The top bone of the foot is the astragalus, and it forms the main joint upon which the process of walking depends. This bone has a smooth, circular, upper surface that connects it with the main bone of the lower leg. It is absolutely necessary that this bone should be in perfect harmony (relation) with the others in order to insure comfort and health. If the arches of the foot are forced out of position, up or down or sidewise, this joint is not permitted to do its work normally.

Rheumatism is a frequent evil of an injured joint. Hence the necessity of absolutely normal action, unhampered by ill-fitting shoes.

The principal arch of the instep is called the cuneiform or tarsal bone. Persons are troubled with defective insteps to quite an extent. Misshapen joints at this point due to shoes that do not fit and consequently disarrange and throw out of position the delicate, natural structure, work great havoc with the comfort of the foot. Nine joints cluster at this point.

The bones of the toes are called the metatarsal bones and phalanges. There can be no doubt that nature intended mankind to walk in his bare feet, and in that event the phalanges of the foot would occupy a much more important part than is now the case as a result of modern civilization. There are nineteen bones in the foot, and the disturbance of one or more of these will serve to upset the entire foot by throwing out of relationship the general unit of work devolving upon the whole number of joints and bones. Each joint has its accompaniment of muscles, and each lack of alignment of bones and joints provokes discord and lack of harmony in the muscular action.

Muscles are attached to bones, and by their contraction or extension the bones are moved. Very few movements are effected by means of a single muscle. The muscles of the foot in nearly all cases are in combination, and are so complex in their action that the best surgeons find it difficult to describe them satisfactorily.

The chief characteristics of the foot are its spring and elasticity. While the foot has wonderful powers of resistance and adaptability, it is the shoemaker’s duty not to strain the same, but to provide for each action.

The most sensitive part or the one part that is most susceptible of injury is the big toe. This is due to the fact that the tendency of the foot in walking is to travel toward the toe of the boot, and in a word to press into rather than shun danger. The shoemaker provides for this, first, by allowing sufficient length of sole to extend beyond the termination of the toe, and second, by the fit of the upper and the preparation of the sole. In this way, if the toe of the shoe strikes against a hard substance, the big toe of the foot will remain untouched.

Seventy-five per cent of the people have more or less trouble with their feet. Some of these troubles are caused by the manufacturer putting on the market shoes whose lines look handsome and attractive to the eye, but are lacking in any other good features. Shoes that fit properly should have plenty of room from the large toe joint to the end of the toes, and also should have plenty of tread, especially at this point.

A mere glance at our bare foot will show conclusively that pointed-toe boots are false in the theory of design. The toes of a foot when off duty touch each other gently. When they are called on to assist us in walking or in supporting our body, they spread out—although not to any great extent. This, then, being the action, no sensible maker of boots and shoes would attempt to restrain them. Box or puff-toe shoes allow the greatest freedom.

The pointed-toe shoes, which join the vamp to the upper immediately over the big toe joint, exceedingly high heels, and thick waist shoes are not for the best interests of the foot.

The evils of ill-fitting shoes are corns, bunions, and calluses.

Corns are mainly due to pressure and friction. When the layers of skin become hardened, they form a corn, which is merely a growth of dead skin that has become hard in the center. This hardened spot acts like a foreign body to the inflamed parts.

A hard corn is formed more by friction than pressure. It is produced by the constant rubbing of a tight or small shoe against the projecting parts of some prominent bony part, as the last joints on the third, fourth, and little toe. When this action continues, it produces inflammation. Rest—as relieving the feet of the friction—decreases this inflammation, leaving a layer of hardened flesh. Renewed action reproduces the same effects, leaving behind a second layer of hardened flesh. This continued action and reaction brings on a callus, rising above the surface of the skin. This increases from its base. An ordinary hard corn may be removed by scraping up the callous skin around its border, and prying out carefully with a knife. Soft corns are chiefly the result of pressure or friction. These corns are soft and spongy elevations on the parts of the skin subjected to pressure. Soft corns are mostly found on the inner side of the smaller toes. Those on the surface of joints by mechanical action will become hard.

