Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-07-19
The FemfDine Foot

One Of the Oldest orthopedic surgeons
in New York told a reporter that the
number of cases of splayed feet in this
city was rapidly increasing
''What in the world are 'splaycd feet?'
asked the reporter.
why, a splayed foot is flat foot or
one in winch the arch Of the instep has
been broken down"
pray, why should people living in
the city Of New York bieak down the
arches of their insteps?"
''They do it by wearing high-heeled
shoes. OF course am speaking of young
girls and misses and not of grown up per-
sons of either sex. Now, the misses and
young ladies of France wear heels that
are even higher than we are accustomed
to see IN this country. But the heel of
the French shoe Is placed well forward,
almost under the middle of the foot, so
that the arch or Instep is supported Just
as the span of bridge is sustained by
a tower or abutment under the middle of
the span. Our shoemakers place the
heel further back. This lengthens the
span and increases the strain.
''Do you often come across these cases
of brokendown insteps."
''They are by no means uncommon.
They are almost exclusively confined to
females, and the weaker the general
constitution the more likely is the foot
TO suffer."
''What is the difference ID the appear
ance of pair of feet that are splayed
and a pair that are not splayed?"
"All the difference In the world. The
natural foot Is beautifully arched at the
centre, especially in females. A per-
son who has high instep has as good q
right to be proud of it as any person
with classic features has to be proud of
the image that he sees reflected when
he looks at the mirror,
Splayed foot is most common among
the peasants of some of the European
countries where the people are Obliged
TO do hard work, such as carrying heavy
burdens at very early age. In such
cases, especially if the child is poorly fed
or naturally weak, ligaments sustaining
the arch OF the foot are very apt to give
way by degrees, and then We have
pair of feet as flat as the paws of griz-
zly bear And vet l should hardly
make such comparison, for broken
down foot is worse than flat; it curves the
other way, so that the toes are always
pointing upwards.
And the cause Of this deformity is
entirely attributable to the defective
construction OF high-heeled shoes?''
mo, not entirely, think it Is
sometimes produced by children begin
ming to dance almost as soon as they
are able TO walk, such as we see in some
German communities. In dancing the
little youngster sometimes sustains the
whole weight Of the body on the tips of
the toes quarter of an hour at stretch.
The bones at that age are little less
than cartilage, and can very easily be
defOrmed. As proof of this YOU have
only to recollect the Chinese practice of
shaping the feet of their female crildren.
L suppose the feet of young girls OF ten
der constitution are also sometimes in-
iured in jumping the rope" especially
Ill such trials of endurance where they
put themselves to see who can Jump the
greatest number of times with stopping
"How about roller-skating, which has
lately become so POPULAR"
"There can be no doubt that little
exercise each day at roller-skatlng would
strengthen and invigorste the muscles
of the legs. But the trouble is, the
girls We see playing at roller-skating or
the sidewalks and in the parks are
allowed to greatly overdo the business.
The result Is that instead of well-round-
ed, plump. muscular limbs, We see,
after a few weeks practice, pair OF
attenuated ''broomsticks, accompanied
by wan expression of the countenance
and an unnatural nervousness OF the
whole organization. Oh, if the people
of tins world would only make use of
the common sense with which kind
nature has endowed themr'