When there is heavy forging to be done, he has a man to do it with a heavy hammer while he holds the iron and indicates to the helper where to strike. When an edged tool has been finished, it could hardly be called sharp; it has not been touched with a file nor other instrument for sharpening it. The purchaser must look to the edge, and so he proceeds to rub it on a stone till it is sharp enough for use. In this manner the carpenter's tools, the farmer's implements, the shoes for the ponies, the oxen, and many other things are produced by the village smithy.
There are many different sorts of shoes used in this country, and so shoemaking takes a large place among people who make things. I spoke before of the shoemaker's being a low man, but this applies only to the leather shoe. The most common shoe, and the cheapest, is made of rice straw. It is a sort of sandal, and is worn more or less by all classes, but is particularly the shoe of the poor. It is made in nearly every village and by almost any member of the family. Then comes the twine shoe, which is made of hemp twine and is a better shoe than the straw one. It is made by people who are more skilled and make it a business, and it cuts no small figure in the manufacture and commerce of the country. The leather shoe is worn by the higher-class people, and is made by regular shoemakers in their homes, not in great factories, as would be found in our country. Then there is the ever-present wooden shoe, which is to be found about every house, and is used when there is mud or snow on the ground. It is interesting to see the shoemaker