The blood corn is excessively painful. It is the result of an ordinary corn forcibly displacing the blood vessels surrounding it, and causing them to rest upon its surface.

The bunion is an inflammatory swelling generally to be found on the big toe joint. The chief cause of bunions is known to be the wearing of boots or shoes of insufficient length. The foot, meeting with resistance in front and behind, is robbed of its natural actions, the result being that the big toe is forced upward, and subjected to continuous friction and pressure. The wearing of narrow-toe boots that prevent the outward expansion of the toe is another cause.

The comparisons of quantities are often called ratios. The ratios of the different parts of the foot to the height are different in the infant from that of the adult period. Between these two periods the ratios are constantly changing.

There are two series of shoe sizes on the market; the smallest size of shoe for infants (size No. 1) is, or was originally, four inches long; each added full size indicates an increase in length of one third of an inch (sizes 1 to 5). Children’s sizes run in two series, 5 to 8, and 8 to 11; then they branch out into youths’ and misses’; both running 11½, 12, 12½, 13, 13½ and back again to 1, 1½, 2, etc., in a series of sizes that run up into men’s and women’s. Boys’ shoes run from 2½ to 5½; men’s from 6 to 11 in regular runs. Larger sizes usually are made upon special orders. Some few manufacturers go to 12. Women’s sizes run from 2½ to 9. Some manufacturers do not go above size 8. The rate of sizes is sometimes varied from by manufacturers of special lines of shoes. A man’s No. 8 shoe would be nearly eleven inches long. These measurements originated in England and are not now absolute.

A system of French sizes is used which consists of a cipher system of markings to indicate the sizes as well as widths so that the real size may not be known to the customer.

All feet are not alike in structure and shape. In infancy the foot is broad at the toes, which press forward in the direction of their length. The heel is small in comparison to the width of the toes, and also short in length, due to the undeveloped bones. But during growth, the thickness above the heel bones disappears, and the heel itself becomes thicker and assumes the beauty of perfection at maturity. This development is due to the growth of bones which must be well exercised and properly cared for during this period. The various parts of the feet and legs do not mature at the same rate—those at the upper part of the body increase at a greater rate than the lower parts. Thighs develop first, next the upper part of the legs, and lastly the feet.

The adult foot, when properly formed, is straight from heel to toe on the inner side, and is wider across the joints than one inch or so farther back. The manner of walking has a considerable bearing on the character and development of the foot.

There are many sorts of feet, which are due to a number of causes, such as habits, climate, occupation, locality, etc. As a general rule we may divide the feet into four classes: Bony feet—those with very little flesh upon them; hard feet—those that have plenty of flesh, but which are almost as hard as a stone; fat feet—plump, with plenty of flesh, but having little shape; spongy feet—those that seem to have no bones in them, usually found in the female sex.

The characteristics of a foot are common with the body to which it is connected. Some people have a strong, bony frame, with strong, firm muscles, prominent bones and muscles, and a flesh that is hard. The feet of this type of person are usually long, bony, and arched, with a well-developed big toe joint. The heel measurements are large in proportion. A soft foot is prevalent among the Scotch. The feet of a person who is delicately shaped, with a small frame and thin, small, tapering muscles, are usually thin and finely formed, giving evidence of quickness. This kind of a foot in a man has a tendency to develop a flat foot.

A person with a form inclined to plumpness, full of exercise and activity, and a good circulation, has a well-developed foot. The heel is round and fairly prominent, although there are no special bony prominences. On the other hand a person with a body of general roundness, but with tissues and muscles flabby, and a languid blood circulation, has feet that are short, soft, and flabby.

We will allow that these four different kinds of feet all measure a 4 size and D in width. One would naturally think that the same size shoe would fit them all, but this is not so. This size shoe will only fit one and that is the bony foot. The hard feet require a C½ width; the fat feet require a C width, and the sponge feet require a B width.

The same last may, and often will possess a slight variation in some manner or other. The fitter of feet must know the stock, each pair, and be on intimate terms with the peculiarities of each last and the inside lines of each pair of shoes before attempting to try them upon the feet of the customer.

