Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-24

(nE things. In the frs
place she indignantly
denies that there is any truth in the asser
tion, and in the second place she always
draws herself in, to employ what believe
is technical phraseology among the ladies
and apparently demonstrates to the salts
faction of the man accusing that she has
really three times more corset on and about
her than is really necessary.
Tight lacing indeedl She is only 'steer
inches around the waist, and she could veal
a corset three sizes smaller than she doel
without experiencing the slightest difficulty
And something analogous happens when
anything about wearing tight shoes is sug'
gested.
If it is a brother or husband who makes
this cruel lntimation the dainty foot will
be placed upon a hassock atonce, the dainty
fingers will shoot downward and grasp the
shoes at the toes, and the unfeeling male
animal will have to acknowledge that there
are at least three inches of shoe at the ex-
tremities which are not occupied at all. OF
course it is all trick, just as much trick
and just as clever as anything that Her
mann does.
A MAGIC ILLUSION.
The truth of the matter is that as soon as
the sboe.is raised off the floor, the forward
pressure on the foot ceases, the toes are no
longer crowded to the front as they natural
ly are when the wearer of them is walking,
and besides that she pei forms a contortion
similar to that described with respect to the
he fox hro nd Fa uc
in her toes and accommodates her entire
foot somewhere in the neighborhood Of the
heel.
But even the ladies, as careful and dis
Greet as they are, cannot always be on their
guard and cannot always carry on these
charming little deceptions with equal sue
cess. No man is q hero to his valet, and no
woman can throw dust in the eyes of her
shoemaker. With the idea, therefore, OF
learning something about the women of the
land and their pedal extremities, and the
truth about the squeezing, so,Ie leading
shoemakers and chiropodists have been in
terviewed and the result is given herewith.
A well-known Broadway salesman said:
Very few women will at first take pair of
shoes large enough for them, and when they do
statesmen. There seems to be desire on the
part Of most ladies to make their feet appear
small, no matter how much suffering their
doing SO may entail.
ONE KIND OF HERoIsM.
In many cases they will select and insist on
wearing shoes fully half size to small and af-
ter heroic attempts to 'break the shoe in,i
will give it up in despair and send the shoes
back to be exchanged for larger pair.
We have a great deal of trouble in this way,
as shoes worn two or three times are as worth
broken and
heel pair could possibly be.
Our salesmen are very particular to fit the
customers feet as closely as possible and still
give plenty of room for the natural demands Of
that very useful member of the human body.
They will always try and induce the customer
to take shoe which is a tride too large rather
than a pair which are a trifle too small re-
call case of this kind of recent occurrence ex.
actly in point. One OF our lady patrons was un-
fortunate enough to have foot Just between
the sizes in the ready made shoe. She desired
a pair of shoes in hurry, as she had no time to
wait for them to be made.
The salesman showed her a pair which were
just the least little bit too large, ~ after
thoroughly explaining the difficulty o. '7,Itting
her exactly, tried to prevail on her to sacrifice
appearance to comfort. Well, would you be-
lieve it, that woman insisted on taking the next
smaller size. which was obviously too small for
her and actually went around tor two weeks
enduring all sorts of tortures At the end of
that time she gave in and wanted US to change
the shoes. We told her we were not doing
business that way, and she replied that the
salesman should not have sold her q pair Of
shoes that were too small for her.
THE OTHER SEX, TOO.
"There is desire on the part of most peo-
ple," said leading shoemaker, "to make
the foot look as small as possible. I would
not like to venture the assertion that this
gentler half OF creation. Indeed, / find in a
great many cases that men evinee more
anxiety TO crowd their feet in a space
wholly incompatible with the size of their
feet than do the women.
Young dudish looking boys whose ages
range from 16 to 20 are much harder to in
duce to take shoe large enough for them
than are their sisters. This is accountable
in part to their having reached an age when
they desire to find favor in the eyes of the
fair sex by looking as natty as possible, and
a small foot is deemed an indispensable ac-
compartment to their gorgeous tout en-
semble.
You may Judge for yourself how strong is
the inclination to wear small shoes from
tho 9, igns which found necessary to have
displayed in each department. The signs
read as follows:
"Be sure you are properly fitted"
"Never wear shoe too small"
A PROFESSIONAL OPINION.
"The popular impression that women
have more trouble with their feet than
men, said a Broadway chiropodist, ''the
trouble being induced by wearing tight
shoes, is erroneous. I have been treating
troubles of the feet for more than 40 years, q
longer period than any other chiropodist in
this country, and I find that the number of
my patients who have injured their feet by
wearing tight shoes is equally divided be-
tween men and women. Corns grow on the
feet OF women as often as on those OF men,
but everything to the contrary notwith-
standing, corns are a constitutional NAL
ady, and are not the result of wearing tight
shoes. Tight shoes make the wearer pain
fully aware of the presence of a corn, but
have nothing to do with its origin.
THAT human nature is the same in man
as in woman is theory that very few will
deny. When human vanity is made known
by the wearing of tight shoes and more or
less deformed foot Is the result, then 1 sup
pose man who treats diseases of the feet is
expected to be an authority on
vanity as we'll as corns.
''No specialist is needed in this line to
prove conclusively that in crushing the feet
out of shape men are quite as culpable as
Any non-professional observer
who walks along our fashionable thorough
fares or attends the social festivities of up
per tendon, and carefully watches the male
portion of the assemblage, can readily de-
tect the fact that under many a smooth and
shining surface of patent leather turks un-
told agony borne with smiling visage
The delicate mincing steps assumed by our
male promenaders are more eloquent than
fFn ~ L