SMALL SHOES FOR HER.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 387, 24 July 1889, Page 4

SMALL SHOES FOR HER.

'I want a pair of French kid button boots. Let me see the very best you have. 1 ' This way, please ; here they are, made by Ready, Stile & Co. ; the very best in the market. What size did you say ?' ' I wear threes, slim. ' ' Ah, here we are ; now, then. Fits you like a glove. If I had taken your measure I couldn't have done better.' ' They seem to be all right. By the way are these the same make of shoes that Mrs Lighbioot wears?' • Well, to tell the truth, no ! She always wears a make that costs a dollar a pair more.' ' But you said these were the very best.' • For wear and quality — so they are.' 'Then why should Mrs Lightfoot pay a dollar extra for hers?' 1 Why, she won't have any other shoe but Fitcm and Co.'s, because she can wear a size smaller oi theirs than she can of any others.' ' Oh ! but you really don't mean to say that I could wear a No. 2 of what's-his-naine's make, do you ?' ' Certainly you could. You see they have gob a designer of patterns who is a perfect genius, and who understands the human foot the same as a school-master does his A. B.C. Ho explained his system tome one day, and I find he is thoroughly posted. His idea is, in the first place, to abbreviate the longitudinal pressuic forward, and then, by propelling the lateral distension sideways, he of course makes the shoe a §ize shorter than it would have been if he had made it the full-length.' ' Dear me ! How simple that seems. And you are &ure I could wear a No. 2 ot this make ?' ' Positive. Here is a pair. Try them on and see for yourself.' ' Why, these are just coo nice for anything. They fit perfectly. They ain't a bit tight. Aie you sure they are only twos ?' ' You can see for yourself. Size mark stamped in plain figures on sole and lining. There it is ; size No. 2 ; width A.' ' Well, I'll take this pair, and after this you won't catch me wearing any other make.' This sounds like fiction, but it is a literal fact. The conversation took place just as it is written, with the exception of the names. Although the measurement of the woman's foot called for a No. 3 she Mas fitted perfectly \*ith a No. 2. The explanation is this : There are manufactuers who, when ordering sets of lasts, instruct the sellers to deliver them unstamped. The stamping is done in the shoe factory, each last being marked a half size or a size smaller than ib measures. The uppers are numbered to match the lasts, and the deception is complete. — ' Shoe and Leather Reporter.