The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1883-08-10
Heads, Hands and Feet.

The degeneracy of the human race is
with some people cherished article of
faith, not to be lightly parted with, and
many are the facts by which this fore
gone conclusion has been temporarily
sustained. Very recently, for instance,
it was said that the heads of English
people were growing small by degrees,
il not beautifully less" Upon this
point the testimony of hatters was APP
proximately unanimous. Thirty years
ago the average size of hats was con-
siderably larger than now, and the con-
clusion followed that heads must have
been also. A little discussion, how
ever, showed that the conclusion did
not necessarily follow from the prem
ises. Hair is cut shorter than is used
to be. and the method of wearing hats
has changed also-they are nowadays
not pressed SO far down on the head.
The two facts together explain the
mystery without making that profound
plunge into physiological details and
the laws of life which was at first sug-
gested. Next comes an cutlery about
gloves and hands, but here again not
nature, but fashion, must be held ac-
countable. People have developed a
fancy for thrusting large hands into
small gloves, and SO long as they can
strain a glove across the back of the
hand many persons appear to be salts
fed, no matter how badly the fingers
are accommodated This is, of course,
very absurd. In the first place it is
bad for the glove, which has only cer-
tain amount of stretch" in it, and when
this is exceeded something must give
way, either the stitches or the leather,
or both. Then again, an overnight
glove is uncomfortable to wear and
ugly in appearance; and, looking at the
subject in all its aspects, there is posi-
lively not single gain to balance the
disadvantages.
The fact, however, remains. Messrs.
Dent, Alcroft 81 Co. inform us that the
sizes formerly kept in stock were from
II to 10 for gentleman's gloves, and
that they never thought of making
anything smaller, except to special or
der Now the sizes range from to 10,
with an increasing demand for the
smaller sizes. In ladies' gloves the
smallest size formerly kept in stock
was IS, now 5is are kept They have
further found it necessary to issue
circulars calling attention to the in
creasing practice of wearing gloves too
small, and the consequent multiplica-
ton of complaints of the gloves giving
way naturally, neither shop-keepers
nor manufacturers can be expected to
hold themselves responsible for gloves
destroyed in this manner. So, after
all, it is not hands, but gloves that are
smaller. The latest story of this kind
is that feet are diminishing in size. A
contemporary says; 1T cannot have es-
capped the observation of the trade haiti
in ladies' goods there is n decided
tendency to wear boots shorter and
wider than was formerly the case" and
suggests "that it is possible, with refer
ence both to hands and feet, that We
are developing smaller extremities.
We can well believe in any amount OF
distortion in the ladies' feet, as u con-
sequence of the idiotic boot-heels which
have been fashionable for some years
past; but most probably the fact if il
be fact, referred to by our cotempor-
airy will be as readily explained when
it is examined as the questions of hats
and heads and gloves and hands have
been.-DrGperS' Trade Journal.