Shoelace

“ In fitting one of these shoes, which of course must always be made specially for the limb it is to control, the points to be attended to are—1st, the centres of the joints must be so arranged that, when traction is made, the foot shall revolve back again round the same centres it has passed in reaching its distortion. For example, if the heel is raised, as in talipes equinus, the fore part of the sole of the shoe must be capable of elevation, by moving a joint that rotates in a plane parallel to [Pg 112] the rotation of the astragalus on the tibia. ”

“ With the bar removed, the outward movements of the frog under pressure are naturally rendered of no account, and a proper and intermittent expansion of the wall denied it. The same evil follows, though to a less extent, excessive paring of the sole.
The shape of the bearing surface of the shoe is often to be blamed. Where this is concave—'seated'—and the 'seating' is carried back to the heels, it is easy to see that, when weight is on the foot, there is an ever-present tendency for the bearing edge of the wall to slide down towards the inner edge of the shoe. ”

“ Besides good, tough iron for the shoe, we need an anvil with a round horn and a small hole at one end, a round-headed turning-hammer, a round sledge, a stamping hammer, a pritchel of good steel, and, if a fullered shoe is to be made, a round fuller. Bodily activity and, above all else, a good eye for measurement are not only desirable, but necessary. A shoe should be made thoughtfully, but yet quickly enough to make the most of the heat. ”

“ To the uninitiated who read the average writer’s suggestions on horseshoeing, it would appear that there is no other mechanical operation so difficult as that of attaching a shield of metal to the hoof of a horse. That is an erroneous opinion.
I was once told by an old English shoer that “the man who picked up a horse’s foot that had never worn a shoe, gave it a brush or two with a rasp and then nailed on a light piece of iron (an old, half-worn shoe, perhaps) would do a better job of shoeing than nine-tenths of the so-called fancy jobs.” ”

“ The ends of the bifurcated bar are drawn down by the bolt, E, or by the united action of the bolts, E and D, until clamped against the standard of the shovel with such force that the friction shall maintain the shovel in position while passing through mellow earth, but not so tight but that it will yield to an excessive resistance before force enough is applied to break the shovel. ”

“ It is not common in hind feet but occurs sometimes. When the shoe is removed a separation is noticed between the sole and the wall, and this separation may extend up the wall nearly to the coronet. As a rule the space so formed is a narrow one, but it may be wide enough to admit three fingers of a man's hand. Probably all seedy toes result from some injury or disease of the coronary band from which the wall grows, and the first appearance is not a cavity but a changed and softened horn, which may be dry and crumbly, or moist and cheesy. ”

“ In the common system of shoeing, to avoid slipping in winter upon the ice, and in the cities upon the wet, slimy surface of pavement, or to assist draft, it is customary to weld a calk upon the toe of a shoe, and to turn up the heels to correspond. ”

“ Where the crack is situated far back in the quarter, and easing of the bearing cannot be accomplished without tending to spring the heels, then the most suitable shoe is a bar shoe. With it the bearing may, of course, be eased in exactly the position required, and the heels still allowed to take their fair share in bearing the body-weight, and thus assist in closing the crack. The bar shoe, if properly fitted, gives us also a bearing on the frog, and aids greatly in counteracting contraction. ”

“ A stretched rope is in a state of stress, because at any cross section the part on each side is pulling the part on the other side with a force in the direction of the rope's length. A plate of metal that is being cut in a shearing machine is in a state of stress, because at the place where it is about to give way the portion of metal on either side of the plane of shear is tending to drag the portion on the other side with a force in that plane. ”

“ A good bearing surface is the primary object aimed at in preparing the foot for a shoe. The relative position of the limb to the foot and the proper proportions of every part of the foot are matters to be borne in mind whilst the farrier is directly forming the bearing surface for a shoe. A good bearing surface must be even, level, on sound horn, and as wide as can be obtained to give stability to the shoe. ”

“ A strong foot does not suffer much, but [Pg 47] its strength is preserved by leaving the hard outer surface intact. Rasping off an outer layer of horn favours evaporation and hardening of the underneath layer, and the toughness so desirable is to some degree replaced by hardness and brittleness. Excessive rasping below the clenches is even more injurious than rasping above them. The wall, between its bearing surface and the clenches, has to withstand the contact of the shoe, and the perforation by nails. ”

“ If you examine a shoe, so applied to a foot that an inch or more of its extremity has no contact with the hoof, you will find that when weight is rested on that foot the horn yields downwards and comes in contact with the shoe. This simply demonstrates that when there is nothing to support it the horn at the heels may be forced downwards. It is not a normal action, and in an unshod foot cannot occur on a level surface. ”

“ The shortening of the inside branch of the shoe, which is the one with which the pressure is made, may be of advantage, and especially if the truncated end of the shoe is smooth and filed over to remove all possibility of pressure and contusion upon the skin. ”

“ For paddling out the sideweight shoe is used with the weight on the outside of the foot, be sure and fix the foot by lowering the inside of foot from center of toe back to the inside heel, have the inside of foot lower than the outside for a paddler, and have the outside of foot lower than the inside for a front shin, knee and arm hitter. A hind foot has to be fixed the lowest on the inside for speedy cutting, shin and hock hitting. ”

“ When a shoe is seated from one side to the other so as to produce a saucer shaped surface harm is done to the foot. Such a shoe presents no level bearing-surface, and the weight of the horse pressing the wall on an inclined plane causes the foot to be pinched or compressed in a manner which soon causes lameness. ”

“ The gallant puts his foot to the ground, and remains looking at it. The shoemaker rises, wipes the sweat from his forehead with his fingers, and draws his breath like one who has been running. All this trouble might have been saved by making the shoe a little larger than the foot. ”

