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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1899)
THE SjoiiY of A wzon. THE MAKING OF A SHOE. OUNG Mr. Johnson bad already several razors when he bought a set of seven, each marked with a day of the week and arranged in order in a ease. His beard was not heavy in deed, bis mustache was pule and wispy jut he was extremenly neat, and he In ilsted on shaving himself. He argued that it was necessary to have many razors to have one always ready. There tvere the razors that his father bad used before him, they were of French make, a handle with several extreme ly thin blades; there was a fat razor of boarding school days that was includ ed in a swap of a sled for a banjo; there were razors of English and American make; but young Mr. Johnson's favor ite was white-handled, and it was to him as the apple of his eye. Mr. Johnson married when he was about 25 years old a pretty girl of 20. She, danced, and played waltzes on the piano, aud she was sweet and amiable. They were happy, especially Sunday mornings when Mr. Johnson did not leave the house. They breakfasted late, and It was one of the wife's amuse ments to watch her husband shaving at his leisure. Those days he chose his white-handled razor. She would laugh at him when his face was covered with lather; she would keep saying, "Don't cut yourself, dear," and when his chin and cheeks appeared, smooth and shining, she would throw her anus about him, and cuddle against hla breast, aud say, "I never could love you If you had a benrd," and then she would kiss him in the neck. And Mr. Johnson, holding the razor in the air above his head, would smile compla cently. They were happy in this foolish fash ion for a year or so. One morning Mr. Johnson did not leave the house, although the day was Tuesday, not Sunday. lie did not Bliave himself; in fact, he bad not Bhaved himself for two or three days. The next week a barber came and brought his favorite razor, and Mr. Johnson was clean and smooth for his coflin. At first Mrs. Johnson Insisted that her husband's things should remain Just where he left them. And so in the bath-room the straps and the hones and the brushes and the soaps were ready to be used, and the razors were in order. The white-handled one was nearest the glass, and the others ac knowledged its claim. Mrs. Johnson would look at these things, and tears would come to her eyes. For the llrst month she kissed the white-handled razor dally. Her Bister Maria, who had come to live with her "until I die," said Lucy, "for I know I shall follow Harry booh" dis couraged her In "such nonsense." And gradually Mrs. Johnson began to find pleasure in life. One night when Mr. Mortimer called she was persuaded to play a waltz, and she even sang a pret ty song, entitled, "Love for Eternity." Mr. Mortimer's calls were frequent, lie was a thick-sot fellow, with a bushy black beard. Ills vitality in a room stirred the pictures on the wall; chairs dressed leisurely. After he had had his bath he strolled about in the bathi robe. He glanced at the newspaper, h cleaned a pipe, and then proceeded to bring out fresh underclothes aud linen. Lucy in morning gown following him from room to room. Mr. Mortimer waa putting ou a boot. "Hullo!" be ex claimed; "I forgot to trim my corn!" He went Into the bath-room, took tha white-handled razor, and, stooping over, began operations. Lucy laughed and kept saying, "Look out, dear; don't cut yourself." And when he had pared almost to the quick, she said: "If I were you I'd keep that old razor for your corn. Perhaps you might sell the others. You'll never need them. I don't see how a woman can marry a COALLNU STATION HK ne i cu aiwcv m me EAST MiL I ,( ' f ml . k rfi'A I vS 1 ! YOUXQ iin. JOHN SOX. 'don't cut yourself, dear man without a beard he isn't a man." And she cuddled against his breast and kissed him below the right ear. A dis creet maid coughed near the door and said: "Breakfast Is served." Boston Journal. On Ilia Native Nerve. "That was a strange experience," ad mitted the traveling man when some one had recalled the incident to him. "I'll tell you ou the level that It con verted me to the theory that there is a destiny that shapes our end and. that the fellow who Is willing to drift is not such a chump after all. "As the boys say, I wa3 on my uppers.- No one questioned my ability ou the road. I could sell goods to men who had no real use for them, and you'll admit that to be tbt supremo test of a drummer. If I had one forte above another, it was that of selling stoves. I could get rid of a hard-coal burner lu a soft-coal district, and I could place a consignment of wood stoves In the middle of a prairie dis trict. "One morning I waked up in the mod ern Troy of New York, without a cent and without a job. To most men the situation would have been as cold as a polar expedition, but, as Intimated, I'm a fatalist. After jollying the bartender for a patriotic cocktail and the barber for a shave, I went to the nearest stove factory. The clock struck 12 just as I entered the place. Before the hand some young man at the desk could say a word I had told him that I was on time. I think the remark was the In spiration pf an extremity. " 'We'll not stop to discuss terms at this time,' he said. 