Different makes of footwear are apt to be manufactured over a slightly varying system of measurements. One line of shoes made over a small measure may be longer or shorter or narrower or wider than some other line. The heel measurements require careful study for each line introduced. The peculiarities of each line must be tested by tape and measure, and the foot fitter must have a strong knowledge along these lines.

We should measure the foot by the stick if necessary, and make a note of the size and width that will be likely to prove a fit. The height of the arch must be considered, and the shape of arch curve, the shape of the instep, and the general contour of the foot. A normal foot will show about a half-inch arch. The average foot will carry from an inch to an inch and a quarter heel, without putting a strain on any of the joints of the foot. Some feet vary from this by a wide margin. A foot is a trifle longer in walking than in repose. Allowance should be made, in using the measuring stick, over what the foot actually draws on the stick. In men’s shoes the allowance, should be from two to two and one half sizes.

When a one-legged man buys a shoe, the dealer sends to the factory a shoe to match the one left remaining. In these days of the use of machinery in every process of their manufacture, shoes are made with the utmost exactness and precision, and it is easily possible to mate that remaining shoe with the greatest nicety in size, style, material, and finish.

Few people have feet exactly alike; commonly the left foot is larger than the right, so that one shoe may fit a little more snugly than the other. Commonly, however, people buy shoes in regularly matched pairs, the difference in their feet, if it is noticeable to them at all, not being enough to make any other course desirable.

But there are people who buy shoes of different sizes or widths, in which case the dealer breaks two pairs for them, giving them, to fit their feet, one shoe from each. In such cases the dealer matches up the two remaining shoes, one from each of two pairs just as he would where he had broken one pair to sell one shoe to a one-legged man.

But a man does not have to be one-legged nor to have feet of uneven sizes or shapes to make him ask the dealer to break a pair of shoes for him. A man with two perfectly good feet came into the store where he was accustomed to buy and wanted one shoe. While traveling in a sleeping car, his shoes had been mixed up with others and he had received back one of his own and one of some other man’s; a fact which he had not discovered until he was too far away from train and station to set things right. So he came in to buy one shoe to match his own.

CHAPTER FIVE
HOW SHOE STYLES ARE MADE

If you examine the shoes worn by people in a large city, you will notice different styles. Shoe styles that were called grotesque a few seasons ago are comparatively usual to-day, for the new designs in women’s footwear, which manufacturers are now making, are the most varied that ever have been put on the market. Pink and green and blue are among the new colors in materials for footwear.

Some of the styles for the coming seasons are more lavish than have hitherto been seen in the women’s shoe trade of America. Coronation purple velvet boots look like an extravagant color for footwear, but they are now selling. Samples of pink, green, and blue shoes, both boots and pumps, are being made up, and they will soon be offered to buyers.

The style of the shoe is dominated by fashion. All styles are related, that is, every part of our dress is influenced by the prevailing fashion, ideas of color, fabric, or garment outline. To illustrate: when short skirts are stylish, women wear mannish shoes to harmonize with them; on the other hand, with long skirts they must have a shoe that is neat and small, hence, the short vamp. When women wear white in the summer, cool canvas shoes spring into favor; when gray and blue dress materials are to be used, a variety of tan shoes are worn to harmonize, etc.

After the style has been decided upon, it is necessary to work out an exact reproduction. An expert model maker, called a last maker, produces a last, a wooden model of the shoe. In order to do this, it is necessary to lay out certain plans or specifications for the details of the manufacturer of the shoe.

There are certain parts of all feet that have fixed measurements. To illustrate: the length of the shank, that part of the sole of the foot between the heel and ball, in every person’s foot is always the same. The part of the foot back of the ball or large toe joint conforms to certain fixed measurements. These definite measurements form a basis by which the last maker originates new styles by shortening, lengthening, widening, or narrowing the space in front of the toes, but always retaining the true and fixed measurements of the back part of the last.

