In England it was once customary to bind contracts by the exchange of old shoes, while we are all familiar with the practice of throwing an old shoe after a bride for good luck; but I wonder how many know what it originally signified. It is a custom that has come to us from the Saxons, and with them denoted that the authority under which the bride lived while in her father’s home was now delivered over to the husband, who was privileged to exact implicit obedience from his wife. * * * * * Shoes have also had their share of superstition attached to them, it being considered to portend great evil, if by chance one should put the right shoe on the left foot, or _vice versa_. Even one of the Roman Emperors is said to have run the greatest risk from just this cause alone. “Augustus having by o’ersight, Put on his left shoe for his right, Had like to have been slain that day, By soldiers mutinying for their pay.” But in this day of button shoes the dangers to be incurred from this cause are very slight. [Illustration: _Fig. 47._ _Fig. 48._ _Fig. 49._] J. & J. SLATER, 1185 Broadway.