The military shoe : First prize in the official military competition in 1874 / by S.A. Salquin ; assisted in the technical part by the brothers Giacomo and Stefano Tirone, of Turin ; wth a preface by Division Colonel Lecomte ; tr. by H.L.B., under direction of the quartermastergeneral, U.S.A.

  • Salquin, S. A.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The military shoe : First prize in the official military competition in 1874 / by S.A. Salquin ; assisted in the technical part by the brothers Giacomo and Stefano Tirone, of Turin ; wth a preface by Division Colonel Lecomte ; tr. by H.L.B., under direction of the quartermastergeneral, U.S.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    Under these conditions only are the soles thick enough to make it nnnecessary to nse any other filling than that which is required to fill the space existing between the sole and the upper leather caused by the joining of the latter with the welt of the shoe. This filling up is gener- ally done by means of an old sole rendered impervious by use; it ex- tends to the heel, and is fastened between the two soles with some kind of paste, and It is strengthened under the arch with one or two pieces of leather, better old than new. All other filling is useless, and, as we have already said, is of no use but to deceive as to the true thickness of the sole. IS[AILS AND PEGS.—We acknowledge at the beginning that nails have undoubtedly the effect of lessening the wear and tear of the sole, and of protecting the seam which comes in contact with the ground- But we also affirm that if the sole be really of good quality, it is useless to furnish it with an armor of nails or pegs, which have the effect of transforming it into a veritable sponge, and causing it to lose its flexi- bility, one of the most imj)ortant and necessary of its qualities. The military shoe has been filled icith nails only because the soles ivere not of good quality. This is contrary to what ought to take place in future, and we shall see that shoes moderately nailed will last as long, and even longer, than those provided with an armor of nails. In any case they will not have the inconveniences of the latter, of which we are about to furnish the proof. A shoe filled with nails is always heavy and stiff, and costs more. The surface of the nails is never on the same level ] furthermore, if there are too many, the heads of the nails are easily knocked off on paved streets or graveled walks, and the nails fall out, one after another, leav- ing place for the entrance of dirt and wet, so that they must be replaced. If the head of the nail has fallen off, the point remains in the leather, and it must be taken out, or make a hole beside it for another nail- If this is not done, and on a campaign it never is, the point will rust and corrode the leather; the shoe being sewed, water will reach the thread, which will become rotted, and allow dampness to reach the feet, and the shoe itself will soon need repairs, and will become useless long be- fore the expiration of the time we might reasonably expect it to last. Even in winter a soldier ought never to have cold feet, and conse- quently no dampness must be permitted to penetrate the shoe. The sole, then, must not only be strong, but impervious. This is absolutely necessary, for there have been cases when soldiers have been found frozen when relieved from guard duty. Good leather, well tanned, is of itself impervious if it be not plowed with nails. Soles can be made still more impervious by the following process: When the two soles, inner and outer, have been cut in the same proportions, we fasten to the first the welt, the upper leather, and the quarter-pieces, after which we spread over it a layer of shoemaker's
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