BOOTS FOR FIVE ARMIES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 March 1916, Page 2

BOOTS FOR FIVE ARMIES

• 1 iSiace the outbreak of war Northampi tonsim# has supplied live armies with tJie bulk ot their boots, delivering to the British Anny alone no less than a y total ot £32-5,01(0 wortn a week in busy s times out ot a total of £400,000 wortn 5 lor tin- whole country, in addition to s , boots for the I'iench Army and .Navy, ' the Belgian Army, the Servian Army, t tiud the Italian Army. There nave s been, writes the .Northampton corres!l pondent ol the .London Daily ieles grapih, marching boots lor Marines, a i Uiigh boot lor sailors that you could i almost lloat in, held service knee boots, a snort-footed boots tor Gurkhas, .saudain 1 lor native West Atrican "soldiens, boots for the i l 'lying Corps, which were , designed: in A ortha.mp£ou; powder / mag.iamo boots with tclt soles; and last, but not loast, mosquito boots tor r our soidiei s fighting m tropica, countries. j 'Ihereby hangs a talc. The mosquito i boots were ordered on Saturday aii toinoon lor shipment the following i; Tuesday. .Nobody had heard of tliom ; much less made thenij but North ampton proved equal to the occasion. They were designed, and the patterns cut that Saturday night, a factory was running full tilt on Sunday, and tne boots were placed on the rail on Monday in good time to catch the boat. Surely a record in a time or records. How many million pairs of boots and shoes Northamptonshire has turned out

tor the British Army and her Allies it wouij be difficult to estimate, .but it is interesting to note that only 20,000 pairs of the old hand-sewn bluchers are being turned out a weeti, this being the full capacity of the country for this class of boot. From this it will be seen what a terrible plight the British Army would have been in tor tootivcxir had a machine-made pattern not been ready at the outbreak ot hostilities. / Now there is likelihood of ail order tor three million pairs ot liigh-leggea uofote lor the Russian Ariny being placed in this country. If this order should, be placed, it will have a remarkable effect on the leather market, •tiach. pair of legs will cut jnto mno ieefc of ieather, and each pair of trotilß will take anotlher two feet. It would in fact, absorb well over 30,000,000 u! of upper leather, in' addition to -:oU, 000 bends for soVis, besides 200,0uu bends for repairing, and leather or other purpeses equai to 300,000 hides. The Italian boot has proved very troublesome. It is made with an toe-cap similad to that on a lootibali boot, and this has been' the source of much anxiety to manufacturers. The nailing has caused trouble. The Italians are now insisting on a particular kind of nail being used, of which unfortunately there ib a very short supply. The result has been that it has advanced in price £2u a ton in three days recently.