Part 2

But he does not do the whole job. One man pares down the new sole or heel to the dimensions of the particular boot in hand. Another man, or woman, holds the boot and the sole in contact with a machine which sews on the sole in about the time in which you could sprint 100 yards. Another person and another machine drive in nails all round the sole almost as fast as you could draw your finger along the line of nail-heads that they trace.

It would be tedious to go through all the other stages of repair. But one may hark back to mention one which was forgotten in its place. Just after leaving the seat of judgment where, as it were, the sheep were separated from the goats, each boot to be mended was handed over to an expert who put it on a last and simply banged it back, with a heavy hammer, into the original shape of a new boot.

The effect of this skilful violence seems miraculous to the layman. Boots which for months have been taking a heavy list to port or starboard emerge from the ordeal, to all appearance, absolutely upright, although anyone who has worn a boot down to one side until the lower part of the upper is in contact on one side with the ground knows how incorrigible the deformity seems.

Return of the Renewed Boots.

The end of it all is that the boots, completely mended and re-shod with iron heels, go to a woman who bathes them in oil till the leather has drunk its fill. Thus they are both softened and re-armed against the wet. They are now ready for reissue to troops. They go again into a sack, are carried back to the railway siding and make the return journey to the Front, where the sack will be opened by some quartermaster-sergeant, and an order will go round some company for any men in need of new boots to report at the quartermaster’s stores.

The Employees.

Of the 2,400 persons employed in this huge cobbler’s shop, 1,500 are women and girls, all French. It thus helps to absorb the labour displaced in France by the derangement of the cotton, linen and woollen industries at and near the seat of war in the North. The women and girls earn higher wages than they did before the war. They are extremely cheerful workers, sing most of the time, and look up at the occasional British visitors to the place with amused curiosity. To each group of them there is assigned as a friend and adviser some educated and motherly Englishwoman, a volunteer.

A Model Organisation.

The workmen are all British and shoemakers by trade. They have either enlisted specially for the work or been combed out of ordinary battalions on account of their special usefulness here. The officers were experts in boot trade management before joining the New Army. The whole place is a model of industrial organisation. There is nowhere in it any trace of the makeshift and rough-and-ready methods for which the difficulties of war are sometimes made an excuse elsewhere. The minute economies that are practised in all the processes of repair are enough to put to shame any visitor who has not done his very utmost to save his country money.

The place described is not the only one of its kind at the British bases in France. Great as it is, it could not mend all the boots of more than two million men. But in each of the Army’s giant cobbler’s shops the same methods prevail.

TRAINING IN FRANCE

AMIDST DEADLY FUMES OF GAS—ON THE TRAINING GROUND

GOING THROUGH THE LACHRYMATORY DUG-OUT

NIGHT DRILL UNDER FIRST LINE CONDITIONS

AN INSTRUCTION CLASS AT THE LANDSCAPE TARGET

INDIAN TROOPS AT BAYONET EXERCISE

A LESSON IN SANDBAG-FILLING

AT MUSKETRY PRACTICE—PRONE POSITION

PREPARING FOR PHYSICAL EXERCISE

PHYSICAL EXERCISE

TROOPS DISEMBARKING

[Illustration: AMIDST DEADLY FUMES OF GAS—ON THE TRAINING GROUND]

[Illustration: GOING THROUGH THE LACHRYMATORY DUG-OUT]

[Illustration: NIGHT DRILL UNDER FIRST LINE CONDITIONS]

[Illustration: AN INSTRUCTION CLASS AT THE LANDSCAPE TARGET]

[Illustration: INDIAN TROOPS AT BAYONET EXERCISE]

[Illustration: A LESSON IN SANDBAG-FILLING]

[Illustration: AT MUSKETRY PRACTICE—PRONE POSITION]

[Illustration: PREPARING FOR PHYSICAL EXERCISE]

[Illustration: PHYSICAL EXERCISE]

[Illustration: TROOPS DISEMBARKING]