'You have an hour In which to catch a train. Here's your expense money. It Is a new route, but it will serve to try you out.' I was knocked daffy, but I took the money, caught the train, and sold stipes right and left. In a week I had a letter from the house asking who in the world I was aud where I came from. The oth er fellow, for whom I was mistaken, had shown up and claimed the Job. But they told me to lire away, and they raised my salary. I'm with 'em yet." Detroit Free Press. inventive Genius Has Made Wonderful Improvements in the Operation. It Is a far cry from the cobbler of fifty years ago, sitting on his little bench pegging away at the pair of shoes for his neighbor, which must be done on the morrow, to the modern methods and machines for shoe manufacture. Notwithstanding the fact that science has made tremendous advances and invention has done mighty things in al most every branch of Industrial life, somehow or other, most . people still keep in their minds the vision of the shoemaker of old, bending over his task and patiently boring and stitching, now and then stopping to wax over his thread. But far different is it now. Machines, with the most astonishing ac complishments, pound and hammer and stitch in place of the human hands which lent themselves to this work In the former time. And yet It seems to one watching the processes, as if hu man hands were somewhere concealed In these cases of Iron, so deft and won derful are the parts. Fancy a machine which can cut and sew 3,500 button holes a day and then revolve In your mind the long and weary toiling of the tired fingers which might have the same amount of work to do. In some cases a pair of shoes goes through 139 distinct processes In the course of its manufacture. A pair of shoes has been turned out lu twenty-eight min utes, but that Is exceptional, and the manufacturers like better to take time for the goods to rest a bit after some of the processes. A trip by a Free Press was made through one of De troit's big factories the other day, and some interesting things were noted. The factory has a capacity of 4,000 pairs a day, although this limit has never been reached, and 3,000 a day, or six pairs a minute, Is keeping the hands pretty busy. The hides and skins come in with ragged edges, some with holes here and there, others with unbroken surfaces. It is necessary in some way to get at the quantity of leather In these pieces, a puzzling job. But brains have solved the problem, and there stands a ma chine for doing the entire work. The skin Is put Into the machine as Into a planer and the number of square feet and Inches In Us surface is indicated on a djal. The amount of labor saved on account of the Irregular edges of the leather can be imagined. Making the Patterns, It seems as If the theoretical side of the manufacture of a pair of shoes should begin with the making of the patterns, at which one to five men are kept constantly working. These are cut out of stiff pasteboard, and are smoothly edged with tin. Each part .of the s-hoe must have Its pattern. Some of these seem to have very little resemblance to anything an ordinary observer might see in a pair of shoes. For Instance, the pattern for the upper looks like a large horse-shoe magnet in shape. With these patterns In hand, rAGO-PAGO HARBOR, SAMOA, WHERE THE GOVERNMENT BUILD A COALING STATION. A WILL through with. The heels and soles are cut by hand with dies. Before each worker Is an Immense section of a tree trunk, on the top of which the hide is laid. The sharp edged die is placed ou the hide aud the worker with a fell swoop of his hammer throws out what Is to be ere long the sole or the heel of a shoe. The process is exactly like that which mother used in making cookies, with the addition of the extra strength necessary. la an ordinary heel there are six pieces Instead of the one which Is apparent to the person who examines a finished pair of shoes. These pieces are put together in a machine, nail, holes are bored and enough nails are put In to hold the hH tnptlier, nil with a single motion of the machine. An other machines cut the rough piece which has been hewn out of the sole into the exact shape and size needed for the shoe desired. This Is done by a pattern of the sole lu question gov erning the cutter of the machine. An other machine cuts what is known as a "channel" in the top of the ln-sole and around the edge and It is this chan nel to which the upper Is to be sewed. Other machines cut out the pieces of the sole between the heel and the ball of the foot. Wonderful Machines. In the next department moat of the lighter sewing Is done, as well as the pasting together of the linings and the uppers. Scores of girls are busy at the sewing machines, fastening the differ ent parts of the upper together. Here, too, are the button-hole machines which do their work with lightning rapidity. Another sort of machine, with a din and hubbub, cuts the holes for the eyelets and the hooks of laced shoes, and stamps them In securely with marvelous quickness, nnd the sound of a Gatllng gun. Still another sort sews on the buttons, fastening the buttons on as many as 1,000 pairs a day. Beside these Is the newest in ventlon, a machine for riveting the buttons on. Seventy-five pairs an hour can be finished on this machine. Thus, far, the uppers and the heels and soles have been making their way separately through the processes, but nnd sofas were uneasy until he had made a wise choice. He was prosper ous lu business and fond of farce-comedy. When he was dressed for a call or n dinner he smelled of musk. Mrs. Johnson became accustomed to him, and at the end of a year and a half she was Mrs. Mortimer. The wedding was quiet, and even the bridegroom was comparatively quiet There was a Journey; New York nnd Washington hotels entertained "Mr. Mortimer and lady," nnd the routine of daily ufo bopnu In the fiat In which young Mr. Johnson had relgued. Sunday came, nud Mr. Mortimer Slightly Inconsistent. Some of the cheap novel writers are In a hurry to get their pay, otherwise they would revise their work, and not allow such startling statements as the following to appear lu type: "I grew up to manhood without ever knowing what the love of a parent really was, rs my mother died when my eldest brother was boru.' ' Hard Luck: Story from Kanaas. When the Kirby bank failed In Abi leno a Santa Fe conductor had In it $2,000, which represented the saving! of many years. In the course of time he received $1,000 in dividends from the bank receiver, and this sum he de posited In the Cross bank at Emporia, which In turn failed. Tne woman wno always wears a smile Is faultlessly dressed. the thread inserted with the next Thi ueei is sTui to do rastened to the sole and this Is done, by a ponderous Wi- u.nviimu iijuu unves an the m In at one time. Other Processes. There are still dozeus of mno . be gone through the trimming downJ me net-is, wuicn is clone by a rnachlm driving a curved cutter, trimming tt, edges of the sole, snnd-pnnerlne heels and soles, burnishing and colorln. me cui.