The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-01-13
CRUSHED FEET OF CHINESE,
0arbasous ouefbrlng yndioted on = Genai
Alva pape ~ the Uaman Mndv.

Dasbaseus eufEsrlng xndloted On = Geaat-
five Fart 81 the nsman nsdy.
An English paper quotes lssu : writer in
ths JspAn Mall who appears 70 ~havstpsciat
knowledge Of the wsil-known Chinsse cus-
tom Of comprising the feet Of female chill
dssn Of ths better olassss In Ckins. He
hopes thab lev OF his readers havs bssn 20
uufoYtunate 20 10 zee The naked foot Of IN
orthodox Chinsso lady. But many have
looked. q p~hotoGraphs Of this terribly
night must HAYS augReated .thoushss Of :
baYbaSous SUFFERING indicted on . partiou-
larly sensitive part Of the human body.
Year By year hundreds Of thousands Of
little girls throughout the vide empire OF
China are aabjsetsd to . ruthless procesa
which brushes the bones a vrenches The
siasvs OF their tender fest. until At last !
revolving deformity 10 produced and the
foot. cHumpled Into q shocking montroslty,
becomes almost valusless ~ . means Of To-
Oomotion. The vretchsd girl emsrRes from
her period Of fsverish torture = mrtilAted
cripple. condemned to hobbls thscuEh LIE
natures beautiful mechanism. having BE-
some 40 hideous a. they are useless.
At intervals the missionary cries ose. sne
traveller writes, and the eharitabls aRitate.
bat the poor little childEsn never benens.
mixing application 81 tight lieaturss, the
same long months Of bitter pain \ I'M
availing tears. Perhaps. he sugRssts, u !.
TO this singular contrast between general
on the one hand. and this callous cruelty on
She other. that We must attribute the peri
odisal appearances Of apoloRists for this APP
palling custom.
some people say that. though the foot ID
ultimately dsformsd. though the woman IL
a-A-.A A--AA----A - - 1SkAl~ h-kAA - A.A -
cripple. yet the process 10 mot 80 painful
sftsr all. The bones are soft. they say in
early youth; the Ginews supple. Twisting,
crushing and wrenching are operations that
may be performed without much suffering
on baby feet, whereas adults would bs mad.
dened By the torture. To this the writer
''Let no ono talk Of the yielding charae-
tor Of young bones or the p~liability Of our
baby sinews. We have listened with our
own ears to cries OF a little girl undergoing
the t0.turinR process. Such agonizinR
walls never before foil on orr ears. They
were the shrisks ofa child absolutely wild
with suffering. When the lieaturss. we're
loossned and the Shocking succession Of
bIoAthleas 0croams ended In long-drawn
walls Of sxhaustion and misery. the listener
turned almost sick with horrof and sympa-
thy. Yst . mother Vas The delieerste tor
lousy listened TO it, hsartbroken cries.
"Tkink that this fendish barbarity IL
being practicsd daily and hourly through
out thu length Ind breadth Of a land con-
tanning 800. 100000 inhabitants. Not alone
are the tender bodies Of the poor little girls
ruthlessly racksd and tortured. but the
purest sentiment Of humanity-ths love OF
parents for their ohildrsn-is p%srpetually
outraged. Such unnatural cruelty could
be tolerated only in tbs presence Of the
worst kind Of Generalization. How much
can survive Of the moral beauty Of the
patornal relation whom fathers and mothers,
in Difference to . mere freak of fashion.
consent to infiict on their daughters. day
BY day, torture that we'll nigh maddens the
baby brain and wrinas shrisks Of excru-
one Of those facts that make 40 marvs
when We hear . great destiny predicted for
the Chinese nation"