The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-03-20
: STRAIGHT GAIT.
The Latest Discovery in "aiking-ihe
Toe to Touch the Ground FIRST
1Greerville News.

sity for the human race ABOUT once d
month. The latest revelation is that 1t
is absolutely essential for the puolc
neace, individual welfare and the pro-
oress OF the world that we must all
learn 50 to walk that our toes VIII
strike the ground first. The newspa-
pers are printing columns on the SUD-
iect. the inevitable scientific men are
on deck and schools are being organ
ized TO teach children and grown peo-
: pie how. to walk.
We have in our time seen very
large number and variety of men, from
Royal Duke and Chief Justice OF
the Supreme Court the United States
all the way down. AS for His high
ness the Duke, we do not suppose that
any one of the many thousands VINO
razed urou his noble features could
have recalled them ten minutes after
thev were out of sight, because they
were thoroughly commonplace. HIS
Highness walked like the rest OF US,
heel and toe.
The handSomeSt man We ever sa"
was an Irish-American porter. he
was six feet four inches high and his
form had the massive grace Of Hercules,
while his features were as classic as
ever chisel shaped. He worked with
: the docility and patience of dray-
horse six days in the week for ten dol
lars, and frequently got drunk ofSatur-
day evenings. Sometimes he fought
the police and sometimes he was lach-
rynose in his cups and would weep
abundantly on small provocation.
Drunk or sober, be trod the ground
like a GOD and he feared only two crea-
lures IN the earth or out of it, they
being his wife and the priest. His
wife was rather dilapidattd looking,
scrubby, waspish little woman and
appeared to be unconscious OF the mag
nifcence of the specimen Of manhood
that had been curiously bestowed upon
her. Her chef interest in him ap-
peared to be the amount Of his weekly
wages he would get home with, and 1t
was not an unnatural anxiety as they
were blessed with six healthy hostages
. to fortune of assorted sexes, the oldest
being about seven years Of age. Itwas
papularly believed among their &C
ssouaintarees that the giant deliberately
fud6led himself and got into difficult
ties whenever he found his cash short,
nreferrinr to encounter the batons of
five or six of his hard hitting country
men of the police force and the ven
geance of the city authorities rather
than the embarrassment OF meeting |
the eve of the lady who bore his name |
and weighed about a hundred pounds. |
These facts regarding the handsom- |
est man we ever saw are curious and, |
perhaps, of some interest, but they are
not entirely pertinent to the subject,
which is the style of walking. What |
we started to say, was that of all the
men and women we have seen and
known, handsome, homely and hide |
Gus, large, small and medium, big, |
little and $3.50, good, bad and average,
we have never known but one whose
natural gait was with the toes down
first.
He was an Englishman, d clerk IN
an ironmougery establishment, and
was four feet eleven inches in length
it would not be appropriate to describe
such measurement as ''height." HIS
walk was that Of young man stepping |
the distance for foot-race at country |
fair, crane going through deep water
for a school Of minnows and a woman |
crossing muddy street in hurry, the
three PAGES being identical-the same
high lift of the knee, careful pointing
of the toes, anxious measurement OF
distance and spring from the hips being
noticeable in each. Our friend bal
anced himself, as he strobe the streets,
with little walking stick which be
swung IN cadence with his step. In
the shop he used a lead pencil for the
same purpose. The process of peram-
tu'ation appeared to involve severe
mental exercise with him, but his in
tellectual operations were not remark
ably rapid. 1t was related of hjnc that
on an occasion when he wen. with a
party Of American youth on a SWIM
ming expedition he dropped his shoes
in six inch branch and failed to de-
wise a means to recover them until
they had foated fifty yards and sunk
in twenty foot pond. The circum-
stance, however, relieved him Of gen.
orally entertained suspicion that he
wore toe weights to regulate his stride.
4 woman is the only biped gifted
with the capacity Of expressing senti-
ment with the lower limbs. Any one
who has observed her doing the toe
walk through mud knows that she can
make ankles and feet eloquent Of dis
gust, in harmony with a coutenance
fun of appeal to Heaven against the
municipal authorities and assurance to
the oulookers that she is really not
used to that kind Of thing and will not
tolerate it.
Leading l,hysiciars," who always
come fully armed and equipped to toe
help OF these new schemes and offer a
lot of suggestions to which they them
selves give not the slightest attention,
proclaim that the habit Of allowing the
heels to strike first IN walking is des-
troying the race. by the constant jarring
of the spine it causes. They say this in
face Of the fact that there are in every