-o, uuu u ou. .o aetallea de scrlptlon of the processes could be at tempted. Suffice It to say that thi workings of iron and steel In a sho factory would astonish the wisest mai wbrvhnq not ?n them every JUy. im provements are constantly being mad( and machines which last week wen considered marvels are next weel thrown out for old Iron, as useless li comparison with the new invention. J Detroit man has Just invented a Joint ed last which is said to excel anything else for the ease with which It can b Inserted and taken out of a shoe. Whei once Inside the shoe, it can be straight ened out and thus made much large man oerore. Tnrouguout the mam processes, men's and women's shoe' are kept separate and different wori ers make their, so that In one respec shoemakers are not unlike the Quakers Of course there Is an Inspector wh looks over the finished product thor oughly and throws out any that ma; be imperfect Then there is a complet box factory where paste-board shoe boxes are turned out In large quantl ties. BUSY SCENES IN A MODERN SHOE MANUFACTORY. the real manufacturer of the Bhoe Is nbout to begin. From skins of the proper kind and patterns of the proper shape the cutters start the work. Lay ing the patterns down on the skins they quickly cut the skins the shape of the outlines of the patterns, their knives being razor-edged. The cutters, aa well as all the other workers throughout the factory, are guided in their labors by a system of cards Issued from the office. When an order comes into the house one of these cards Is made out for each kind of shoe wanted, showing the num ber, kind, the size, the last, the finish, and so ou, giving every detail about the shoe which Is to be turned out. This card follows that lot of shoes wherever It goes lu Its wanderings through the factory. So that the cutter knows Just what patterns they are to use. When all the necessary parts of the upper portion of the shoe have been cut, In cluding the linings aud the fancy tips and tidbits, the lot Is sent on to the bot toming department. Here nre cut the heels, lu-soles nnd out-soles and various other strange operation are gone they are soon to come together. And now the "last" is to come into play. This Is put Inside the upper, with the in-sole; the edges of the upper are turn ed over the edges and tacked down on the sole. Then the out-sole Is tacked on by machinery with a few nails, the noise resembling the report of mus ketry In the distance. Each of the nails in this machine as well as in all the others Is made from wire as It Is need ed, the nails being made and driven at the same Instant. But there are still more wonderful machines to be seen Here, for Instance, is one which sews the ln-sole onto the upper. This Is the welt machine nnd does 400 pairs a day whereas a man's work was formerly twelve pairs. Not less wonderful Is the stitching machine which punctures the heavy out-soles and sews them at the same time to the upper and in-sole tying a knot In the most human fash Ion nt every stitch. The awl which makes the punctures, aud thn no,viia which does the sewing nre curved, nnd together form almost a seml-clrcle, the hole being made with one stroke aud A soft answer turnoth away dlvorc A woman's logic is far above a man morals. With most women belief is betti than proof. The longest way home is the shortft way to trouble. A husband doesn't know a good thin when he hasn't got it. Husbands nre necessary only once month when the bills come in. It innkes a woman shudder to tllal how happy she could have made yon. The devil shows you the worst iM first. The rest makes it seem better. If women's good Intentions werejeii els they wouldn't wear anything else. Love Is divided into qunrtersHM quarter vanity, three-quarters Jealous: Eve wanted to put on clothes mere! to be able to have a hat to go rt them. When a woman Is convicted she quits herself by saying she has be misjudged. Goodness wouldn't seem half MB Interesting to women if it didn't w such plain clothes. When a woman likes n man herU of having him happy Is not having M belong to some other woman. Every married woman would like 1 see you happy with some other worn) and they'd scratch out her eyes If f were. Any woman who thinks about ltd admit that Adam deserved to fall cause he did not Increase Eve's a anee for pin money. Aptly Criticised. One of tbe best criticisms of Sw novels wns given by an Irish coW ns related In the biography of "'lia Stokes." t Doctor Stokes had often loaned' cobbler odd volumes of Scott to r Walking beside him one day on t road, the doctor said: "Well, Denny, what did you thim the last book I lent you?" "It's a great book, intlrely, dodJ an' Sir Walter Scott's a thrue torlan." "I'm Inclined to agree with yon. piled Doctor Stokes. "But whatd mean exactly by calling him a tme torlan?" v "I mane, your honor, he's a three torlan because he makes you wJ kind." It would be easier to forgive a he were original; but nil are w the same old ways.