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Show Whittling ShosmaksAi . . . . fiif fimi A WaMm 'J'HE cliekety-clack of wooden shoes on the brick pavements in The Netherlands sounds like tap dancing class has just let out So familiar is the sound that the Dutch call the shoes "klompen" from the noise they make. The wooden shoes aren't worn only in The Netherlands. Peasants of many other countries wear them, particularly in the north of Europe. But nowhere are the "klompen" more common or more useful than in the soggy soil of the Low Countries Belgium, The Netherlands and north eastern France. In The Netherlands much of the farming is on lake or sea bottoms, from which the water has been pumped off and held back by dikes. These are called "polders" and the soil is always moist. Wooden shoes keep the field workers' feet dry and they are less expensive and more durable than rubber boots. Besides, when a the number of wooden shoes on the- doorstep. And it saves a lot of trouble too mother doesn't have to tell her youngsters not to track up the kitchen. There are no shoes in the house. The shoes have many curious uses. They can be used by youngsters young-sters as toy boats. They can be turned into a weapon and often are during angry disagreements between neighbors. And they are used to collect tolls at "up-lift" bridges on the canals. A special shoe has been developed devel-oped for the toll bridges. The shoe is a child's size and it is usually made so that a cord can be attached at-tached to the heel. The' bridge tender dangles the shoe on a string in front of the captain of a passing canal boat who drops into the shoe the money he must pay to pass the bridge. On cold days, the Dutch farmer wears extra-large shoes which are stuffed with straw to keep his feet warm. And on Sundays special worker comes to the house for lunch, he can step quickly out of his muddy wooden shoes and keep the floor spotless. A PASSERBY can tell with a single glance the size of a family fam-ily living in the house by noting pairs of shoes, carved with designs and brightly painted, are worn by everyone in the family. A LMOST any soft wood is used to make shoes, but poplar is the most common. It is cut into 16-inch lengths for adult shoes, and shorter sizes for boys and girls. The shoes, before being carved, look like cordwood. The shoemaker cuts the shape out roughly with a sharp hatchet. Then he finishes the shoe on a workbench which is simply a log set up on four pegs, to the end of which is an iron ring. A long knife with a hook on the end is hooked into the ring. The shoemaker takes the shoe In his left hand and grasps 'the knife by the handle and starts slicing. The knife, which may be four feet long, permits him to work rapidly and soon the shape of the shoe appears. Next, the shoe is placed in a notch on the workbench and a steel gouge is used to hollow Out the insides. Skill, acquired from years of practice, permits the shoemaker shoe-maker to work rapidly. |