For the active, outdoor boy he selects a heavier, more substantial shoe than for the studious, indoor child. He takes off the old shoe, notes its size and shape, measures the foot, feels of the arch, to see whether high or low, and chooses for the new shoe one that is one and one-half sizes larger than the actual measurement, to allow room for spreading. If the child is very heavy, he allows two sizes larger. He runs his fingers along the three small toes of the foot, when the shoe is on; if the toes are curled up, the shoe is too narrow. Then he notes the position of the big-toe joint, to be sure the shoe is the proper length. For the child with weak ankles, or just learning to walk, he supplies shoes with whalebone supports in the back, and for the child with normal feet he advises the soft leather shoe with flexible soles. He disagrees with doctors who urge arch supports, as he says the shoe that keeps the foot in the best position is the proper one.
The reputation of his skill for fitting children’s shoes spread throughout the entire shoe trade of Chicago, and one day the head of a large retail shoe house in that city came in and offered him a one-fourth interest in his business if he would take charge of the children’s shoe department, and teach his art to the other clerks. It makes little difference what calling one is in if he likes his work and puts himself into it his opportunity is sure to come.
PLAN No. 560. KNEW THE SECRET OF HOME CANNING
Most of the housewives in America believe that home-canned vegetables nearly always spoil. That is because they do not understand the important part played by bacteria in the canning process. Vegetables contain a large amount of proteid, the favorite food of bacteria, and unless these bacteria are destroyed, vegetables canned in summer are almost certain to spoil.
On the other hand, fruits—and these include tomatoes—contain but little proteid, but a great amount of acid, (which bacteria especially dislike) and are therefore much easier to can, as well as to keep.
A young farmer’s wife in Illinois, who had made a close study of bacteria, knew exactly what to do in the matter of canning vegetables. She knew that bacteria, in order to protect themselves even against the heat of boiling water, form thick-walled bodies or spores, and that the first boiling simply causes the spores to grow, while a second or a third boiling effectually destroys them. She has tried this method often enough to be sure of it.
She therefore wrote a little booklet on “How to Can Summer Vegetables,” placed the price at 50 cents per copy, and advertised it in a number of women’s magazines and other periodicals. Many answers came in, enclosing 50 cents, and she sent out thousands of copies during the first three months. Often people make special study on certain subjects and have special experience along that line which if put in pamphlet form would be valuable to other people who would be willing to pay 25 to 50 cents for it.
PLAN No. 561. RAISING HOMING PIGEONS
Both patriotism and profit are what prompted an Ohio man to raise homing pigeons for war purposes, and the business has proven a great success, from every point of view.
From early boyhood pigeons have interested him more than anything else in the world, and he understood these remarkable birds very well.