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Show !How the American SHOE 1 Increases HOOKWORM Dan J THE recent outbreak of hookworm in a section where comparatively few of the population go barefoot has awak-, awak-, ened shoe manufacturers to a need of the reconstruction of footwear intended for the South, and the resources of chemistry and of machinery are being taxed to produce a shoe that shall be proof against the admission of i the miscroscoplc larva of the hookworm 1 found in countless numbers In the soil of tho , South, and constantly reinfected by the negro i hookworm "carriers." ; As a resistant to tbe admission of dust , the American Bhoe is perhaps the worst In i the world, as It Is easily the beBt In shape, style, lightness and general comfort ' But the desire on tho part of the buyer to havB shoes as light and easy as possiblo and the eagerness on the part of the manufacturer , to turn Into money as rapidly as possible his purchases in leather or In hides have caused tho use of a porous Instead ot an impervious leather. The manufacturer ac- C3 i cordlngly tans his leather by the uao', strong acids, which shorten the tlma quired and reduce the labor that needs to engaged. At the same time, the leathei made lighter, and being more porous, it cooler upon the feet Furthermore, Its wl ing qualities are lost, so that tho Bhoea w out more easily, the people must boy xs, shoes and the monuiacturers secure xia profits. Tho easiest test for this is to walk! some minutes upon the dry sand ot the,i shore. Lace the shoes as tightly aB ; will It 1b impossible to return from a b mile walk in soft sand and not find gri of sand inside tho shoe. In the South", same would be true of a dusty road bi muddy yard. And surely, where parti aa large as a grain of sand find ready,; trance, what Is to stop the hookworm lii from getting in? r Until tho dust-proof shoe of honest leat possibly treated with special chemicals make it absolutely non-porous 13 dlacov and made, tho manufacturer and the he worm will prosper at the expense of people of the Southern States. - |