one hundred pairs of old boots and shoes that have been cast off by the very poor present a deplorable sight—a sight that sets one thinking. many times i have regretted that i did not call in a photographer before they were hurried off to the local dust-destructor. what a tale they told! or rather what a series of tragedies they revealed! there was a deeply pathetic look about every pair: they looked so woefully, so reproachfully, at me as i contemplated them. they seemed to voice not only their own sufferings, but also the wrongs and privations of the hundred poor widows who had discarded them; for these widows, poor as they were, had cast them off. the boots and shoes seemed to know all about it, and to resent the slight inflicted on them; henceforth even the shambling feet of poor old women were to know them no more. they had not a coy look among them; not an atom of sauciness or independence could i discover; but, crushed and battered, meek and humiliated, they lay side by side, knowing their days were over, and pitifully asking for prompt dissolution. what a[pg 213] mixed lot they were! no two pairs alike. some of the couples were not pairs, for a freak of fortune had united odd boots in the bond of sufferings and the gall of poverty. many of them had come down in life; they had seen better days. well-dressed women had at some time stepped daintily in them, but that was when the sheen of newness was upon them and the days of their youth were not ended. in those days the poor old boots were familiar with parks, squares, and gardens, and well-kept streets of the west; but latterly they have only been too familiar with the slums and the grime of the east. how i wished they could speak and tell of the past! how came it about that, after such a splendid beginning, they had come to such a deplorable end? had the west end lady died? had her wardrobe been sold to a dealer? what had been the intermediate life of the boots before they were placed, patched and cobbled, in the dirty window of a fusty little second-hand shop in hoxton? i know the widow that bought them and something of her life; i can appreciate the effort she made to get possession of them. she paid two shillings and sixpence for them, but not all at once—oh dear, no! week by week she carried threepence to the man who kept the fusty little shop. he cheerfully received her payments on account, meanwhile, of course, retaining possession of the coveted boots. it took her four months to pay for them, for her payments had not been quite regular. what would have become of the payments made if the widow had died before the completion of purchase, i need not say, but i am quite sure[pg 214] the boots would have speedily reappeared in the shop window. but, after all, i am not sure that the old cobbler was any worse in his dealings with the poor than more respectable people are; for pawnbroking, money-lending, life assurance, and furniture on the hire system among the poor are founded on exactly the same principles. how much property has been lost, how many policies have been forfeited, because poor people have been unable to keep up their payments, we do not know; if we did, i am quite sure that it would prove a revelation. in this respect the thriftiness of the poor is other people's gain.
it was a triumph of pluck and grit, for at the end of four long months the widow received her cobbled boots. her half-crown had been completed. "i had them two years; they lasted me well—ever so much better than a cheap new pair," the widow told me; nevertheless, she was glad to leave them behind and go home with her feet shod resplendently in a new pair of seven-and-elevenpenny. she might venture to lift the front of her old dress now as she crossed the street, and i am sure that she did not forget to do it, for she was still a woman, in spite of all, and had some of that quality left severe people call vanity, but which i like to think of as self-respect.
"how is it," i was asked by a critical lady, "that your poor women let their dresses drag on the pavement and crossings? i never see any of them lift their dresses behind or in front. they must get very dirty and insanitary." "my dear madam," i replied, "they dare not, for neither their insteps nor their heels are presentable;[pg 215] but give them some new boots, and they will lift their dresses often enough and high enough."
there was another pair, too, that had come down, and they invited speculative thought. they were not born in the slums or fitted for the slums, but they came into a poor widow's possession nevertheless. they had not been patched or cobbled, and just enough of their former glory remained to allow of judgment being passed upon them. they had been purchased at a "jumble sale" for threepence, and were dear at the price. the feet that had originally worn them had doubtless trodden upon carpet, and rested luxuriantly upon expensive hearthrugs. they were shoes, if you please, with three straps across the insteps, high, fashionable heels, buckles and bows in front. but their high heels had disappeared, the buckles had long since departed, the instep straps were broken and dilapidated, the pointed toes were open, and the heels were worn down. when completely worn out and unmendable, some lady had sent them to a local clergyman for the benefit of the poor. i gazed on them, and then quite understood, not for the first time, that there is a kind of charity that demoralizes the poor, but it is a charity that is not once blessed.
