orm thickness. The traveling
shoemaker always hammered his sole leather to make it wear better; but
now a moment between very heavy rollers answers the same purpose.
Another machine splits the inner sole for perhaps a quarter of an inch
all the way around, and thus makes a little lip to which to sew the
welt. A number of layers or "lifts" of leather are cemented together
for the heel, and are put under heavy pressure.

The upper parts of a shoe, the "uppers," as they are called, are the
vamp or front of the shoe, the top, the tip, and (in a laced shoe)
the tongue. Nearly all the upper leather that shows when a shoe is
on is made from the hides of cattle, calves, goats, and sheep; but
besides the parts that show there are stiffeners for the box toe
and the counters to support the quarters over the heel; there are
linings, and many other necessary "findings," forty-four parts in all
in an ordinary shoe. Much experimenting and more thinking have gone
into every one of these forty-four parts; and much remembering that
shoes have harder wear than anything else in one's wardrobe. The
cotton linings, for instance, must be woven in a special way in order
to make them last and not "rub up" when they are wet with water or
perspiration. They are bleached with the utmost care not to weaken
them, and they are singed between red-hot copper plates to remove
all the nap.

Then, too, a good deal of metal is used in making a shoe, not only the
ornamental buckles on dress shoes and the heavy, useful buckles on
storm boots, but various pieces that help to make the shoe strong and
enduring. There are nails, shanks to strengthen the arch of the shoe,
metal shanks to the buttons, and eyelets. Not many years ago, eyelets
soon wore brassy, and then the shoe looked old and cheap. They are now
enameled, or the top of them is made of celluloid in a color to match
the shoe. The tags on lacings and the hooks for holding lacings are
also enameled. A "box-toe gum" is used to support the box-toe
stiffening. Cement covers the stitches; and many sorts of blacking
are used in finishing the work. It is by no means a simple operation
to make a pair of shoes.

At a busy shoe factory it is always "tag day," for when an order is
received, the first step in filling it is to make out a tag or form
stating how the shoe is to be made up and when it is to be finished.
These records are preserved, and if a customer writes, "Send me 100
pairs of shoes like those