How the World is Shod 



649 



in the morning by the roll of the drum 

 and the tramp of the march. It was 

 "flag day ;" a Sangverein was to christen 

 its banner, and nothing short of a holiday 

 was required for this important event. 

 Local singing societies from the neigh- 

 boring valleys were to meet, form a 

 grand union and adopt a common ban- 

 ner, and this event was to be celebrated 

 in a little village called Mitteltal. The 

 local organization of this place had been 

 preparing for some time, and today their 

 little band of musicians was up early to 

 practice marching. The day had been 

 hailed with delight by the children, for 

 there was something doing now. The 

 main roads to the little town had been 

 spanned by triumphal arches ; the houses 

 along the way decorated with wreaths 

 and garlands as a token of respect, and 

 the inhabitants had donned their best 

 clothes. No triumphal procession ever 

 passed through the famous Brandenburg 

 gate at Berlin with a stronger conscious- 

 ness of honors deserved than did that 

 band of peasants on this occasion. And 

 why should they not? The pomp and 

 ceremony of kings and emperors are but 

 adulations of self, after all; and if per- 

 chance a royal procession be composed 

 of victorious legions home from con- 

 quest, why should war: — official mur- 

 der — be extolled above the simple annals 

 of a peaceful life transcribed in song? 

 Nor have these peaceful citizens of the 

 fatherland been deaf to their country's 

 call to arms. In 1870 these peasants 

 laid down their lives at Gravelotte, 

 fought valiantly at Sedan, and marched 

 on to Paris as willingly as now they wear 

 the badge of their Verein. 



One may roughly describe the people, 

 their customs, occupations, ambitions, 

 and ideals ; but the beauty of their coun- 

 try is beyond the pen or brush of the 

 artist. A botanist might name the wild 

 flowers, but no picture can convey to 

 another mind the fragrance of the new- 

 mown hay nor the thousand varied colors 

 of the wild flowers that smile from the 

 valley in June. In fact, many flowers 

 that are cultivated for their beauty in 

 rougher climates grow wild here. Small 

 varieties of variegated pansies and deli- 



cate, sweet-scented pinks grow in abund- 

 ance. The green meadows, the murmur- 

 ing streams abounding in trout, the hills 

 crowned with the forest whose dark- 

 tinted foliage has given the region its 

 name — Schwarswald; the song of the 

 birds, the occasional sight of the roe and 

 the fawn, and, above all, the calm air 

 and the bright sunshine — these are some 

 of the charms of nature among which 

 this people dwells. 



HOW THE WORLD IS SHOD 



NOT quite so varied as the head 

 covering but fully as character- 

 istic and interesting are the peculiar 

 styles of footgear worn by the nations 

 of the earth. Undoubtedly the shoe of 

 today had its origin in the sandal or sole 

 devised for the double purpose of pro- 

 tecting the bottom of the feet from rough 

 ground and extremes of temperature. 



Sandals and shoes of papyrus and 

 leather of beautiful workmanship worn 

 by the early Egyptians are treasured in 

 the British Museum. The ancient He- 

 brew wore a sandal with a sole of leather, 

 cloth, or wood occasionally shod with 

 iron. The Greek Kprjins , Latin crepida, 

 occupied a middle position between a 

 closed boot and a plain sandal ; its sim- 

 plest form had a high and strong sole 

 often studded with nails. About the heel 

 of the crepida was a series of loops into 

 which the thong was laced across the top 

 of the foot and through the toe strap; 

 this was worn mostly by the greatest 

 pedestrians, the workman and the soldier. 



Another primitive form of shoe is the 

 Indian moccasin of buckskin, soft and 

 flexible, a splendid foot covering, but of 

 little use, however, in a wet country, so 

 the Aborigines of America above the 

 Arctic Circle had recourse to sealskin 

 cured without sweating and fishskin to 

 keep the feet dry, while the sabot, the 

 clog, and the chopine show how western 

 Europe wrestled with the problem of the 

 very essential foot covering. Among the 

 great industries of the United States the 

 manufacture of boots and shoes ranks 

 tenth, for the year 1905 the total output 

 of boots and shoes in this country being 

 242,110,035 pairs, representing a value of 

 $320,170,458. 



