Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-09-01
1S-INCH FOOT.
a Pair of Big Fect-A Girl Near Sandusky,
Ohio, Whose EXtremities are Abnormal
ly Developed.

If there is anything on earth which
contributes to make a handsome
woman proud it is pretty feet. An
infinite amount of misery is caused
by the ladies endeavoring to crowd a
No. 4 foot into a No. 2 shoe, and a
great many of the masculine gender
suffer with corns because the cover
ing of their pedal extremities fits too
much. A woman with a big foot is
inclined to be unhappy, but what must
be the sorrow of Fannie Mills, who
resides two miles east of this city I?
She has the biggest feet in the world
so far as known, and they are still
growing. The poor girl is mar
yelous curiosity. and only those who
have seen her ponderous feet would
ever believe that they are so immense.
Your correspondent came here on
purpose to see the wonderful sight,
which would, under ordinary cir
cumstances, be a very indelicate pro-
ceeding. ltseems strange and rather
unusual in young man to travel
200 miles to see q pair of feet, and
those belonging to woman.
Fannie Mills is twenty two years
old, and resides on the dairy farm of
her father, George Mills. two miles
from Sandusky. The family are En-
glish, and emigrated to this country
eleven years ago. The father is we'll
to do. and makes good living from
the sale OF milk. Mrs. Mills is a
small, keen looking woman, with Il
pleasing face. There are five children
besides the unfortunate Fannie, all
of whom are healthy and good look
ing. The deformed girl, for her feet
are very imperfect, is afflicted with
elephantiasis from the hips to the
ankle. Her head, shoulders and
bust are normal, although she is
slightly built. Fannie has plain
but interesting face. Her dark, large
eyes possess considerable expression,
and there is a sad look upon her
countenance which shows that she
fully appreciates her deplorable con
dition.
Your correspondent called. at the
Mills home, which is an attractive
two story frame cottage, last evening,
and the head of the household was
standing in the yard. His greeting
was kindly, and he entered into con-
versatiou on the subject of his daugh-
ter's big feet. He laughingly re-
marked that people didn't believe the
seemingly incredible stories con-
cerning Fannie's immense pedal ex-
tremities, but to prove that they were
really 81 large, he invited the reporter
into the house to see for himself. The
young woman was called by her
father, and wabbled rather than
walked into the front room. She
wore long gown, which was scarcely
sufficient to hide the deformity. She
sat down in a chair and exposed her
feet to view. 1t is almost impossible
to exaggerate the marvellous sight.
She removed her shoes. and then
great white pillow cases, which were
worn as stockings.
The feet look like two immense raw
hands. The toes are irregular, and
the little toes are represented by two
little nobs. There are no toe mails,
although the place where they should
be is clearly defined. Your CORE
spondent undertook the delicate task
of measuring the huge masses OF
flesh called feet. The right foot is
Que foot six inches in length, and the
left one inch shorter. Over the in.
step OF the right foot is twenty one
inches, and over the other one inch
less. The big toe of the left foot is
eleven inches in circumference. The
right foot is longer than the left by
an inch, but the latter is heavier and
thicker. The feet are respectively
seven and eight inches wide. From
this actual measurement of Fannie
Mills's feet one can readily imagine
what marvellously large shoes she
must wear. Heretofore they have
been manufactured III Albany, N. Y,
but Sandusky shoe firm has the last
and pair of shoes on exhibition,
which have attracted great attention
Her feet have increased in size since
the last display in the shoe-store
window was made.
The left shoe is sixteen and half
inches long, the right eighteen inches
IN length. The lett seven and a half
inches wide, and the other eight
inches. The right instep of the shoe
measures nineteen and a quarter in
ches, the loft seventeen and half
inches. Fannie Mills weighs 100
pounds, and, although delicate look
ing, says she has good health. It
takes two calf hides to make her a
pair OF shoes, and all her vitality
goes to sustain her massive limbs
and feet. The girl had unusually
large feet when she was born, and
they have continued to grow alarm
ingly fast ever since. Several efforts
have been made to induce Mr.. Mills
to permit his daughter to exhibit
herself throughout the country, but
he has steadfastly refused, although
she was in Cleveland and viewed by
thousands of persons ON the Fourth
of July two years ago. The cause of
the malformation is said to arise
from the fact that before Fannie was
born Mr.. Mills compelled his wife to
wash the swelled leg Of horse, very
much to her horror and disgust. The
young lady is without doubt great
curiosity-her feet a marvellous freak
OF nature.-ICincinnati Enquirer.