The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1867-02-13
Have Ladies' any Lin bs :


time undertook to pay what he supposed
would be compliment to his queen b,
referring to her pretty feet, he was reprov
ed by this answer: "The queen of Spair
has no feet" A woman of gentle brit
of wealth or position, was supposed to con
sist of head, arms and neck, and below
that-nothing but dress. This was the
law Of polite society the lower orders
might have body and ordinary members,
but a lady owed the larger part of her per
son to the milliner. These were the days
Of splendid, superb and imposing trains
From the waist, which was pushed up as
near the armpits as possible, the dress
swept in one graceful curve, and long, full,
deep folds, until it drew its vast length
along the ground. Woman, true to her
higher nature as developed under the fos.
tering influence of wealth, sacrificed her
person to her covering she gave up her
feet, her ancles, her other charms that the
male sex admire, to the pleasure of out
shining her fellow-women in adornment
The existence Of trains forbade thought
OF the existence of anything beneath them
Several years ago our ladies-for here we
have no lower orders of the gentler sex
wore the same dress and submitted to the
same deprivation. True to American pro-
Sressiveness, they carried the rule even
further, and permitted no legs to men, ia
bles or even triangles-the first two only
being allowed limbs and the latter, sides.
This state of affairs would probably have
existed to the present day, had not fashion
come to the aid of anatomy, and decreed
''looped-up skirts" Fashion first intro
duced the balmoral, with its brilliant red
cloth, the delight Of the feminine heart !;
then she ornamented it till the feminine
heart was crazy to show it to the world /;
then she arranged strings and cords by
which the outer dress might be raised,
just a little, and the beautiful color and ex-
quisite trimming below exhibited. This
was the work accomplished, and men
found out that women had feer-some of
which were pretty and some not.
What is prettier than pretty foot?-
What more captivating than dear little
boot covering high instep, and coming
down nearly over the toes, With bewitch-
ing tassel dangling at the top of the close
lacing? In nothing is aristocracy so
marked as in the pedal extremity the
thin nostril, the long fingers. the narrow
palm are evidences of gentle blood, but
far less so than the round ancle, the high
instep and the hollow beneath, through
which, as the proud and high-bred Arabs
saw. strea,n Of water should be ah!ee, to
How while the possessor is standing. The
fat, splay foot, ON the contrary, as surely
tells of a want of pedigree as its missha-
pen excresences, its corns and bunions
drive away affection. The horse shows
the purity of his extraction by clean limbs,
neat posture and small hoof, and the same
result is noticeable, more or less in all ami
mails. Man falls in love as readily with a
seductive foot as with an attractive face
he finds in it a thousand expressive move
ments; its firm tread speaks of decided
character; its quick step denotes anger
its elasticity of motion assures him five
illness and good humor its hasty tread
denotes impatience; its subtle glide signi-
fies cunning; while the quiet but marked
position. The face often deceives with an
alluring smile it is taught or trained by
design or habit; its openness is guarded
and confined but the foot speaks its own
language, unrestrained and untutored
and the male sex owes debt of gratitude
to fashion for giving back honest feet to
the future adorners Of human existence.
The ''looped skirt lasted for time
to mans great satisfaction and improve
ment, and finally, through vagary of a
queen goddess, Whose object ever appears
to see to what new extravagances she can
carry things,) was superseded bv a contri-
vance that began to suggest the possibili-
ty Of women having something besides
dress above their ancles. So far, visible
foot, with an occasional glimpse of an
ancle, was alone vouchsafed but the new
arrangement-the fitting hoop-disclosed
matters that raised the question PROFOUND
ed in this article. Filters have at least
settled one question that American wo-
men-for we repel all suggestions of fic-
titious improvement by the surreptitious aid
Of art-have the prettiest feet, the neatest
their sex and if not developed like the
Dutch beauties of our ancestors, possess
the characteristics of the high bred horse.
Filters, however, had but a short day !;
fashion could allow man but momentary
glance at the mysteries not intended for
his gaze, and blotted them out with the
long train she had once loved and aban.
doned. Skirts, ancles, feet and what not
have disappeared, and woman has once
more become head, arms and dress Three
yards or FIVE yards-we do not know
where to begin in measuring-constitute
the proportions of q train necessary to
responsibility and to the retention of a
place in society; henceforth we suppose
we must bow to toe law-except, perhaps,
on the skating pond-that ''the queen of
Spain has no feet and, with sincere re-
gret, answer the question propounded at
the head of this article in o decided neg
ative.-N. X. Citizen.
THE BROTHER OF DANIEL WEBsrER.-Ez-
excl Webster, brother Of Daniel. who was