Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-04
THE CORN DOCTOR.
HE REGARDS HIS CALLING AS A REAL
RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION.
Some Heretofore Unknown Terrois yfads
Msnifest-The Cause Of Corns-A Box
Whose Contents Excited Pain
full reflections.



In two small rooms on the second floor Of
business block in lower town a dark eyed
heavily built man sits, perhaps half his time
smoking fragrant cigar and putting hii
smoke through the branches of row ol
geraniums in the window. The sign on til,
door denotes tie humanitarian occupation Vi
corn doctor
That's what l am" said the dark-eyec
man, when reporter opened his dool
and asked if he was the person named il
the sign. Il am d corn doctor" he continued
"and the friend of the whole human race J
can't do any thing for youi Well, l an
heartily glad Of that. Few people come il
here that don't have a sad story to show il
their feet"
at seems a simple thing, mister, to cure
corn. Well, if you'd seen one of thu 'olc
residents l have tackled you'd think differ
ent. A corn may begin on your toe, buI
often as not it ends on top of your head
That seems a strange thing to say, but it!
true. l have had in the past year an averag,
of ten patients week. Among that 50.
people there was fully 80 per cent. of cases ol
stiff legs, rheumatism, neuralgia, chronic
headaches, and now and then a case of pul
monary trouble. Every one Of them wa.
directly caused by corns or bunions, in con
sequence of poorly cared-for feet You see
the foot is shut up 1t has no air The pore
close. The circulation Of the blood is i'm
peded, and the tissue is in generally un
healthy condition. unable to meni bruises a
in other parts Of the body, where there is Nc
pressure or confinement. Suppose you tax,
your hand and fingers and double them up
cramp your fingers and keep them in thai
shape for lifetime. Don't you think they
would get out Of order!'
Does the trouble come from bad shoesr
asked the caller.
Just that Tight shoes, il they fit prop
erly, do no harm. But few shoes do fit. how
ever. The first fact to learn is that yor
can't reduce natures measure. There is Jus,
so much quantity in every human body, anC
1t will grow to it If nothing prevents.
"Now. the foot is bound to be just so large
yoG can't check it, and get any comfort out
Of the operation. Shoes should be Just large
enough 10 ho'd the foot together, keep the big
toe straight and aid in walking, to keep tht
foot from heel TO toe moderately straight and
stiff. There should be no rubbing. It's thai
maSes corns and bunions. Another thing
we need to wear strong, thick soles. All the
ladies who come here have trouble with tn.
bottoms Of their feet. They are hot, sting
and the feet swell. The trouble comes from
thin soles that allow the soft teshy pad O.
the foot to be bruised easily. / think big
shoes do the most harm. We are really
suffering terribly from the wholesale manu-
facture of shoes by machinery. We need by
all means to encourage the shoemaker who
sits on his bench and makes you pair OF
boots or shoes that will fit the feet Do !.
make money by this business. Some; moi
very much. You would pay 50 cents to get rid
of small corn, wouldn't you' A dollar foi
big one isn't too much, and have a few in
this box here that you would give S5 right
out Of your pocket now rather than have
them on your feet. II you can endure thess
specimens just loo at them"
The dark-eyed man took a pink box from
the table. 1t was labeled in gilt. The dark.
eyed man opened it and disclosed collection
of hornylooking substances that were easily
recognizable to one who had journeyed far
along the path Of life under the malign con
ditions of American shoemaking They
were corns. One was an inch and a quarter
in diameter and a half an inch thick. a
prong like the root of a tooth projected from
the middle of it Another hal three or -four
prongS. The whole boxful excited painful re-
fectionS
al want to ask you," said the dark-eyed
man, finally breaking the deep silence, show
on earth cutting corners does any good
These prungs sink down into the flesh and
keep growing. Sometimes they join the
bone Cutting can't get at them. The only
way Is to soften the flesh, and slowly, ten
DERBY separate the flesh from the hard, dead
and bony growth. Few conductors can re-
move corns in this shape, and can show such
specimens One or two Of these were under
the toe-nail. Cutting could not have reached
them. Even that little one there is thing
To be proud Of l took it out from under the
big toe-nal of as pretty girl as you ever
saw. But wasn't she happy when that thing
came out! You would laugh to hear what
people say when I get their feet in shapa.
They are happy, if people ever are Its a
wonderful business, and fellow feels that
he is doing a grand religious duty when he's
at work in it"