The Red Cloud chief., 1882-01-26
a Crime Against Childhood.
L.atterly, in my morning drives, L
..ua soan tho of ~fNc UeicnUcfv

Latterly, in nv morning drives, 1
have seen the chifdsennf fht neich6of~
hood vending their way to school. ana
nv attention has been attracted by
their lack of -erectness. produced by
the high heels on their shoes. OBJ
served a number that were round
| shouldered, and in eight out OF every.
ten, perhaps. the perpendicular line,
fed al the back of the head. Perchet
on high heels. the natural pose of the
body must be to incline forward.
II adult men and women choose to
sacrifice their own health in wearing
high heels. it is 4 matter that princi-
pally concerns themselves. But achild
has a right to wise and judicious care,
and TO Oblige the tender. growing crea-
ture TO walk, run and stand with the
heels a half or whole iucII above the
rest of the sole Of the feet. is nom
. strouS. is criminal. and this crime
| against children is 50 widespread that
it is amazing-excep: tbatnothing need
bcTegarded IS amazing-that it con-
tisuss 70. bs-Perpetuated with SO little
protest rom-phw:dz0S and ssch aids
as they ought to find in really inte!li-
gent people.
Ii is true that the children Of fashion
able people-and by fashionable |
mean people who possess high social
position, intelligence and usually a
competence of wealth7wear shoes
without heels. or with what is called
the spring heel. until six to eight
years OF age. and from that time on
until twenty the heel is kept broad aud
low. But IS one Gescends il the scale
of intelligence and common sense he
will find the high heel growing o
and more prominent. until children of
even the tender age of two years will
be found perched upon them trying to
walk. i sometimes wonder that
preachers who have ewes to see the
sins Of the people against their bodies
ever find time to preach against the sin
of the soul.
The greatest crime caused by high
heels is the ill and sometimes disastrous
effect produced upon the spine. On
girls in particular very serious harm is
inflicted otherwise result that should
be avoided at all cost. Minor i'll effects
are produced upon the muscles of the
legs, and the fat part of the foot, which
is forced to support more than it ought.
The toes and the large joint become
distorted. corns and bunions begin to
form, and the foundation is laid for 4
great deal of suffering in the future, rs
well AS for present aches. L suppose
that q lady whom | saw last summer
may he taken as n general cxemplitica-
tion of Il great many mothers. She had
Money,and plenty of wit. and. in the
main, excellent sense. She had two
beautiful young daughters of thirteen
and fiftcen-bcautiful, except that
neither had beautiful feet. Those
members had been stuffed into garrow.
so'ed. narrow-hecied. narrow-toed,
high-heeled shoes, until the feet were
shockingly deformed. The father of
the girls was a large shoc-dealer. His
sons feet were very finely shaped. He
wore broad-soled, broad-toed. low
heeled shoes. Why the feet of the
daughters had not been allowed an
tequal chance in the world with those of
the son 1 couldn't well make out. One
of the girls was wearing shoulder
braces to make her straight, and one
day. as the mother was deploring the
child's round shoulders, l venturcd TO
say that l thought low-hccled shoes
would be better for her. Il quite agree
with you,'' exclaimed the mother.
1.-The girls wear too high heels all the
time, but somehow we neglect having
the heels cut of. But it must be done"
Whether the cutting-down process has
begun ! don't know. but | thought if
those girls were under my control not
t~wenty-four hours would pass before
their feet went into .'common-sense"
shoes.
No class of people are quicker to re-
Spond to the demands of the public
than are manufacturers, and if buyers
demand Il certain sort of shoe they will
very soon get it. 1t is possible that in
a great many country towns low-hccl-
ed, broad-soled shoes cannot so readily
be had rs the reverse. But the high
heel can always be lowered BY having
the shoe dealer cut off several LAYERS of
leather. He never likes to do it, and
will try to convince you that the HEELS
zone too high, etc. etc. But if you in
sist upon it he will cut the heel down
to suit you oon than lose your rus
tom. That children with crooked and
bow-legS. turned-over ankles and other
weaknesses of feet and legs so abound
among the lower classes is not at all to
be wondered at when one considers the
extremely bad way in which they are
usually shod. Mr.. Beecher not long
ago put into a prayer this sentence:
lord, help us to be patient with the
ignorance of others" TO combat ignor-
ance is, beyond all doubt, the most
difficult and trying thing humanitarians
have to encounter. But l believe that
as much harm results from p~rocrastina-
ton and carelesSneSs and q lack of
energy i'm inStituting reforms where i'll
telligence exists as from ignorance. III
people would only do as wei rs they
know. the world would take n long leap
ahead. High heels and narrow soles
are almost rs bad rs the Chinese method
of compression. The dwarf KIM of
France who brought them into fashion
to increase his apparent stature prob
ably never dreamed how many fools
there were adown the generations OF
time to initiate his example. The
beauty of any member of the body con-
sists in its outline its shapclineSs and
prop0rttenIte size, instead of its little
ness. A small foot, or hand, is only
comely in connection with a small per-
son, while any part of the body that has
been made small by compression is SIM
ply vulgar. Freedom is as necessaryto
beauty rs purity. and there is no free
dom where nature is being cruelty
violated, rs she maintains her rights
most brave'y. and when overpowered
leaves in her train n line of woes full of
torture and humiliation. Finally, do
not omit to keep high heels from under
the young peoples feet.-Mary Hagsr
Fisher, IN Rurdl NeW Yorker.
Jimmy Browns Circus.