“ When the crack is in the quarters of the foot, it is not the tendency to expansion of the hoof that has to be guarded against. It is the downward motion of the heels that forces open a crack in this position. The farrier provides against this by taking care to have a firm bearing of the shoe on the hoof behind the crack as shown in A figure 82. ”

“ SHEAVE. The wheel on which the rope works in a block; it is generally formed of lignum vitæ, sometimes of brass, and frequently of both; the interior part, or that which sustains the friction against the pin, being of brass, let into the exterior, which is of lignum vitæ, and is then termed a sheave with a brass coak, bouche, or bush. The name also applies to a cylindrical wheel made of hard wood, movable round a stout pin as its axis; it is let through the side and chess-trees for leading the tacks and sheets. ”

“ Removal of Shoals.—The possibility of securing uniformity of depth in a river by the lowering of the shoals obstructing the channel depends upon the nature of the shoals. A soft shoal in the bed of a river is due to deposit from a diminution in velocity of flow, produced by a reduction in fall and by a widening of the channel, or to a loss in concentration of the scour of the main current in passing over from one concave bank to the next on the opposite side. ”

“ The nearest approach to this is a shoe which clamps the hoof, is screwed up tightly, and the whole thing kept in place by an iron band. The great amount of pressure which is required to keep the shoe from shifting, and the possible injury it may cause the wearer, has prevented its universal use. ”

“ The bearing-surface of the branches, however, must always remain horizontal. The shoe always requires deep concaving, especially along the inner branch of the sole. If the quarters are weak, the walls defective, or there are corns, cracks, loose walls, or other diseases of the hoof, a bar-shoe should be selected. ”

“ It is not so strong as two separate eyes. Horseshoe Splice.—Made similar to the above, but one part much shorter than the other, or another piece of rope is spliced across an eye, forming a horseshoe with two long legs. Used for back-ropes on dolphin striker, back stays (one on each side) and cutter’s runner pendants. Long Splice.—The strands must be unlaid about three times as much as for a short splice and married—care being taken to preserve the lay or shape of each. ”

“ Now the workman swings his hammer upon it with ringing strokes and the sparks fly up in a shower. The soft metal is shaped at will, the ends are bent to form the heels, the holes pierced for the nails, and the shoe is ready to try on. ”

“ Now the power yielded by sallying may be considered as corresponding with that obtained by a wedge acted on by a heavy weight; the wedge, in this case, being the portion of the ship’s side that becomes depressed, operating by virtue of the expansion of the ship’s width when heeling, and the force acting on the wedge being the weight transferred from an even distribution with an upright position of the ship, to an accumulation of weight on one side, inducing a heeling position. ”

“ Even with the most careful farrier injury may occur during shoeing, or may arise as the result of the operation. Sometimes the foot, from its condition or form, renders an accident possible, and it may be so diseased, or defective, as to render shoeing with safety very improbable. Sometimes the shoe is to blame, and sometimes the nail or clip. ”

“ For the soles no rubber compares with steel points—i.e., small nails about five-eighths of an inch long, driven into the sole of the shoe, and protruding from it about one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch. ”

“ A little study and a little experience should teach a man much regarding the shoeing of his horse. If the animal has true and level action, it should have light irons all round. If it shambles, or if the stride is too confined, the weight of the shoes should be increased. The upper surface of the iron, which comes next to the hoof, should be flat; the lower surface may be bevelled from the outside, or have a groove in which the holes for the nails are punched. The hind shoes should have very small calks, the toes being correspondingly thickened to give a level bearing. ”

“ If the weather be wet it swells, and then, bound down by the shoe, it acts simply as a stone might and bruises the sensitive parts within by its uneven pressure. It is always safe and it is never injurious to remove so much of the surface of this portion of sole with the drawing-knife as will ensure no uneven pressure on it by the shoe. ”

“ Seeing further, however, that it only appears when shoeing is commenced, we may in a greater degree also regard it as acquired. The lesson, therefore, that this and other forms of contraction should teach us is the carefulness with which the shoeing should be superintended in a large stud, or in any case where the animal is of more than ordinary value. ”

“ He wrenched a shovel out of his hands, and then threw him down. Observing how the boatswain handled his man, he followed his example, holding the rascal down with his foot, while he menaced him with the shovel if he attempted to use his hands. ”

“ The additional slope which shearing stress produces in any originally horizontal layer is g/C, where g is, as before, the intensity of shearing stress and C is the modulus of rigidity. In a round or rectangular bar the additional deflexion due to shearing is scarcely appreciable. In an I beam, with a web only thick enough to resist shear, it may be a somewhat considerable proportion of the whole. ”

“ Fig. 28. Weaving Needle we improvised a rough needle of a piece of wire. The latter was bent double to receive the cord which was wedged in between the two arms of the needle.
The Iroquois Shoe.
But the best snow shoe we made was the Iroquois shoe. The frame of this shoe was made of hickory strips of the same width and thickness as used in the Sioux shoe, but
Fig. 29. Bending the Hickory Strips. 8 feet long. The strips were bent in a loop and the ends were bolted together. How to bend the wood without breaking it seemed a very difficult problem. ”

“ Shovelling is comparatively easy when you are standing up, because you can use your knee and thigh to drive the shovel along; kneeling down, the whole of the strain is thrown upon your arm and belly muscles. And the other conditions do not exactly make things easier. There is the heat – it varies, but in some mines it is suffocating – and the coal dust that stuffs up your throat and nostrils and collects along your eyelids, and the unending rattle of the conveyor belt, which in that confined space is rather like the rattle of a machine gun. ”