The work necessary to produce these boots in this country, where the art of shoemaking is so entirely different from that of the Chinese, can be appreciated only by those familiar with the business here, and the completion of the task reflected credit upon the ingenuity and cleverness of the American manufacturer.

The query as to whether or not the leather boot is to supercede the Chinese shoe is a problem too complex and intricate to intelligently prophesy upon, but whatever may be the ultimate outcomeand time only can unfold-it is certain that with the advent of Americans and Europeans, vast quantities of modern footwear will be introduced into the land of Confucious. Western civilization and methods are doubtless having their effect upon the deep-rooted conservatism of the Chinese. Every year finds them more reconciled to the customs of foreigners and who knows but what leather footwear may not slowly displace the Chinese shoe. Dealers of an enterprising turn should at least prepare for such an eventuality.

It is said great quantities of leather are tanned in China and used for many purposes.

In striking contrast to their Chinese neighbors, the thrifty, hardy little Japanese are quick to adopt progressive methods, no matter whence they come, and that people are so unquestionably advancing in the assimilation of Western ideas and enterprise which they pursue intelligently and thoroughly, that it would not be surprising to see European and American footwear universally adopted within a very few years. It is probable that in the near future, these busy little people will partake more of the fashions which prevail in what are commonly supposed to be more civilized communities. Since the introduction of European styles in clothing into Japan, European footwear likewise has come into increasing use. The ordinary demand for these goods is supplied mainly by local factories, but the home product is of the cheapest quality and though cheap, is far inferior in durability and finish to the foreign product, especially that of American manufacture. The consequence is that among the well-to-do Japanese, a demand is growing for imported boots and shoes. The principal requirement is that the toes be wide and roomy, because the sandals and clogs which are worn in childhood give full freedom to the fore-part of the foot and full growth results. Japanese do not bind the feet.

Imported boots and shoes are very largely worn by the better classes in the large cities. European footwear is used to some extent by military and naval officers and also by citizens. Low-cut shoes are preferred and the sizes range from four to eight. Glazed kid and patent leather shoes are affected by Japanese officials and gentry, and are a good deal worn by foreigners. By the average

citizen, however, russet leather seems to be the favorite. Boots are seldom worn by civilians, but are used by policemen, gens d' arms and soldiers. Calf-skin and coarse cowhide boots and shoes are also somewhat in demand. There is little call for ladies imported shoes.

The poverty of the great masses of the common people and the climate will prevent a very general adoption of the clothes of civilization, but the intercourse between Japan and America is becoming greater each year and the upper classes are rapidly adopting Amerrcan manners and customs.

The suggestive name "sandal wood" grown in Japan is used as the base of simple footwear. This wood is very light and is still further lightened by hollowing out the centre. These sandals are attached to the feet by plaited or twisted felt cord. Sometimes shoes worn by ladies are lacquered and are fastened with a velvet band passing from either side the lower part of the instep and between the first and second toes.

The native foot-covering is a slipper made of rice straw of which there is great abundance.

The shoe in general use in the cities by the Japanese is an unique affair. It is built like an old fashioned wooden bench, and consists of a roughly shapen sole of wood with two pieces of wood set crosswise underneath to form the heel and toe. The shoe is flat on top, with a round woven loop or twist of velvet fastened to it in the shape of a triangle, the point of the triangle coming nearly to the toe of the sandal and the ends near the heel. When being worn the great toe is thrust under one side of the velvet roll the other toes under the opposite side. The strap which fastens the velvet roll to the sandal at the point of the triangle, comes between the great toe and the one next to it.

Another kind of sandal is woven of coarse native straw like basket work, the soles being perfectly flat, rounded at the toe and heel alike. A twist of straw is fastened on to secure the sandal to the foot. These are worn in the villages and among mountains. They cost the merest trifle, soon wear out and are thrown aside. In the agricultural districts foot-coverings are scarcely worn at all.

It is the custom in Japan as in most eastern countries to remove the shoes upon entering a house or temple. The house slippers, which are made of straw, with no heel or back, consist of merely a vamp, in the style of some toe-slip bed-room or bath-room slippers in vogue in this country. They are often decorated with straw iringe or gilding and are easy and comfortable. Women seldom wear boots or shoes of any kind, the native straw and wooden san

A very limited number of metal-tipped boots and shoes for children are used. Very good custom boots and shoes are made by the native and Chinese shoemakers, at prices which compete with the imported articles, and small shop work is rapidly increasing, but large shoe factories are to be looked for only as a possibility of the future.

When some of the beatuiful specimens of first-class American shoemaking recently exported to Japan are exhibited there, demand for that character of footwear will no doubt increase. Some German shoe factories using American machinery are reported to be in operation in Japan and there is a movement on foot to organize a company for the purpose of erecting a building in Yokohoma, installing machinery therein and making five hundred pairs of shoes a day.

The native shoe of India is a sandal, made of narrow strips of strong tan leather woven over the instep in a basket pattern, buckling behind through a stout strap and sewed to a strong leather sole. Among the queerest specimens from India sometimes worn by natives, but often adopted by foreigners is one perfectly flexible and yielding to every movement of the foot. Judging from appearance, they must be very comfortable and delightfully cool in hot weather. It is bemoaned by foreign travelers in India that natives do not know how to make boots and shoes and articles imported into that country are not much better.

