then mark the various positions and points 

 of interest on the battlefield. If another suggestion is in order, it is 

 that some sort of monument on the field shall commemorate the fight 

 at Fayal in the Azores islands, for that was really where the battle 

 of New Orleans was won, though thousands of miles distant. The 

 British army which marched against New Orleans would have arrived 

 two months earlier had not the fleet which was convoying it attempted 

 on the way over to capture a single small American vessel in the 

 harbor of Fayal. Though overmatched twenty to one, the little 

 American brig with its seven guns hulled so many of the English 

 ships that they were obliged to put back to England for repairs, thus 

 delaying the expedition long enough to enable General Jackson to ge,t 

 his army to New Orleans and prepare his fortifications. The fight at 

 Fayal has been celebrated in song, two stanzas of which follow, and 

 might be engraved on a monument at New Orleans: 

 Tell the story to your sons 



Of the gallant days of yore, 

 When the brig of seven guns 



Fought the fleet of seven score. 

 From the set of sun till morn, 



Through the long September night, 

 Ninety men against two thousand, 



And the ninety won the flght. 



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