Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

the sides, up to the heel or “seat,” and the maker proceeds to “in
seam, by passing his awl through the holes already made in the
insole, catching with it the edge of the upper and the thin ed^e of
1 Tin anti SeTng ia l three togethei' in one flat seam with a
waxed thread. He then pares off inequalities and “levels the
bottoms by filling up the depressed part in the centre with a niece
A flT+T wl arlp ’ tTt d°ne’ the boots are ready for the outsoles
After the leather for them has been thoroughly condensed by ham-
“8 T/T laP;stone, ’ they are fastened through the^insole
, n,th fT •tack,S’ their s,ldls are Pare,1» au(i a narrow channel is cut
ound their edges; and through this channel they are stitched to
the welt, about twelve stitches of strong waxed thread beino- made
to the inch. The soles are now hammered into shape; the heel lifts
are put on and attached with wooden pegs, then sewed through the
stitches of the insole ; and the top-pieces, similar to the outsoles
aie put on and nailed down to the lifts. The finishing operations
embrace pinning up the edge of the heel, paring, rasping LapinT
smoothing, blacking, and burnishing the edges of sSesTnd heel?’
scrapmg, sand-papering, and burnishing the soles, withdrawing the
lasts, and cleaning out any pegs which may have pierced through
the inner sole. Of course, there are numerous minor operations
connected with forwarding and finishing in various materials, such
honsUTobTTw S’T1861'^ Cyekts’ /PPiy^g heel and toe
irons, hob-nailing, &c. To make a pair of common stout lacimr
boots occupies an expert workman from fourteen to eighteen hourSg
The principal difficulties to overcome in applying machinery to
shoemaking were encountered in the operation of fastening together
the soles and uppers. The first success in this important operation
was effected when means other than sewing were devised In 1809
David Meade Randolph obtained a patent for fastening the soles
and heels to the inner soles by means of little nails, &c. The
lasts he used were covered at the bottom with plates of metal and
tr<3 T V711611 dnven through the inner soles, were turned and
clinched by coming against the metal plates. To fix the soles to
Wifhthr dUTng the 0]T'jltl0U V16 metal Plates were each perforated
vith thiee holes, in which wooden plugs were inserted, and to these
the insoles were nailed This invention may be said to have laffi
f 8101 f-W1011 °/ mAaThTneTJb00t1'lnaking- In the following year
(1810) the inventor M. I. Brunei patented a range of machinery
for fastening soles to uppers by means of metallic pins or nails, and
the sameyelrWS ^ StapleS WaS patented by Richard Woodman in
Tin? by machine or hand> three principal methods
“pfolTni”wiTh smf,nU1>PT ar- in use at Present The first is
Pegr>ing with small wooden pms or pegs driven through outsole
and insole catching between them the edges of the upper The
points of the pegs which project through the insole are cut a wav
and smoothed level with the leather either by hand or by a machine
pegging rasp. The second is the system of “ riveting or clinching ”
with n-on or brass nails, the points of the nails being turnedg0r
by cominSm contact with the iron last used. The third
method, screwing, has come into extensive use since the standard
screwing machnie was introduced in America by the Mackay IssocTa
vpp • £ B M,asTsachusetts, and in Europe by the Blake & Good-
fs AT1’3117 ° Lo,udon-. Tlle standard screw machine, which
thn LhG h,Tn mVentlvTv Pr(Jvi(led with a reel of stout screw-
threaded biass wire, which by the revolution of the reel is inserted
into and screwed through outsole, upper edge, and insole. Within
£oint ofThp head a?aULSt the insole directly opposite the
fTT and the instant screw and head touch the wire
tLhtwT hTI t+p 0UtS010' V The SCrew> making its own hole, fits
tightly in the leather, and the two soles, being both compressed
sToe^^hp s^f 7 tfTtll-r’ ,r;ake a Perfectly water-tight and solid
work ;cLbi]f 0f1tfi0 msole 18 fiuite level and even, and as the
tw a i 1 { ?r,Tef tT screws are steady in their position, and
they add matenaliy to the durability of the soles. The principal
disadvantage m the use of standard screwed soles is the great diffi-
old^offiwhTnV11 rem0Vmg aud levelling down the remains of an
olct sole when repairs are necessary.
