MACHINE-MADE SHOES. 



151 



than formerly they are still often employed when they might 

 well be dispensed with. In the majority of cases they are 

 certainly not necessary in 

 front shoes. Fore-feet are 

 more liable to disease than 

 hind-feet, which fact should 

 alone be sufhcient ground 

 for using calkins on fore 

 shoes as little as possible. 

 In Glasgow, Edinburgh, the 

 North of England, and in 

 Vienna, calkins are very 

 common ; in Paris and Lon- 

 don less so, a proof that 

 the above principles are not 



to be rigidly adhered to in fig. 103.— Left hind shoe with («) toe-grip and 

 '^ " ib) calkins. 



every case. 



Machine-made Shoes. — The trade in machine-made shoes, 

 which has been in existence for the past thirty years, has now 

 assumed enormous pro- 

 portions, the small de- 

 fects that exist in most 

 machine - made shoes 

 beino- more than coun- 

 terbalanced by the sav- 

 ing in time and money. 

 The nail holes are not 

 always correct, most 

 machine-made shoes being too finely holed. There is little 

 distinction between right and left shoes, and to give increased 

 durability, greater toughness is desirable. 



In Germany many shoes are sent out ready for driving, the 

 heels being finished, calkins turned down, toe-grips affixed, clips 

 draw^n, and the shoes finished complete in every part. Such shoes, 

 therefore, only require to be selected and fitted to the feet, the 

 necessary alterations being slight. They are especially useful 

 when hot shoeing is inconvenient or impossible, as, for instance, 

 in the Colonies and on military expeditions. Without going into 

 the question whether cold is better than hot fitting, we may 

 say that the production of finished machine-made shoes should 



Fig. 104. — Steel rod with toe and heel grips partly formed. 



