Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-24
Written for The Evening Star
BARE LEGS AND COLDS.

A Funny Fashionable Way Of Dressing Chill.
| dren-Thin-Soled Shoes.
Elbow cunning those children look, with their
bare little legs" exclaimed a pretty girl on
Connecticut avenue a day or two ago. calling
attention to three youngsters who, though the
air was bitter cold, were playing in the street
One Of them was a small girl of about seven
years, with skirts so short that her fairy limbs
were visible in their nudity from mid-thigh to
three inches above the shoe, where the short
sock began.
"Ugh!" growled the physic ian who was the
young lady's companion in her promenade.
'Yes," she said; sit looks rather cold, but it s
the swell thing now, you know, and awfully
English
Ugh! Collins are stylish, too, 1 suppose
why, what can you mean?''
simply this" responded the man of medi-
cine. ''Of all the idiotic notions l am ac-
quainted with the one you call my attention to
| is the most gibbering and driveling The
ground on which it is defended is that it makes
children hardy to go bare-legged in winter As
a matter of fact it is an outrage upon the laws
OF nature. Go up to the regions within the
arctic circle and you will find the children play
ing about in the snow with their bodies often
nearly unclad. But their arms and legs are al
ways warmly wrapped. Now, why is that"
81 can't imagine"
''Then let me tell you it is because the trunk
OF the body, being the seat of the vital organs,
Is naturally warmer and has a more vigorous
circulation than the limbs. Why is it that your
| feet and hands on a frosty day get cold first?
Obviously for the reason that they are most re-
mote from the heart Therefore they need
protection. Likewise the arms and legs re-
qu1re covering most. Keep the limbs warm
and the body will be warm; that is the Esoui-
maux principle. and it is true One so far as it
goes. But here we have, largely for fashion,
sake. children running about in an atmosphere
| that is below freezing with their bodies warmly
clad and their poor little legs exposed!'
but they look very healthy"
Undoubtedly. We're they not healthy chill
dren they would have succumbed to this
abominable practice in dress long ago. But no
health is robust to be able to afford TO in
wife pneumonia and other kindred ills which
are always ready to attack the most sturdy
person who risks imprudence. For parents to
send their children abroad 30 exposed is to
extend cordial invitation to disease and DEATH
or course, that does not matter, however, if it
is really English. What sort of shoes are those
you are wearing?'
"Shoes," said the pretty girl, somewhat taken
by surprise. why, they are quite new and a
very nice pair, think
"Do you?" grunted the physician. "what
right have you, pray, TO wear shoes at this
season with soles an eighth Of an inch thick?
More colds are caught in that way than in any
other. Not so much on q day like this as on a
warm day. You said few moments ago that
You had bad cold; probably yon caught it
during the last warm spell we had. You
| went out with such pair of shoes
| on. The temperature of the air around
you was about 60 degrees the bricks you
| walked upon were evaporating moisture
Evaporation makes cold. That is the reason
why cologne, which evaporates quickly, makes
you cool when you rub it upon your face. So,
while your body was warmed by the sun, your
feet were being refrigerated at a temperature
| below freezing. Result a cold. You hear
people say every day, L can't imagine where
canght this cold; have not been imprudent in
any way that know Of The secret of it is
simply that they have been wearing thin-soled
shoes. suppose that the sole becomes damp,
even though the foot is not made wet the water
| furnishes the best possible medium for con-
Quoting the heat ont Of the body. The moral
Of all this, my dear young lady, is to wear shoes
with good thick soles throughout the winter
| season."