THE CARE OF THE WOUNDED

THE OVERHEAD TROLLEY FOR BRINGING WOUNDED THROUGH THE TRENCHES

CARRYING WOUNDED IN A TRENCH: A DIFFICULT TURN

OUTSIDE AN ADVANCED DRESSING-STATION

THE VENTILATING TUNNELS OF AN ADVANCED DRESSING-STATION

SPECIAL WARD OF A HOSPITAL FOR FRACTURES OF THE THIGH

A WARD OF ST. JOHN’S AMBULANCE BRIGADE HOSPITAL

A WHEELED STRETCHER

A WHEELED STRETCHER WITH PNEUMATIC TYRES

AMBULANCE TROLLEYS USED IN THE OPEN

AN AMBULANCE BARGE FOR CONVEYANCE OF VERY BADLY WOUNDED TO THE COAST

INTERIOR OF A HOSPITAL BARGE

AN AMBULANCE WITH HEATING-PIPE UNDER SEAT

[Illustration: THE OVERHEAD TROLLEY FOR BRINGING WOUNDED THROUGH THE TRENCHES]

[Illustration: CARRYING WOUNDED IN A TRENCH: A DIFFICULT TURN]

[Illustration: OUTSIDE AN ADVANCED DRESSING-STATION]

[Illustration: THE VENTILATING TUNNELS OF AN ADVANCED DRESSING-STATION]

[Illustration: SPECIAL WARD OF A HOSPITAL FOR FRACTURES OF THE THIGH]

[Illustration: A WARD OF ST. JOHN’S AMBULANCE BRIGADE HOSPITAL]

[Illustration: A WHEELED STRETCHER]

[Illustration: A WHEELED STRETCHER WITH PNEUMATIC TYRES]

[Illustration: AMBULANCE TROLLEYS USED IN THE OPEN]

[Illustration: AMBULANCE BARGE FOR CONVEYANCE OF VERY BADLY WOUNDED TO THE COAST]

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A HOSPITAL BARGE]

[Illustration: AN AMBULANCE WITH HEATING-PIPE UNDER SEAT]

THE ARMY’S PETROL SUPPLY

CUTTING SHEET TIN FOR MAKING CONTAINERS

MAKING THE ROUGH TIN INTO CANS

ROLLING-ON THE EDGES

SOLDERING TINS BY MACHINERY

BUSY AT THE STAMPING MACHINES

TESTING THE CANS BY AIR

INTERIOR OF A FILLING-HOUSE

AN ENDLESS BELT CONVEYING THE FILLED TINS

FRENCH WORKPEOPLE PACKING THE PETROL TINS INTO BOXES

SOME FRENCH EMPLOYEES OUTSIDE THE FILLING-HOUSE

MAKING BOXES BY MACHINERY

IN THE BOX-MAKING DEPARTMENT

[Illustration: CUTTING SHEET TIN FOR MAKING CONTAINERS]

[Illustration: MAKING THE ROUGH TIN INTO CANS]

[Illustration: ROLLING-ON THE EDGES]

[Illustration: SOLDERING TINS BY MACHINERY]

[Illustration: BUSY AT THE STAMPING MACHINES]

[Illustration: TESTING THE CANS BY AIR]

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A FILLING-HOUSE]

[Illustration: AN ENDLESS BELT CONVEYING THE FILLED TINS]

[Illustration: FRENCH WORKPEOPLE PACKING THE PETROL TINS INTO BOXES]

[Illustration: SOME FRENCH EMPLOYEES OUTSIDE THE FILLING-HOUSE]

[Illustration: MAKING BOXES BY MACHINERY]

[Illustration: IN THE BOX-MAKING DEPARTMENT]

A GIANT COBBLER’S SHOP

SORTING THE BOOTS

CUTTING OFF TOPS OF OLD BOOTS TO MAKE INTO LACES

NAILING SOLES BY MACHINERY

REPAIRING RUBBER BOOTS

GIRLS IN THE RUBBER-BOOT REPAIRING SHOP

ROLLING-BOILERS FOR WASHING WATERPROOF SHEETS

[Illustration: SORTING THE BOOTS]

[Illustration: CUTTING OFF TOPS OF OLD BOOTS TO MAKE INTO LACES]

[Illustration: NAILING SOLES BY MACHINERY]

[Illustration: REPAIRING RUBBER BOOTS]

[Illustration: GIRLS IN THE RUBBER-BOOT REPAIRING SHOP]

[Illustration: ROLLING-BOILERS FOR WASHING WATERPROOF SHEETS]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.