The edges of the several parts are spread with cement, and then the parts are taken to the making room and distributed. In the making department the boots and shoes are put together. Women make the light overshoes; men make the heavy ones. Rubbers are made by women, but men put on the outer soles.
Linings are first applied smoothly to a wooden last and cemented together, the cement side out. The rubber parts are then stuck on and rolled firmly with a small hand roller. Young women become very skilled in this work, taking up the several parts in rapid succession, placing them accurately upon the last, and rolling and pounding them firmly together.
Perhaps the most interesting single process is that of putting the rubber boot together. This work is done by men, and requires, in addition to accurate eyesight, rapid and very deft movements of the hand and considerable strength. No nails, tacks, or stitching are required. The natural adhesiveness of the rubber, assisted by the use of rubber cement, holds the parts solidly together.
In the making of the shoe the last is covered with the various pieces which are so made as to adhere where they are placed. It is exact and nice work fitting all these pieces perfectly, each edge overlapping just so far and no farther. The lighter shoes are made by women, but the heavy lumbermen’s shoes, arctics, and especially the boots, are made by men, for this work needs strength as well as dexterity.
The goods which require varnishing are put on racks and treated with a mixture of boiled linseed oil, naphtha, and other materials, which are applied with brushes, and impart a gloss to the surface.
On vulcanizing boots and shoes, the shoes are placed on racks supported by iron cars, which are run over tracks into the vulcanizing chamber. This consists principally of a large room provided with a steam coil on the floor. The temperature rarely exceeds two hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit. In vulcanizing shoes, the heat is increased gradually from the beginning, about one hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit, otherwise the goods would be blistered, due to the rapid evaporation of moisture and other volatile constituents. They are kept in these heaters from six to seven hours. This causes a union of sulphur and rubber, which is not affected by heat or cold.