It would be difficult to determine when boots and shoes of European pattern were first introduced to the favorable notice of the native shoemaker of India. It is probable that the Indian followers of St. Crispin took to making boots of European pattern about the beginning of the last century, whilst for many hundreds of years they have manufactured the sandal peculiar to India.

There are, in Hindoostan, numbers of native shoemakers and Oriental representatives of the craft, who apparently find it profitable to make "boys laced boots for school wear, patent leather buttoned boots, pumps and Wellington's." The tools employed by the “mochi,” as the native shoemaker is called, correspond with those used by members of the craft in more advanced countries, but he does not make the same skilful use of them. As a maker of sandals he is a genius; as a bootmaker his workmanship leaves something to be desired. It is interesting to note that the "mochi" does not, as a general rule, seek the assistance of other operators. Unless he is doing a comparatively large business, he is his own cutter, fitter and laster. He is sometimes assisted in the operations by his wife. Following out his principle, he himself cuts out the boot, tacks the upper to the insole, sews in the welt and attaches the outsole,

setting, the rounding, polishing and final cleaning up. He is his own designer and cutter as well as manufacturer. The position assumed by the "mochi" when working is much the same as that usual among the European operators, except that the "mochi" sits upon the floor. The hollow at the base of the breast bone occasioned by the pressure of the last, which is noticeable in St. Crispinites the world over, is by no means uncommon among shoemakers of India. Their ancestors in the shoemaking line sat on the ground and they continue to do likewise. The Oriental is an individual of conservative tendencies, he is opposed to progress. As he has clothed himself in the turban, white pajamas and short linen jacket of the pattern affected by his great-great-grandfather, so he has inherited his ancestor's methods of working and ideas in general.

It is said that importation of boots and shoes into Turkey is increasing. This is because the domestic goods are inferior in quality and higher in price. Cheapness is a matter of great importance. The better classes in Turkey wear fine shoes and half-boots. The shoes worn by the lower classes are a very cheap and badly-shaped article. Ladies' and children's wear are wholly imported, mainly from France, Germany and Austria. Hundreds of pairs of heavy workingmen's shoes are annually imported from Malta. Overshoes are said to be customarily worn, both summer and winter and in rainy weather their use is general.

Practically there is but one boot and shoe factory in our sense of the term in the Ottoman Empire, namely, the Government establishment at Constantinople, where boots and shoes for the use of the army and navy are manufactured. These goods are nailed or sewed, and some hand power machinery is used. Turkish slippers, of which there are many manufactured, are made of goat-skins from the interior, dyed red, yellow, etc. They are familiar to us, being much worn for boudoir and smoking room use. They have pointed toes, which turn up and are often elaborately embroidered.

In many European countries wooden shoes, which were fashionable among the nobility in the ninth and tenth centuries, are in very general use among the peasantry to-day. They are cheap and durable and, though clumsy, are said to be comfortable. In this country an attempt to manufacture wooden shoes on a large scale was made in 1863, but the market was found to be limited and very few are now made. Those made are chiefly turned out in New York for newly arrived immigrants who reluctantly relinquish their wooden shoes as the last link which binds them to the "Fatherland," before adopting American dress fully and conforming entirely to western customs. The nearest approach to the European wooden

extent in this State. They are worn by miners, dye-house workers, tanners, etc. The wooden soles, which are one inch or more in thickness, are entirely hand made, being sawed from great strips of wood and fashioned by hand. To that is attached by tacks or small screws the upper, which is cut from split leather. The uppers are medium high cut and fastened at the instep with strap and buckle.

All the Europeans who handle footwear admit the vast superiority of goods made on this side of the water, especially in style, finish and general get up. They are usually, however, considered too light for their taste, as their custom has been an inclination toward heavy and cumbrous footwear. The peculiar style of shoe for the London market, we are told, is rather short, wide fitting, with heavy soles, medium pointed. The local made shoes have side seams and are generally well made, substantial, good wearing shoes, but lack the style so familiar to Americans. In Europe it is much more common to wear footwear with heavy upper stock than in this country, where people have learned that a light skin makes as good fitting and fine appearing shoe, and in many grades fully as durable as a heavier skin. No doubt there is some foundation for the prejudice of the average American tourist against the clumsy, uncomfortable European footwear.

The contrast between the factory system on this side the Atlantic and that on the other, is very marked. A European shoe factory employing, say one hundred operators, will turn out two hundred pairs of welt shoes per day; an American factory, with the same number of employes, will produce from four hundred and fifty to five hundred pairs, and although the wages paid to the American workpeople are higher per day than those paid the European operators, the labor cost of their work is less per pair than that of the foreign producer.

The recognized scale of prices for the different operators is said to be higher in England than it is here, but the difficulty in running full time cuts down the average wage earned below that of our own artisans. Notwithstanding the amount of wages paid, freight duties, etc., our manufacturers are fast encroaching on foreign markets. The style of the goods, the expertness of the operators, the methods adopted in contradistinction with those observed abroad, all combine in accounting for American supremacy. Moreover, superior sole and upper leathers are tanned in this country and abundant supplies and the most ingenious machines are obtainable immediately at hand.

The description given the writer by a recently returned American tourist, of an English shoe factory which he visited in Leicester, will give the reader an idea of the methods over there.