Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-02-19
sn,al, Feet Of the Ch..cse iwsiiisn'

SMna1u cet Ob tWc NWaDcDC WO.cNBs
The correspondent Of the Lodd6n
Times gives the following description
: the unnatural process by which thd
, Chinese women secure such small feSs OF
!, There are small footed ladies' st nonG
Kong who gain very fair livelihood by
exhibiting their pedal extremities 70
sca-captains and othet curious Europesne
at dollar ahead but rs so superficial
an examination Of this national peculiaf-
i ity did not satisfy me, had ,ecousss -
some Of my good friends amcng the
missionaries By their sid, obtained
that some poor Chinese women should
bring mea complete ganut Of little gi'ls
from the missionary schools. Many of
these female children probably owed
their lives to the persuasion (aided h1
opportune do,atons Of rice) Of my mis-
sonary friends and his lady. but their
influence had been powerless to prevent
the torture of their feet. On the
appointed day they were all seated in
row in my friends library, and their feet.
which l suspect had Undergone prerat'
atory washing. were unbound by their
mammas The FIRST was child Of two
years old Het penancc had just COM
menccd. When the bandage Of blue
co tton was taken off | found that the
great toe had been left untouched, bu.
the other four had been forced down
under the ball of the foot, and closely
bound in that position. The child.
therefore walked upon the knuckae
Joints o: her four toes. The toes were
red and infamcd, and the ligature cans-
ed evident pain. In the next three
children (all of ages advancing at
small ititervals1 the preparation was
only to the same extent +; it was confined
to the four toes; gradua.ly, however,
these four toes ceding to the continual
pressure, lost their articulations and
and their identity as limbs, and became
amaleanatcd with the sole of the foot.
In the eldest of the four the fcdncss
and inflammation had entirely disappear
ed, the foot was cool and painless, and
appeared as though the four toes had
been cut off by knife, The foot was
now somewhat the shape of a trowel.
In tte eth girl saw the commence.
ment OF the second operation-a torture
under which sickly children frequently
die. The sole of the foot was now carv-
ed into the shape of bow the great
toe and the heel being brought together
as near as possible. Take jujube and
double it till two points of the lozenge
nearly meet. and you will see what
mean This is done very gradually
The bandage is never slacketIed-month
by month it is drawn tighter-the foot
innames and st7ells. but the tender
.ramma persevcres--as the bones and
tendons accommodate themselves TO the
position constrained by the bandage. 40
it is drawn tighter, At last the ball
of the natural foot fits into the hollow
of the sole, the root of the great toe is
brought into contract with the heel
The foot is shapeless lump. TIE
instcp is where the ankle was, and all
that is left to 20 into the slipper and to
to tread tie ground is the ball Of the
great toe and the heel. This is tbs
small foot Of the Chinese woman-a bit
of toe and a biz of heel. with mark like
cicatrice left after huge cut, running
up between them. Two of the girls
were yet suffering great pain; and theft
feet were hot and inflamed, but in the
eldest the operation was complete.-
She hsd attained TO the position of a
small-iooted woman, and her feet were
quite cool, had no corns, ard were not
tender to the touch. One of the nam
mas, influenced, perhaps, BY ittls
/ liherality in the article Of rice-money,
intrusted me with a Chinese mystere de
ioiiettc Sometimes, it seems, when e
woman is expected to have to do hard
work. her toe and heel are not drawn
SO tightly together as to produce the
trua "s;na 4 foot" TO disguise this
impcticction upon her marriage day she
has recourse to art. A piece of cork,
shaped like an inverted sugar-loaf, is
strapped on to her foot, and the small
part goes into her slippct and passes
for her foot Thus aie we poor men
deceived While we are gossiping
about small feet the old lady's burial
procession comes to an end. 1t would
bc Kissed at Astley's ard would be re-
garded with blank establishment at the
Prncess's, but it is very successful at
Shanghai. The opium broker has done
his duty as good son. If he keeps his,
two years of mourning properly, and IL
nol5 of his wives should commit the
indiscretion Of having child within
two years, commencing from nine
months after this time (for the present
Emperor is supposed to owe all his
misfortunes to an unfortunate accident of
this sort), he will be esteemed very
respectable man for evermore.