Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/856

during the period of dramatic eclipse three small volumes of poems and masques, in 1646, 1653, and 1659. He survived into the reign of Charles II., but, though some of his comedies were revived, he did not again attempt to write for the stage. It is said that he and his second wife died of the fright caused by the great fire of 1666.

There is little original force but much stage-craft and manipulative dexterity in Shirley's plays. He was born to great dramatic wealth, and he handled it freely. It has been remarked that he did not, like some of his great predecessors, take his plots from narrative fiction or history, but constructed them for himself. This is true; but he constructed them out of the abundance of materials that had been accumulated by more originative men during thirty years of unexampled dramatic activity. He did not strain after novelty of situation or character, but worked with confident ease and buoyant copiousness on the familiar lines, contriving situations and exhibiting characters after types whose effectiveness on the stage had been proved by ample experience. He spoke the same language with the great dramatists, it is true, but this grand style appears in him as the mechanical knack of an able and clever workman. It is often employed for the artificial elevation of commonplace thought. "Clear as day" becomes in this manner "day is not more conspicuous than this unning"; while the proverb "Still waters run deep" is ennobled into—

 
The shallow rivers glide away with noise—
The deep are silent.

But it cannot be denied that he uses the poetic diction of his predecessors with ease, spirit, and judgment. His scenes are ingeniously conceived, his characters boldly and clearly drawn; and he never falls beneath a high level of stage effect.

His chief plays were Love Tricks, a comedy, 1625; The Maid's Revenge, a tragedy, 1626; The Brothers, a comedy, 1626; The Witty Fair One, a comedy, 1628; The Wedding, a comedy, 1628; The Grateful Servant, a tragi-comedy, 1629; The Changes, or Love in a Maze, 1632; The Gamester, a comedy, 1633; The Example (containing an imitation of Ben Jonson's Humours), 1634; The Opportunity, 1634; The Traitor, a tragedy (perhaps Shirley's best), 1635; The Lady of Pleasure (perhaps the best of his comedies), 1635; The Cardinal, a tragedy (an attempt to compete with Webster's Duchess of Malfi), 1641. An edition of his works in six volumes, with notes by Dyce and Gifford, was published in 1833.

SHODDY. See Wool.

SHOEMAKING. The simplest foot-protector is the sandal, which consists merely of a sole attached to the foot, usually by leather thongs. The use of this the archæologist can trace back to a very early period; and the sandal of plaited grass, palm fronds, leather, or other material still continues to be the most common foot-covering among Oriental races. Where climate demanded greater protection for the foot, the primitive races shaped a rude shoe out of a single piece of untanned hide; this was laced with a thong, and so made a complete covering. Out of these two elements sole without upper and upper without sole arose the perfected shoo and boot, which consist of a combination of both. A collection illustrating the numerous forms and varieties of foot-covering, formed by M. Jules Jacquemart, is now in the Cluny Museum in Paris. It embraces upwards of 300 specimens of ancient, mediaeval, and modern times, with a special series illustrating the artistic and historical side of the subject in France from the 15th century, and contains examples of the many varieties of foot-covering in use, especially in the East, at the present day. (Compare Costume.)

Wooden Shoes. The simplest foot-covering, largely used through- out Europe, is the wooden shoe, made from a single piece of wood roughly cut into shoe form. The towns of Mende and Villefort (dep. Lozere) are the headquarters of the wooden shoe trade in France, about 1700 persons there finding employment in the manufacture. Analogous to this industry is the clog-making trade of the midland counties of England. Clogs, known also as pattens, a iv wooden soles to which shoe or boot uppers are attached. Sole and heel are made of one piece from a block of maple or ash two inches thick, and a little longer and broader than the desired size of shoe. The outer side of the sole and heel is fashioned with a long chisel-edged implement, called the dogger's knife or stock; a second implement, called the groover, makes a groove about one-eighth of an inch deep and wide round the side of the sole; and by means of a hollower the contour of the inner face of the sole is adapted to the shape of the foot. The uppers of heavy leather, machine sewed or riveted, are fitted closely to the groove around the sole, and a thin piece of leather-binding is nailed on all round the edges, the nails being placed very close, so as to give a firm durable fastening. These clogs are of great advantage to all who work in damp sloppy places, keeping the feet dry and comfortable in a manner impossible with either leather or india-rubber. They are consequently largely used on the Continent by agricultural and forest labourers, and in England and the United States by dyers, bleachers, tanners, workers in sugar - factories, chemical works, provision packing warehouses, &c. There is also a considerable demand for expensive clogs, with finely trimmed soles and fancy uppers, for use by dog-dancers and others on the stage. Manufacture of Leather Shoes. There are two main divisions of work comprised in ordinary shoemaking. The minor division the making of "turn shoes" embraces all work in which there is only one thin flexible sole, which is sewed to the upper while outside in and turned over when completed. Slippers and ladies' thin house boots are examples of this class of work. In the other division the upper is united to an insole and at least one outsole, with a raised heel. In this are comprised all classes, shapes, and qualities of goods, from shoes up to long-top or riding boots which reach to the knee, with all their variations of lacing, buttoning, elastic-web side gussets, &c. The accompanying cuts (figs. 1 and 2) show the parts and trade names of a riding boot, which is the supremo product of the craft.

Till within recent times shoemaking was a pure handicraft; but now machinery effects almost every operation in the art. On the factory system all human feet are treated alike; in the handicraft, the shoemaker deals with the individual foot, and he should produce a boot which for fit, comfort, flexibility, and strength cannot be approached by the product of machinery.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fio. 1. Parts of a boot, aa, the extension; a, the front; 6, the side scam; c, the back; d, the strap; e, the instep; /, the vamp or front; g, the quarter or counter; h, the rand; i, the heel, the front is the breast, the bottom the face; j, the lifts of the heel; k, the shank or waist; I, the welt; TO, the sole. Fio. 2. Section of. boot, a, the upper; b, the insole; c, the outsole; il, tlm welt; e, the stitching of the sole to the welt; /, the stitching of the upper to the welt.

The shoemaker, after measuring the feet, cuts out upper leathers according to the size and pattern. These parts are fitted and stitched together by the "boot-closers"; but little of this closing is now done by hand. The sole "stuff" is next cut out and assembled, consisting of a pair of inner soles of soft leather, a pair of outer soles of firmer texture, a pair of welts or bands about one inch broad, of flexible leather, and lifts and top-pieces for the heels. These the "maker" mellows by steeping in water. He attaches the insoles to the bottom of a pair of wooden lasts, which are blocks the form and size of the boots to be made, fastens the leather down with lasting tacks, and, when dried, draws it out with pincers till it takes the exact form of the last bottom. Then he "rounds the soles," by paring down the edges close to the last, and forms round these edges a small channel or feather cut about one-eighth of an inch in the leather. Next ho pierces the insoles all round with a bent awl, which bites into, but not through, the leather, and comes out at the channel or feather. The boots are then "lasted," by placing the uppers on the lasts, drawing their edges tightly round the edge of the insoles, and fastening them in position with lasting tacks. Lasting is a crucial operation, for, unless the upper is drawn smoothly and equally over the last, leaving neither crease nor wrinkle, the form of the boot will be bad. The welt, having one edge pared or chamfered, is put in position round