Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-14

shOe sizes of Actors and Sporting Men
characteristics Of American Feet.

Shoe Sizes of Actors and Sporting Men
characteristics of American Feet.
From the N Y. Sum-
II have the heaviest and Highest shoes for
actual wear in any sho;, here that there are in
the city" said Thomas Mcguire, shoemaker
well known among actors and sporting men.
NOW, here is a pair of shoes that made for
Bob Brettle. Don't recOllect him? Well. he
hourished before your time, but in his day he
was man who could stand up against Tom
Sayers and Jem Mace. He beat Mace once"
The shoes were hanging to a peg on the wall.
Their sOles were more than an inch thick. and
the heel was great leather pedestal. Sundry
bugles in the uppers had been slashed across
to accommodate protuberances in the hate Bob
Brettie's feet The shoes weighed two pounds
and three ounces apiece.
"NOw, here are the lightest shoes in the
shop" said Mr.. Mcguire. producing pair which
looked like low cut leather socks rather than
shoes. ''They weigh six ounces. / made them
for Waldron of the Manhattan Athletic Club
why do pugilists wear such heavy shoes?"
asked the reporter.
"Those are training shoes They are made
heavy so as to exercise the ankle muscles.
When a pugilist has got used to taking long
walks in such shoes and to jumping about in
them when sparring with his trainer. he feels as
If he was dancing in the air when he gets on
goes into the ring to fight he wears pair of
ordinary walking shoes laced up in front. with
three spikes in the sole and one in the heel to
give him Il firm stand when he plants himself
in delivering blow. | have made shoes for
Tom Allen Joe GOss. and Billy Edwards. Billy
has nice little foot well shaped. He wears
a No. g. | made the shoes in which he fought
when he whipped Sam COlIyer. Allen and GOss
both take a No. 9. Ned OBaldwin. the Irish
giant. took 121a. but then he was a big man.
/ fNh I,tld
as to give him room without making the sole
too long. Pugiiists generally have a flat. thick
foot. and have doubt that is the strongest
make of foot and carries weight the easiest.
DOOney Harris, the trainer. has, however. a
pretty we'll arched foot, and wears only No. 8.
Here lately" Mr.. Mcguire went on, ~ have
made a great many shoes for members of athle
tic clubs. In making shoe for running the
object is to make it fit like glove, so that the
foot shall not slip in the shoe at ALL 1t must be
built so as to brace the foot in the direction Of
the strain
MIR. WaldrOn's shoes had no heels but fol
lowed the exact contour of the foot. Under the
ball of the foot was piece OF sole leather. in
which We're short spikes to prevent sliding.
The uppers canted toward the inner side of the
foot. You see." said Mr.. Mcguire, 1.-The strain
is as much outward and forward as downward
in running, and the shoe is built to brace the
foot firmly in every direction of pressure. In
making such shoes the measure is taken upon
sizes smaller than an ordinary shoe. A prop
ery made running shoe fits as easy as the skin
and as close.
Peoples feet are as different as their faces
and you cannot make shoes in the same way for
all. You have to give greater toe room than
usual to feet with low insteps for they tend to
slip forward. Fechter had a long slim foot
but at the same time he had high instep. l
don't think ever saw a foot that f1attened so
much past the instep. He wore a No. 9. The
a 1aal ha1 11cbo,, f,of
an arched sole and very high instcp. He wore
a No. Z. | have made shoes for John McCul-
Tough, although nowadays l don't do much
work for actors as | used to. Mccullough
has a well-shaped foot, with nothing notable
about any of its parts He wears No. 9. /
recOllect Forests foot well, and it was small
and well formed, although he was so large a
man. He had an arched sole, and very high
instep. He wore No. g. l recolect that he
once sent for ME to come to the METROPOLITAN
hotel to measure him. He had an idea that his
left leg was little shorter than the other and
thought that he might need to have some cork
put in to make him stand even. He had me
make measurements of his body to see whether
he was lopslded or not. | could not find any
difference in the length of his legs, and think
that he got the idea from a stage habit of drag
ging the right leg a little in his stride He
seemed to be so fixed in the opinion that the
left shoe would have to be built up little. that
/ said that perhaps a little cOrk-a very little
would be good thing. All did, though, was
to put in a thicker insoe in that shoe / often
used to put cOrks in his stage shoes. The
spangled CATERS that he wore in the last act Of
lack Cdte had three-eighths of an inch of
cork between upper and sole, raising him that
much.
Take it for all in all the most symmetrical
foot that l ever handled was Pauline Mark
hams: Hers was a Thoroughly well-propor-
toned foot in ankle, heel. instep and ball. 1t
was not so very small a foot but there is such
foot m T hay mazda
shoes for lady who took No. Is, child's size.
but it was not a pretty foot. l always thought
Markham a sensible woman. because she would
not spoil her foot by pinchng it. She wore
No. 4. and most any other woman with her foot
would have pinched it into IA No. 8. Lydia
ThOmpsOn's foot was no smaller than Mark
hams. but she wore a No. 80 shoe. Lydia
Thompson had an ordinarily good foot and
ankle, but nothing to compare with Pauline
Markham"
us there any difference in the make of peo-
pies feet here and in the old country" the re-
porter asked.
THE feet Of Americans are as rule of smaller
and lighter build than the feet of Englishmen
and have more arch and higher insteps. l worked
in the best London shops before coming to this
country. and know there are plenty Of big
feet among the English aristOcracy. The feet OF
American ladies are smaller than those Of Eng
lish ladies, but the American ladies are apt to
distort their feet in way that English ladies do
not. Now by rights, the last on which shoe
is made ought to be three sizes larger than the
foot. There are four sizes to an incm SO that
would give three-quarters of an inch room to
the foot. An English woman will take such
measurement, but if you make shoes in that
way for American ladies you will have them left
on your hands. You cannot make the shoe
more than from a size and half to two sizes
above the exact length Of the foot. ANYTHING
l can get my foot in l can wear they say. and
so we give plenty Of width between heel and
ankle, so tat they can slip their feet in, and
they don't seem to mind how their toes are
pinched together when the foot settles into the
shoe. The result is that English women have a
freer, easier gate than American women"
10 VictiS.
From Blackwood's Magazine.
sing the Hymn OF the Conquered, who fell in the
battle OF life