St. Paul daily globe., 1891-01-25

shorten Cne IO0t. ana tnlS In time T0rCeS
the large bones Of the foot up into the
instep. making an ugly bunch there,
causing a fearful pressure and leav-
ing a little hollow under the foot
where the folded toes lie. AS my
readers can imagine, the pain Is
most severe, and the little girls grow
pale and thin under it; and yet they
often ask to have their feet bound be-
cause it is considered so honorable; yet
no child can bear the binding without a
| cry of pain. The pressure upon the in
| step is sometimes so great that the skin
! breaks, liberation land even mortifica-
tion) takes place, and the child dies; but
| this is rare. Great care is used in bath
ing and washing the feet, and prompt
remedies are used il disease appears. 1t
| takes from eight to eleven years to COM
| plete the genuine lady'S foot, such as
can wear the two-inch shoes, and as is
fashionable in South China. from Foo
chow to Canton
The little shoes that lie on my desk as
write were made by Chinese lady,
an old friend of mine, and are just such
as she wears; indeed, she wore this pair
two days.
They measure in length just two and
half inches, and half inch of the toe
is tno small for the foot to enter. and is
filled with paper to preserve its shape,
leaving just two inches for the foot. My
readers will ask how it is possible for
the feet to be reduced enough in size to
enter such shoes? In the process of
bandaging all the muscles of the foot
disappear; there seems to be almost a
death of flesh. and finally naught is
left but bent bones and shrunken skin,
and enough circulation to prevent
death.
The heel and great toe can be made to
touch each other under the foot, the
former being much elongated. In such
a condition the Dandages must always
be worn to enable the woman to walk,
as there IS no firmneSS in the foot with
out them.
The large toes, the folded small toes,
and the heel are put in the shoes, while
the large bones are forced up into the
instep, and come out Of the opening of
the shoes. How can they walk? Better
than one would suppose. If you want
to approach their gait, by walking on
your heels you will find that you are H.
cined to try to balance yourself with
your hands. and you will not do it SO
gracefully as these tiny footed girls and
women.
am frequently asked the origin of
this Gripping system. The accepted
explanation is that many years ago the
men had the women bind their feet s'to
prevent their gadding about!' 1t GER
tainly has proved most effective OBJ
stacle to any such pastime. To what
extent does the custom prevail? From
Pekin to Canton. But the feet vary in
size. There are no two-inch feet in
North China. In South China we have
both the bound and the unbound footed
women. The latter do the work, the
former are the ladies, and because
there is this large-footed class of re-
spectacle women for service, the ladies
can have the genuine golden lilies"
or smallest feet. Yet in South China
are found every size, from the full
grown feet to those two inches long. In
North China foot binding is universal
for respectable wv.nen. Workin rwonen
must assume bandageS when they 90
out. Because of this the crippling has
not been carried to the extreme it has in
the South. The smaIl-footed women
are now shut-in women, and should go
out only i'll close sedan chairs. When
ever | saw a small-footed woman max
ing her way painfully through the mar
row, crowded streets leaning OIL cane
| knew she was too poor to hire sedan
chair. and had 10 son to support her.
Is the custom limited to the wealthy
or higher class? No; any one can have
lady in the family if he can afford it,
Two sisters may be found in a laborer's
family, the one with bound the other
with uncound feet. The former may
do some light indoor work andaprobably
marry into well-to-do family, while
the latter will work beside her brother
or father in the field. transplant the
rice, plant the potatoes, carry the yege
tables to market, or carry fuel OH her
back from the mountainside or pick the
tea. There are many serious OBJ
stactes to dong away with this
,theaafu5 custom With the small