When the last maker desires to produce a new style, he takes an old last and tacking pieces of leather on some parts of it (front of the toes), he builds it up and cuts off other parts. This patched-up last is taken to a special machine (lathe), where a number of duplicates are turned from a block of wood.

The “pattern maker” is the man in the factory who makes patterns, consisting of heavy pieces of cardboard bound with brass, in the shapes of the various pieces of leather required to make up the upper part of the shoe.

The pattern maker has found by experience that the top part of the shoe also conforms to certain fixed measurements, and by working in sympathy with the last maker he need only to change the front part of the vamp to bring out the latter’s ideas. With these measurements as a foundation, he puts forth from time to time different style uppers, as buttons, lace, blucher, fixings, scrolls, straps, ties, pumps, etc. This is the way new style tops originate.

After the manufacturer has approved of sample patterns, the pattern maker receives an order for a certain quantity of patterns to be made over a certain last which is submitted to him. Working on the fixed top measurements and the last submitted as a basis, the pattern maker draws plans for a model pattern. The standard size of a model pattern is size 7 in men’s shoes and size 4 in women’s. He is also given an order for a certain number of widths; for instance, B, C, D, and E, and he draws out on paper a complete set for each width in the size 7. These four sets of model patterns are reproduced and cut out in sheet iron by hand. But from these sheets any number of iron models, and any size regular cardboard pattern can be reproduced by a machine.

Wood to be made into lasts comes to the shoe manufacturers in a rough, unchiseled form. The lasts are made of maple wood; hollow forms used by traveling salesmen and window trimmers are made of bass wood.

The making of the model of the last is the most exacting operation in the factory. It is produced by a machine most important. The principle of this machine has been brought about by the pantograph; that is, it will turn from a rough block of wood an exact copy of the model last; or it will enlarge or reduce a duplicate of any other size or width, so, from a single model last, such as the manufacturer has decided on, any number of lasts can be made, and of any size or width. The machine itself consists of two lathes. On one is placed the model and on the other the block of wood. The model is held against a wheel by a spring. By adjusting this wheel, any desired width last can be obtained, and by adjusting a bar in front of the machine any length last can be produced from the block of wood.

The lathe, when in motion, revolves both the last and the model, the model being pressed against the wheel, which is really a guide for the revolving knife that digs into the block of wood, and regulates the depth that the knife is allowed to cut. In this manner the model is reproduced from the block which is also regulated as to size and width by the wheel and by the bar. This machine is so accurate that a tack driven into the model to locate the center of the last is reproduced by a sort of a wooden pimple in the block of wood when finished. The model sole pattern is now tried on the half-finished last to insure accuracy.

Notice in the figures of lasts that the turning lathe has left stubs of wood on the toes and heels. These must be finished to a “templet.” The templet is a measure or guide used to indicate the shape any piece of work is to assume when finished. From the heel and toe of the model, a piece of iron is shaped on an exact arc of that model, and is used on the heeler machine as a guide to form an exact copy of the heels and toes of the model. This machine works very rapidly, and by the aid of an irregular shaped, revolving knife it quickly transforms the toes and heels to the desired shape. The bottoms are again tried out on a sole pattern and the last number, the size and the width are stamped on.

We now have the last as a solid piece of maple wood and turned to the desired shape, size and width. Were it possible to insert and extract the last in this form from the half-finished shoe, no other steps would be necessary in last manufacture, but inasmuch as the leather is stretched very tightly over this last a little later, it necessitates the introduction of some method that will facilitate a quick removal of the last from the shoe. This is accomplished by cutting it in two parts and making a hinged heel. The fact that the slightest measurement changes the size of the shoe, necessitates great care in the introduction of the hinge as a part of the last, and in order to insure accuracy and uniformity in all the lasts, they are marked with templets and gigs. The hinge must be placed inside of the last.

The finished last is so constructed that it can be readily inserted or withdrawn from the shoe, and the strong hinge provides the last, when inserted, with the same rigid qualities as though it were one piece. The center of the last is indicated, as before stated, by a reproduction in the side of the last of the tack that was placed in the model. This is the mark that locates the position of all the holes, and it is done by a “gig” in the following manner:—

A gig is a piece of steel having cylinders that guide the bit of the boring machine in an exact perpendicular line. This gig, being placed on the last in the position marked by the turning machine, forms the accurate location of the bolt holes that hold the hinge.

