Show durability of leather shown by recent find the die durability of lent leal her was proved of the disco discovery ery in the lie course of excavating cava ting fur for the foundations of the new bank of of soles ol of roman shoes one of which bore awre clear ly the impress of the official roman fagle engle the alie soles coles evidently were those of f the sandals worn by women and children bronze rivets were used to hold together two or three of leather and no DO doubt accounted in part for the life obtained from mm the footwear which must have been much greater in weight than present day shoes the old leather was IT ir about the same state of preservation as might be expected of a modern shoe that had been on a rubbish heap for a couple of months although nowadays leather Is produced with more speed and less mechanical ch anical crudity the processes of preserving toughening and softening it are not materially different from those practiced by the romans in england about 2000 years ago |