BOOTS AND SHOES 114 BOBAH of mat, and that form remains the type of sandal of plaited grass or straw worn to this day by multitudes in central Asia, India, China and Japan. The sandal was the ordinary shoe of the ancient Greeks. In Greece, shoes were used only in ex- ceptional circumstances, and long boots lacing up the front were worn by hunters. Sandals (solex) were the everyday wear of the Roman populace; the patricians wore shoes (calcei) of black leather; red leather shoes were reserved for the senators; and the long boot or buskin (cothuniiis) , reaching, sometimes, to near the knee, and frequently supplied with a thick sole to add to the apparent stature of its wearer, was appropriated to tragedians and hunters. Sandals and slippers continue to this day to be the staple footgear of Oriental communities. In mediseval times, shoes with long, pointed toes were worn by the high born ; and toward the end of the 14th century these points became ridiculously elon- gated, so that there appeared to be a long strap projecting from each foot. Different kinds of half boots were worn by the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Nor- mans; and in the reign of Edward IV., if not earlier, the boot proper, with tops and spurs, was established as an article of knightly dress. In the reign of Charles I., a species of boot, exceedingly wide at the toj), made of Spanish leather, came into use; and with Charles II. the highly decorated French boot was introduced as an article of gay courtly attire. Mean- while, the jack-boot, as it is called, had become indispensable in the costume of cavalry soldiers and horsemen generally; and by William III. and his followers it was regularly naturalized in England. This huge species of boot remained in use in British cavalry regiments until comparatively recent times, and, in a somewhat polished and improved form, it is still worn by the Horse Guards. The jack-boot is almost entitled to be called the parent of the top and some other varieties. Boots with tops of a yellow color were so commonly worn by gentlemen in the 18th century, as to be- come a peculiarity in the national cos- tume of the English. Among jockeys and fox hunters, top boots are likely to re- main in permanent use. For many reasons the ancient domestic craft of shoemaking is dying out. Ma- chine-made shoes being much cheaper, and answering the general need in ap- pearance and wearing qualities, have generally superseded the hand-made article. A machine for sewing together soles and uppers was patented in the United States by Blake, and, as subse- quently improved by Mackay, it became the apparatus which, for the period dur- ing which the patents were current, dominated the factory shoemaking in- dustry. The Blake-Mackay machine sewed through outsole, upper and insole at one operation; but as the corporation owning the machine held the patent right for machine sewed boots and shoes, im- provements by outsiders were for the time barred. Now there are in operation many varieties of sewing machines, some of which sew welted boots in all respects like the hand-made product. Factory-made boots and shoes are now entirely cut out by machinery, the uppers are sewn by strong sewing machines, and soles and uppers are fastened to- gether either by (1) sewing, (2) peg- ging with wooden pegs, (3) riveting with metal pins, or (4) screwing by means of the Standard screw machine. The latter most ingenious apparatus uncoils a reel of screwed brass wire, inserts it into the sole, and cuts off the wire flush with the outsole with remarkable rapidity; and for solidity and durability the work leaves nothing to be desired. The manufactures in 1914 were as follows : Boots and Shoes (total) 216,039,401 pairs Slippero < total) 17.733,689 pairs Since 1914 there has been an increase of about 25 per cent in manufacture. The domestic per capita consumption of men's shoes in 1914 was 2.9 pairs as contrasted with 2.6 in 1918; women's in 1914, 2.G pairs compared with 4 pairs in 1918. In 1919-20 prices of shoes reached ex- tremely high altitudes, but by the begin- ning of 1921 conditions had so read- justed themselves that a more normal basis of production and prices was in- dicated. BOPP, FRANZ, a distinguished Ger- man Sanskrit scholar and philologist, born in Mainz, in 1791. In 1812 he went to Paris for the study of Sanskrit and Oriental literature, and remained there five years. After living for some time in London and Gottingen, he settled in Berlin, where he eventually became Ordinary Professor of Oriental Litera- ture. He contributed much to the study of Sanskrit in Europe. His most im- portant work in the field was his "Com- parative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Old Slavonic and German," of which an English transla- tion has been published. His library was purchased by Cornell University. He died in Berlin in 1867. BORAH, WILLIAM EDGAR, an American public official; born in Wayne