After the hinge is placed in the last, it goes to the ironers to have the bottom put on it, if it is a McKay last, and a heel plate if it is a welt. The bottom is again tried and the plate filled up to the same. The last is then ready to go to the scouring room. In this room the last goes through three operations, first of which is ruffing. This consists of scouring with a coarse grade of quartz. This operation must be carried on so that the sole lines and insteps are not brought into contact with the quartz.

The second operation, medium grinding, is done with a fine grade of quartz, and in this operation, also, the worker keeps away from the toe. The third operation is done with a much finer-grade quartz, the operator going over the entire last. The last is now ready for polishing, and after that, for a heavy coat of shellac. It is polished and waxed on a leather wheel. Then it goes into the shipping room ready for shipment to the manufacturer.

CHAPTER SIX
DEPARTMENTS OF A SHOE FACTORY—GOODYEAR WELT SHOES

The principal methods of manufacturing shoes are the following:—

Goodyear welt; McKay; turned; standard screw; pegged; nailed.

The simplest and the clearest way of showing how the various kinds of shoes are made is to explain the manufacture of a Goodyear welt and afterwards bring out the points in which this method of shoemaking differs from the others.

Shoes are manufactured in up-to-date factories, employing hundreds of operatives. The modern shoe factory of to-day is divided into six general departments: the sole leather department, upper leather department, stitching department, making department, finishing department, and the treeing, packing, and shipping departments.

In some sections of the country, several of these departments are often designated by other names. The stitching department is often called the fitting department; the making department, the bottoming department; and the sole leather department, the stock-fitting department. The departments are popularly termed rooms for brevity.

A shoe factory is designed so as to have a width of about fifty feet for each room, while the length is according to the number of shoes to be produced. A width of about fifty feet gives plenty of daylight and ample room in the center of each department, which is very essential in shoemaking.

Shoe factories are usually about two hundred feet long, while many are nearly four hundred feet. A few exceed four hundred feet, running as long as eight hundred feet. Some are built in the shape of hollow squares, while others have wings added, which give almost as much floor space as the original building.

The average factory has usually four floors. The first floor, or basement, is occupied by the sole leather department. The next floor above includes the treeing, finishing, packing, and shipping departments, and also the office. The third floor is devoted entirely to the making or bottoming department. The top floor is divided so that the cutting and stitching departments have each half a floor.

There are several exceedingly large factories in this country that find it advantageous to divide the factory into more departments, as, for example, the cutting room is divided so that the linings and trimmings are cut in a separate department. The skiving may also be done in a separate room. The making room will be divided so that the lasting is set off as a separate department on account of the many workmen and machines employed. In the same way there will be a division of work so that the packing and shipping will be set apart from the treeing. Then, again, in the sole leather room, the making of heels as well as the fitting of the bottom stock may become independent departments.

The system of making women’s shoes is practically the same as that of men’s except that in a great many factories the method of preparing the bottom stock is somewhat different. Most manufacturers of women’s shoes do not cut sole leather, but buy outsoles, insoles, counters, and heels, all cut or prepared. These soles are in blocked form and large enough so that they can be cut or rounded by the manufacturers to fit their lasts. The counters, when bought, are all ready to put in the uppers, while the heels are ready to put on the shoes. Whenever a manufacturer of women’s shoes cuts his sole leather, he has the same system as that in the men’s factories.

In women’s factories where sole leather is not cut, they do not have a complete sole leather department. Instead, they have what is called a stock-fitting department. There are independent cut sole houses, etc., in the trade, which supply the soles to manufacturers. The same system of buying supplies also applies to many other parts of the shoe, as in the top lift, half sole, welt, rand, etc. In the upper leather department, manufacturers of both men’s and women’s shoes often buy trimmings and other parts of the upper all prepared.

