In none of its innumerable forms of endeavor did the Quartermaster Corps more strikingly demonstrate its genius as a manufacturer than in the design and production of the army shoe. Before the war our soldiers wore a machine-sewed shoe of russet calf lined with duck, very similar to civilian footwear of the better grade. Shortly after the beginning of hostilities, however, the War Department adopted a new and much stouter shoe. This new model had a much heavier upper than the old one, with the flesh or rough side out and the grain side in, and with no lining, while, instead of a single sole, as in the old shoe, two heavy soles were used, the bottoms of which were thickly studded with hobnails. But even these, formidable in appearance as they were, did not prove stout enough to stand up under the incredible wear of trench warfare, so there was finally developed the so-called “Pershing shoe.” These really should have been classified as tanks instead of shoes, for they could go anywhere, they could withstand any amount of use or abuse, and they were, literally speaking, armored. The “Pershing shoe” has three outer soles which are fastened to an inner sole of outer-sole quality and thickness, first by nailing, then by screws, and finally by stitching with heavy linen thread; the toe is reinforced with a moulded steel plate; both sole and heel bristle with hobnails, and, as a final touch, the heel has a heavy steel horseshoe around its edge. It was by long odds the best shoe worn by any army. In fact, no such footwear was ever produced before. The pity was that it did not reach our troops sooner.