here was an old pair of "plimsolls," whose rubber soles had long ago departed; there a pair of shoes that had done duty at the seaside, whose tops had originally been brown canvas, and whose soles had been presumably leather; here a pair of "lace-ups"; there a pair of "buttons"—but the lace-holes were all broken, and buttons were not to be seen.
[pg 216]
but whatever their style and make had been, and whoever might have been their original wearers, they had now one common characteristic—that of utter and complete uselessness. i ought to have been disgusted with the old rubbish, but somehow the old things appealed to me, though they seemed to reproach me, and lay their social death to my charge and their present neglect to my interference. but gladness was mixed with pathos, for i knew that a hundred widows had gone to their homes decently booted on a dismal christmas eve.
but now, leaving the old boots to the fate that awaited them, i will tell of the women who had so recently possessed them.
it had long been a marvel to me how the very poor obtained boots of any sort and kind. i had learned so much of their lives and of their ways and means that i realized boots and shoes for elderly widows or young widows with children must be a serious matter. accordingly, at this particular christmas i issued, on behalf of the home workers' aid association, invitations to one hundred widows to my house, where each widow was to receive a new pair of boots and christmas fare. they came, all of them, and as we kept open house all day, i had plenty of time to converse with them individually. i learned something that day, so i want to place faithfully before my readers some of the things that happened and some of the stories that were told.
one of the first to arrive was an elderly widow, accompanied by her epileptic daughter, aged thirty. i looked askance at the daughter, and[pg 217] said to the widow: "i did not invite your daughter." "no, sir; but i thought you would not mind her coming." "but i do mind, for if every widow brings a grown-up daughter to-day i shall have two hundred women instead of one hundred." "i am very sorry, sir; but i could not come without her." they sat down to some food, and my wife looked up a few things for the daughter. "now for the boots," i said. "of course, we cannot give your daughter a pair." "no," said the widow; "we only want one pair." i knew what was coming, for i had taken stock of the daughter, who was much bigger than her mother. "what size do you take?" "please, sir, can my daughter try them on?" "no; the boots are for you." "oh yes, sir, they will be my boots, but please let my daughter try them on." it was too palpable, so i said: "your daughter has bigger feet than you have." "yes, sir." "and you want a pair that will fit either of you?" "yes, sir." "then when you go out you will wear them?" "oh yes, sir." "and when your daughter goes out, she will wear them—in fact, you want a pair between you?" "yes, sir," the reply came eagerly from both. "well, put your right feet forward." they did, and there was no doubt about it: mother and daughter both stood sadly in need, though they scarcely stood in boots; no doubt, either, as to the relative sizes. the daughter required "nines" and the mother "fives." i gave them a note to a local shopkeeper, where the daughter was duly fitted, so they went away happy, because they jointly possessed a new pair of "seven-and-elevenpenny's."[pg 218] but whether the widow ever wore them, i am more than doubtful. it is the self-denial of the very poor that touches me. it is so wonderful, so common, perhaps, that we do not notice it. it is so unobtrusive and so genuine. we never find poor widows jingling money-boxes in the streets and demanding public contributions because it is their "self-denial week." their self-denial lasts through life, but the public are not informed of it. i fancy that i should have had an impossible task if i had asked, or tried to persuade, the widow to go into the streets and solicit help because she had denied herself a pair of boots for the sake of her afflicted daughter. oh, it is very beautiful, but, alas! it is very sad. the poor couple worked at home in their one room when they had work to do and when the daughter's fits did not prevent. they made "ladies' belts," and starved at the occupation.
