The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-10-26
FUTURE OF THE HUMAN FOOT.
Progressive Development In tho Art of
ShoemBking.

Progressive Development In tho Art Of
Shoemaking.
The boot and shoe exhibit at the
worlds fair leads one to view with
alarm the prospective fate of the
human pedals, says the Minneapolis
Tribune. The wild variety of in
genious shapes exhibited in shoes dis
closes the fact that the human foot in
modern times has ceased to have a
shape of its own. 1t is putty in the
hands of the ingenious artist. In
short. the foot, as to shape and size, is
purely shoemaker's product. If,
foot of the future is to be we must
study the trend of the cobbler's art.
In spite of the fearful variety of
shapes and dimensions exhibited in the
worlds fair shoe exhibit, there are
certain tendencies of the shoemaking
art that are clearly marked and show
progressive development. Between the
shoepack and plowshoe on the one
hand and the patent leather ball
room slipper on the other there is a
broad variation in the shape and di-
mansions which the human foot must
assume, and yet there are one or two
principles which apply more or less in
common to all of the widely differen-
tiated styles.
The one principle which stands out
most prominently in all the schools Of
the shoemaking art is this: That there
is but one recognized toe on the human
foot. The other excrescences are not
to be countenanced or tolerated. The
definition approved by all shoe mo-
distes is that the human foot is a varia-
bic aggregation consisting of four
parts-the heel, the instep, the ball
and the great toe. The latest and gen.
orally adopted canon relative to the
proper shape of the front part of the
shoe is that it should consist of a
straight line drawn from the outer
edge of the ball of the foot to the tip
of the great toe. 1t is true there are
many styles of shoes that do not con-
form rigidly to the canon. but the vari-
ations are permitted simply on aesthetic
grounds to secure variety, and not at
all that not more than one toe is recog-
nized.
There is said to be only one shoe in
the worlds fair exhibit which distinct
ly recognizes and countenances five
toes on the human foot. and that is the
wooden shoe from Belgium. That shoe.
which allots five compartments of
space to the toe family, is the excep-
ton which proves the rule-namely,
that the great toe is the only author
lied projection on the portico of the
pedal structure. A generation or two
more of culture and heredity under
the Draconian laws imposed BY the
shoe artists will doubtless see the hui
man foot simplified and improved bv
the gradual elimination of four super
fuous, useless, and inartistic frontal
projections.
1t is not generally known that the
prime mover of the original Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
was a Jew-Lewis Gompertz In re-
plying to the London Evening Stand
ard, which doubted this statement the
Jewish Chronicle cites the authority of
Mr.. S. c. Hall, who records the fact in
his Retrospect of Long Life -
American Hebrew.
Seamless tubes of steel are now
punched out of metal by process in
vinted by German named Erhartit. OF
Dusseldorf. The bar of hot steel is
placed in strong matrix having hole
the exact diameter of the outside Of the
tube. A mandel with rounded end is
then forced through the mass Tubes
eight inches in diameter have been
made by this process. the pressure TO
operate the mandrel being one hundred
and eighty tons
The provincial congress of New
Hampshire assembled at Exeter on
May l.. 17775. when ninety-eight coun-
ties. towns. parishes and boroughs were
represented by deputies, Matthew
Thornton being chosen president and
Eleazer Thompson secretary. They
established post Office az Portsmouth.
provided for procuring arms. recon-
Inended the esta blishment of home
commissioned Brig. zen.
Folsom first commander and provided
for the issue of bills of credit.