A large proportion of the men’s shoe manufacturers are now buying heels all built, while fully nine tenths buy counters all molded. The soles and other parts that are needed for a shoe are put up in different qualities and grades, and a manufacturer can buy any grade of sole he wants, so that it is considered an advantage to buy some parts, instead of cutting them. In a side of sole leather there are twenty-five or more different qualities and grades of soles, and very few manufacturers, especially in the women’s trade, can use all of these. The greater variety of shoes a manufacturer turns out, the more advantageous it is for him to cut his own sole leather, and prepare all parts in his own factory.

In this country the number of factories in the shoe trade appears to be growing less and the average factory larger each year. It is estimated that there are at present something like fifteen hundred factories in all. These range from the smallest product up to the largest. The average factory may be said to produce about twelve hundred pairs of shoes per day. Many turn out five thousand pairs daily, while a few manufacturers turn out ten thousand or more pairs. Several manufacturers and firms have half a dozen or more factories and have a total output of between twenty thousand and thirty thousand pairs of shoes a day. There is no such thing as a trust or monopoly of any kind in this trade, and there never has been up to the present time.

In all factories and all classes of work, the “case” has always been of such a number of pairs that it can be divided by twelve in every instance. A case can be twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, sixty, or seventy-two pairs, and in children’s work it is often sixty and seventy-two pairs. All cases of these numbers are regular cases, whereas any other number would be out of the ordinary. Of course, a case of shoes may contain any number of pairs, but the numbers given above have always been used in regular work.

Cases of shoes may differ, but every pair of shoes in any one case must be made exactly alike. All shoes are made in cases, except in the matter of custom work or single-pair orders or samples. In making men’s heavy shoes, or working shoes, the regular case was formerly sixty pairs or thirty-six pairs, but the tendency has been of late to have a standard case of twenty-four pairs. In the men’s fine trade the regular case is twenty-four pairs, while in the women’s it is thirty-six pairs. Long boots for men have always been made in twelve-pair cases.

Goods are sold by the samples, sent out with the traveling salesman. As fast as he receives an order, he sends it to the main office. Here the orders are subdivided and sent to the factories making the goods. For example, an order for seventy-five dozen men’s shoes of a certain style received by the main office from the traveling salesman would be sent to the factory in the form of a typewritten order, covering the general description and sizes written out in the proper form, for each case is made according to the specifications on the tags that are made out in the office. These tags specify the sole, heel, upper, kind and quality, how stitched, the last to be used, how bottomed finished, treed, and packed. Everything is marked plainly on the tags so that a buyer can have any shoe made just as he wants it.

This order would be sent from the factory office to the cutting room, where a clerk would make out twenty-five long tickets.

Twenty-five are made because the shoes go through the factory in lots of twenty-four pairs, each lot being called a job and when finished making a case of shoes. The long ticket is made in duplicate form, and is perforated so it may be tied to a lot of shoes. Both parts of the tickets are made out to contain the various operations with the specifications as to detail. The lower part is sent to the stock or sole leather room, while the top part remains with the uppers which are cut in the cutting room. While each part of the ticket is sent by a different route through the factory, they finally meet in the form of finished shoes.

In addition to the long ticket already described, two other tickets are made out, the top ticket and the trimming ticket. The top ticket is sent to the leather bins of the factory, where the sorter knows by experience exactly the amount of leather required to cut the order, being careful to see that it is all of uniform quality and free from blemishes. He rolls the leather in a bundle, attaches the ticket and sends it to the cutter.

In the cutting room there are three classes of cutters; cutter of trimmings, who cuts lace stays, top facings, back stays, tongues, etc.; outside cutter, who cuts quarters, vamps, tops, tips, etc.; and the lining cutter, who cuts cloth linings.

