514 



SHOES. 



shoes in the world. Only the finest grades of Eu- 

 ropean calf and kid skins and the best domestic mo- 

 rocco leather are used, with oak-tanned soles. Phil- 

 adelphia has an equal reputation for the quality of 

 its shoes, while the business 1ms developed in other 

 towns in the interior of Pennsylvania ami New York. 

 At present the value of the Massachusetts product is 

 said to b 60 per cent, of that of tho entire country, 

 New York about 12, Pennsylvania about 8, and the 

 other States in much lower proportions. 



As the shoemaking business increased, workmen 

 began to divide their labor, and each to confine him- 



Slioe Pegging Machine. 



nolf to some depnrtment, such as crimping, bottom- 

 ins, heeling, and finishing. Much work was done 

 by associations of journeymen. This system proved 

 advantageous, and has mode Boston tho principal 

 centre cf such operations and the largest shoe raor- 

 K -t in tlu; world. There have been great improve- 

 ments in the American ninnnfactnre of shoes, due 

 largely to new methods of splitting and currying 

 leather, by wliich softer and finer material is pro- 

 duced. Remarkable progress has been made in 

 ds of manufacture, the invention of labor-sav- 

 ing machinery greatly incr. ;i -iirr th" i:ipi lity and 

 ch<-apiiess of production In old times all shoes 

 1. In 1-ilH tic- ^hoc peg was in- 

 vented by J. W. Hopkinton, of Muv aehusctt*. The 



p"gs WPI-C at first mndo by hand, afterward by wia 

 chinory, and at present some 30 establishments are 

 engaged in this branch of (lie business. Tin 

 shoe-pegging machine in use that is remarkable in 

 its operation, making tlie ]>eg.s and driving them 

 into the shoes at one operation. A shoe can bo 

 pegged in ten seconds by this machine. A narrow 

 ribbon of wood, of the thickness of a peg and as 

 wide as the length of a peg, is reeled on a machine 

 to the length of 100 or more feet. One end i 

 sharp by the machine. A strong awl worked by the, 

 machine pierces holes in the leather, and at the 

 same time a sharp knife splits a peg from the end of 

 the ribbon of wood. The point of the pep; is guided 

 to the hole, and as the awl cornea out the pet- 

 in, and in driven home while the awl makes the next 

 hole. The operation goes on with Ktf.it rapidity, 

 the shoe needing only to be guided and turned. 

 Many other machines are in use, no industiy being 

 more benefited in this particular. The sewing-ma- 

 chine was utilized in .shoemaking soon after its in- 

 vention, it being operated by steam, and used in all 

 the large shoe factories. Tin 're are other machines 

 for smoothing and rounding the soles after pegging, 

 for last making, and for other departments of tlio 

 business, the necessary labor on each shoe being 

 much lessened and greatly divided. About 

 1000 cords of wood are used annually in making 

 shoe pegs, but many of these me c\; 

 One thoiiMtnd seven hundred pegging machines 

 were in use in the United States in 1*73, and 

 where formerly only the eoarsqst boots and 

 shoes were pegged, now great quantities of fine peg- 

 ged work are made. The pegging machine described 

 was invented in 1S51 by A. 

 C. Giilluhue, but lias been 

 much improved by others. 

 Equally important is the 

 Melv.iy sole sewing-ma- 

 chine, invented about 1838 

 bvL.Il. Blake, bu: perfected 

 end introduced by Gordon 

 McKay. By this machine 

 soles can be sowed on nearly 

 100 pairs of women's shoes 

 in an hour; 800 pairs in 10 

 hours is a fair day's work. 

 This machine is in very 

 eneral use in the United 

 itates, and many arc used 

 in England and Ku:ope. 

 There are two other solo 



the Goodyear welt Shofl Seeing mach.n,,. 

 machine making an almost pel feet imita- 

 tion of handseled work, 'i' hi 're are sev- 

 eral machines for stitching, chief among 

 them being the Elias Howe and tho 

 Wheeler & Wilson. Other machines in 

 estonsivo use are the cable screw wire, 

 and the wire-tacking machines. Thero 

 are also machines to set and burnish the 

 edges, to make and trim the heels, and 

 for various other purposes, while there are scor. s of 

 minor inventions, all of American production. No 

 othcrcountry except, perhaps, England is so well pro- 

 vided with factory-made shoes as the I'nited :- 

 In Kuro|ic hand-made shoes are still in the ascendant. 

 Tho wooden shoes so generally used by the peas- 

 antry of Kurope are cheap and durable, and, though 

 clumsy, are said to bo comfortable. An attempt was 

 made to manufacture, them in tho United Stai 

 a large scale in IsiiM, but with very little success in 

 sale. A few are now made. 



A highly imiioit int branch of the shoemaking in- 

 dustry, of 19th century introduction, is the India- 

 rubber /.hoe, now deemed almost indispensable in 

 cities for wet weather and winter wear. Tho ttrst 