another widow had four young children; her feet were partly encased in a flimsy pair of broken patent slippers. she, too, had her note to the shoemaker's.
a deep snow fell during the night, and on the morning of boxing day it lay six inches deep. i thought of the widows and their sound boots, and felt comforted; but my complacency soon vanished. i was out early in the streets, warmly clad, spurning the snow—in fact, rather enjoying it—and thinking, as i have said, with some pleasure of the widows and their boots, when i met the widow who has four young children. she was for hurrying past me, but i stopped her and spoke. "a bitter morning, this." "yes, sir; is it not[pg 219] a deep snow?" "i am so glad you have sound boots. you had them just in time. your old slippers would not have been of much use a morning like this." "no, sir." "did you get what suited you?" "yes, sir." "fit you all right?" "yes, sir." "did you have buttons or lace-up?" "lace-up, sir." "that's right. lift up the front of your dress. i want to see whether the shopman has given you a good pair." she began to cry, and, to my astonishment, the old broken patent slippers were revealed, half buried in the snow. "don't be cross," she burst out. "i did not mean to deceive you. i got two pairs for the children: they wanted them worse than i do."
i learned afterwards from the shopman that she added a shilling to the cost of a pair for herself, and the shopman, being kind-hearted, gave her another shilling, so she went home with her two pairs of strong boots for her boys. of course, i told her that she had done wrong—i even professed to be angry; but i think she saw through my pretence. what can be done for, or with, such women? how can anyone help them when they are so deceitful? however, i forgave her, and confirmed her in her wickedness by next day sending the shop assistant to her home with several pairs of women's boots that she might select a pair for herself. that kind of deceit has an attraction for me.
"how long have you been a widow?" i asked one of the women. "twelve years, sir." "how long is it since you had a new pair of boots?" "not since my husband's funeral, sir." twelve[pg 220] long years since she felt the glow of satisfaction that comes from the feeling of being well shod; twelve years since she listened to the ringing sound of a firm heel in brisk contact with the pavement; twelve years she had gone with that muffled, almost noiseless sound so peculiar to poor women, telling as it does of old slippers or of boots worn to the uppers! what a pity, when so many shoemakers are seeking customers! there is a tremendous moral force in a new pair of boots that possess good firm heels. everybody that hears them knows instinctively what the sound means, and the neighbours say: "mrs. jones is getting on a bit: she is wearing a new pair of boots. didn't you hear them?"
hear them! of course they had heard them, and had been jealous of them, too; but that kind of music is not heard every day among london's very poor, and for a time mrs. jones was on a higher plane than her neighbours; but by-and-by she comes back to them, for the heels wear away, and she has no others to put on whilst they are repaired, so gradually they slip down to the chronic condition of poor women's boots; then mrs. jones's ringing footsteps are heard no more.
my shopman told me that he had been in a difficulty; he could not find a pair of boots large enough for one young widow. he searched his store, and found a pair—size eleven—that he had had by him for some years; but, alas! size eleven was not big enough. he offered to procure a last of sufficient proportion and make a pair of boots for her, kindly saying that he would not charge anything extra for size. i told him to get[pg 221] a proper last made for the young woman, who took "twelves." this he did, so now a poor blouse-maker, who keeps an aged and invalid mother, has her boots made to order, and built upon her own "special last." when i had made this arrangement, i was puzzled to know in what way she had previously obtained boots, so i asked him: "what boots was she wearing when she came to your shop?" he laughed, and said: "a very old pair of men's tennis-shoes—of large size, too." i had known her for many years, and had admired her cleanliness and neatness. i had known, too, how miserable her earnings were, and how many demands her aged mother made upon her. she was upright in carriage, and of good appearance; self-respecting, and eminently respectable, she carried her secret nobly, though the dual burden of size twelves and men's tennis-shoes must have been very trying. i told her of our arrangement about the last, but, of course, made no reference to the dimensions of her feet; but i often wonder how she felt when she put on her new boots.