Skins of leather are received in the shoe factory in different shapes. Some are perfect, others have blemishes or imperfect spots. The skins that are to be used for upper stock are carefully graded by two or three men, as to quality of leather and weight. This is necessary in order to be sure that a lot of shoes made for a certain dealer will be uniform. On account of the leather coming in different shapes, some skins perfect, others having imperfect spots, the cutter must place his patterns in such a way that certain parts of the shoe will use up all the perfect parts, and others, less important, will be composed of the weaker parts of the skin. This explains why you sometimes find the inside top part of a shoe made of flanky leather, while the vamp is made of a better grade.

There is a pattern for each and every size shoe, and each piece of leather is cut out separately on a block of wood. Nothing is wasted. In order to make each cutter as efficient as possible, the cutters are divided, so as to have a different cutter for each grade of leather. In this way they become better judges of leather.

The lining cutters use patterns and knives on drilling. The facing is cut out with a knife and pattern. The side stays and the tongue are cut out by dies.

After the leather has been cut into the desired shape, uppers, vamps, toe pieces, back stays, lace stays, etc., cutting at times ten pieces, and for some styles of shoes as many as fourteen pieces, the cutters take care to keep the parts for the same shoe together, matching and marking them so that eventually all will meet again in the shoe.

Machines are used now on almost every operation, and annually several new machines make their appearance. The cutting of uppers up to four or five years ago was performed by an operator cutting the leather by running the knife along the side of the pattern. Now they are using a cutting machine and dies to cut uppers in nearly all factories. This cutting machine is called the “clicking machine,” and it is considered quite a labor saver in a department where it was the universal opinion that machines never could be used.

It is impossible to give a list of all the operations performed and have it complete. But a good general idea of the system can be given and the name and meaning of the main operations in the several departments. It should be kept in mind that the methods in rooms differ, and that hardly any two factories put a shoe through in exactly the same manner. The general system and plan is the same everywhere and the machines are the same in all factories, but the details and minor operations are so numerous that there is plenty of scope for them to vary.

The function of the clicking machine is to cut the upper leather into the desired shapes required. It consists of an iron frame, with a cutting board on the top of it. Above this is a large beam which can be swung to the right or left of any portion of the board. The skin to be cut, which may be of any kind, is placed on the board and a die of the design or shape of the leather desired is placed on it. The handle of the swinging beam is taken by the operator and moved over the die; then by pressure of the handle the beam is brought downward, pressing the die through the leather. As soon as this is done, the beam automatically returns to its full height.

These dies are made in different designs and sizes to meet the different sizes and designs in the upper of the shoe. One die for each design and size. They mark the vamps for the location of the toe cap and blucher foxings as well as the size by means of nicks in the edge of the piece cut. The dies are about three-quarters of an inch in height and so light that they do not mar the most delicate leather.

After the outside cutter has cut the skin into pieces to make up the shoe, these are tied up in separate bundles, that is, the twenty-four of tips in one bundle, twenty-four pairs of vamps in another. These are turned over to girls who stencil the sizes on the edge and match them, that is, see that each upper is exactly like the mate.

After the different parts have been cut by the operator of the clicking machine or by hand, the edges of the upper leather, which shows in the finished shoe, must be thinned down (skived) by a “skiving machine” to a beveled edge. This is done in order that the edges of the leather that are to show in the completed shoe may be folded to give a more finished appearance. The machines are operated by girls; each one an expert on one particular piece.

The order number and size of shoe are stamped on the top lining of each shoe. After all linings have been prepared, according to the data given on the instruction card attached to parts of the shoe, the parts are sent to the stitching department, where the stitchers on a multitude of machines stitch all the different parts together very rapidly and accurately.

The toe caps are then given a series of ornamental perforations along the edge. This is done by either “power tip press,” or a “perforating machine.” The first consists of a series of dies placed in a machine by which the leather is perforated according to the designs desired. Each series of dies represents a different design.

The perforating machine resembles a sewing machine, but instead of a series of dies, the one in this machine is made of single or combination dies which make one or more holes on each downward movement. The machine feeds automatically and does the work very accurately. The cutting tool is kept from becoming dull by pressing against a band of paper. Ornamentation on other parts of the shoes, such as the edges of vamps, etc., is made by this machine.

