Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

56 BRITAIN AT WORK. gether by nails plunged into them whilst pressed in the moulds. They cut smooth the front of the heel, generally speaking, before it is attached, and it is possible to perform this operation at the rate of 1,000 heels per hour. They feed the “ counter ” or “ stiffener ” skiving machine, sole-splitting and “ evening ” machine, and serve the one which, in addition to attaching the top piece of the heel, studs it with those rivets process. He picks up the upper, laid close to his hand, inserts the last, paying particular attention to its position so as to bring the toe-cap straight, places the inner sole upon the last bottom and temporarily attaches it thereto by tacks—forepart and heel. With his pincers he pulls the upper over at the toe and tacks it down, repeating this at the joints inside and out, and at the heel. More than this is done in some cases, but IN THE FINISHING ROOM. which ornament as well as add to its wear resistance. There is still a large amount of lasting done by hand, but the work is sub-divided so that one operator does not perform the entire process of lasting. In rivetted work he is a “ puller over,” or “ laster,” or “ getter off,” or “ tapper up,” and where machine lasting is practised there is generally a team of men working together grouped around the machine. The “ puller over ” works at a spike or “ sturt,” on which the last is placed bottom upwards. The lasts may be of iron, wood with steel plates on the bottom, or wooden lasts with merely a plate at the heel seat, according to the kind of work in this suffices. He lifts the last, upper, and insole, now united, from the stand and lays them down ready to the hand of the machine laster. We will assume that it is a “ hand method ” Consolidated laster—a machine which, prior to the introduction of a royalty system, whereby the machines are leased for a premium and so much per pair lasted, was sold for ^300. In the hands of a skilful operator, whose wages are as high as 50s. per week, this machine pleats- in the upper, and tacks it to the inner sole, using pincers having a straight or oblique pull, according to the will of the operator In the case of “hand method” goods, after lasting as described above, the lasting tacks