an^rrlTT of sewing-machine by which uppers are closed,
also nrinc Sw of ™odlficatlons for uniting soles and uppers, are
TuachlT l • 7 f Amen5fn But the first suggestion of
Tg fYas an .Bug1,1811 idea. The patent secured by
shhXwPd m T Engllsh Patent 0ffice in 1790, while it fore-
machiupdiii? ?°i lmp01'tant features of the modern sewing-
tWwfna of lCatitd morc partlcularly the devices now adopted in
for Sh IniT.-1'the introduction of the sewing-machine
tWadlj win padfPitatl°n pitching leather both with plain
task 1 Tl l beated Waxed thread was a comparatively simple
sPwWfT in lr?P°rta?t steP in the more difficult problem of
Tlir TT T SrleS and uppers by a machine was taken in the
States by Lyman R. Blake in 1858. Blake’s machine was
ultimately perfected as the Mackay sole-sewing machine,-—one of the
most successful and lucrative inventions of modern times. Blake
;rUrcd ius fir®* Bnghsh patent in 1859, his invention being thus
aescnbed : 1 his machine is a chain-stitch sewing-machine. The
Hooked needle works through a rest or supporting surface of the
S H O —g H O
831
;',bierof‘the maach3 ' tk'J arm 'fl"?1 Proj6c‘s from the
capable ofenMn. a shoe eoa^t °Uld SUCl' “ f0n1' aS to
as well as anv otW •t0 c.arry the rest into the toe part
end and directly undlr tlfs “T™1' °f it carries at its front
the end of the arm so as to T?61')- whldl ls suPPorted within
ing round the needle whlwTTT °f r°tatlng or Partially rotat-
through the eve of fhT h l needle niay extend into and
of the needle The tiST*1 Cye being Placed in the path
alongiTthecurvefTarm^^fermp6!!! °Ta b°bbhl by suitable guides
the ana, and thence upialTih^g^
feed wheel bv whiek ii.n i - th ^ by means of a handle. The
asLTTtion ^ , The income of the
$38,746 in 1863 to $589,973 in 1873, anfclnTnuer^sTtnur
SffitesPabrTToPorBlak 1 When T®16 were in use in the United
grates about 1800 Blake-Mackay machines sewing 50 000 000 nairs
of boots and shoes yearly. The monopoly securfd by the MaSkav
Company barred for the time the progress of invention notwitT
anding which niany other sole-sewing machines were’patented
Among the most important of these is the Goodyear & Mackay
machines for welted shoes,—the first mechanism adapted for sewing
soles on lasted boots and shoes. These machines originated In f
patent obtained m 1862 m the United States by August Destory for
a curved-needle machine for sewing outsoles to welts, but the mechan-
ofthTwe'll’kno0068^111 T take-n j11 hand by Charles Goodyear, son
ot the well-known inventor in india-rubber fabrics. The Goodyear
& Mackay Company make two machines for welted goods, one3 for
sewing the inseam and the second for stitching on the outsole. A
aige number of the latter form of machine are in use, many manu¬
facturers preferring to secure the welt or a midsole by the standard
mTcW Tk’ SeWmg t0 that the TtS°le With the Goodyear-Mackay
UelpwWpf 1 Samt comPauy adapt a circular-needle machine to
in extensive use1111 Sh°eS’ and thlS’ Wlth °ther similar machines, is
The range of machinery used in a well-equipped shoe-factory is
very extensive embracing machines for cutting leather, pressing
rollers for sole leather, and presses with cutting dies for stamping
out sole and heel pieces. There are also, in addition to many kinds
ot sewing-machine, blocking or crimping appliances for moulding
uppers or vamps, vamp-folding machines, eyeleting machines!
lasting machines, trimming and paring machines for planing and
smoothing the edges of soles and heels. Eor finishing there are
scouring, sand-papering, and burnishing machines for the soles
and stamping machines for marks and monograms, with peg-cutting
and nail-rasping machines for smoothing, cleaning out, and dress-
mg the surface of the insole. In short, there is not a single opera-
tion necessary in shoemaking, however insignificant, for which
machinery has not been devised.
The manufacture of india-rubber goloshes, shoes, and fishing-
boots, &c., forms an important branch of the india-rubber industry
rather than a department of shoemaking (see Lndia-rubbeu, vol
xii p. 842). A very considerable trade exists in boots and shoes
with outer soles of gutta-percha (see vol. xi. p. 339) in place of
leather, the headquarters of that trade being in Glasgow. (J PA )
SHOES, Horse. The horny casing of the foot of the
horse and other Solidungulates, while quite sufficient to
protect the extremity of the limb under natural conditions,
is. found to wear away and break, especially in moist
climates, when the animal is subjected to hard work of
any kind. This, however, can be obviated by attaching
to the hoof a rim of iron—a simple device which has been
probably not surpassed in its beneficial effects by the intro¬
duction of steam-power locomotion. The animal itself has
been in a very marked manner modified by shoeing, for
without this we could have had neither the fleet racers nor