Before going to the stitching room, every bundle is examined by sorters. The sorters are divided and subdivided; that is, one man always sorts tips, another vamps, etc. They examine each piece for imperfection, and if any is found, the piece is thrown out and a new one put in. The last operation is the assembling of pieces. Here each job of twenty-four pairs is brought together and securely tied and numbered.

This stitching department is one in which female labor is generally employed, although in late years more men are being used to operate machines, especially on vamping or other heavy parts. In some parts of the country it is called the fitting room. The work of the department consists of stitching the different parts of the upper together, so that it is ready to put on the last. The terms used mean in most cases stitching the part named to the rest of the upper. There are very many operations in the department, several of which are named below, together with their meaning.

The bundles of pieces which have come from the cutting room are placed on the table, where they are subdivided into three parts, the linings, the tops, the vamps and the tips.

The linings for the tops of the shoes are pasted together (with the back strap and top bands), care being taken to join them at the marks made for that purpose. After being dried, they go into the hands of the machine operators, where they are joined together by a stitching machine, and the edges, etc., trimmed. The sewing machines used are very similar to an ordinary home sewing machine, with the exception that they are much larger and stronger.

The lining is finished. The next step is to join the lining to the piece of leather making up the outside of the same shape, called the top. The top receives the eyelets by a machine placed in proper position. The top and lining can be put together by sewing them face to face. The top is inspected and all threads clipped off.

After the shoe uppers have been properly stitched together, the eyelets are placed on by a “duplex eyeletting machine,” which eyelets both sides of the shoe at one time. The top of the eyelets are solid black knobs, so as not to wear brassy, while the bottom (which clinches inside the shoe) called the barrel, is of nickel. This finishes the shoe upper.

The vamp, tongues, and tip are then put together. The edges of the vamps, quarters, tips, etc., are covered with a cement made of rubber and naphtha, which is kept in small bowls on the benches in front of employees. Several grades of cements are used. The cemented parts are allowed to dry, and the edges are then turned over by “pressing machines,” which gives a finished appearance. The shoe is put together by stitching the vamp to the quarters. This work is done by both men and women, and is work which demands much care.

In stitching men’s uppers, the system varies in various factories as much as it does on women’s. Here are some of the operations, which will give an idea how men’s uppers go through.

Extension or toe piece sewed to vamp.

Leather box stitched on.

Tip stitched to vamp.

Vamp seamed up back.

Top folded around edge.

Top seamed up.

Eyelet row stitched up and down.

Lining seamed up.

Side facing put on lining.

Top facing put on lining.

Lining and outside pasted together.

Under trimming.

Eyeletting.

Hooking.

Vamping.

The upper is complete when it leaves the stitching room and is all ready to be put on the last. While the upper is being prepared, the soles, insoles, counters, and heels are made in other departments.

When the foreman of this department has received the tags with the data necessary for the preparation of outsoles, insoles, counters, toe boxes, and heels, they are sent to the stock room, where these parts are kept.

The soles are roughly cut out by means of dies, pressing down through the leather, in “dieing out machines.” Before the soles are cut, the leather is dipped in water and sufficiently dampened. After they are cut out, they are made to conform to the exact shape by rounding them in a machine called the “rounding machine.” The roughly died out piece of leather is held between clamps, one of which is the exact pattern of the sole. The machine works a little knife that darts around this pattern, cutting the sole exactly to conform. The outsole is now passed to a heavy rolling machine, where it is pressed by tons of pressure between heavy rolls. This takes the place of the hammering which the old-time shoemaker gave his leather to bring the fibers very closely together, so as to increase its wear.

Counters and toe boxes (stiffening which is placed between the heel and toe cap and the vamp of shoe) are prepared in the same room with the heels. After they are made, they are sent to the making or bottoming room, where the shoe upper is awaiting them. As the counter is an important feature in the life of a shoe, much depends upon the quality of leather that goes into it.

The sole is next fed to a “splitting machine,” which reduces it to an absolutely even thickness. The insole is made of lighter leather than the outsole, but has the same thickness and is cut out in the same way one at a time. The sizes are stamped on them and they are sorted.