The Van Buren press., 1894-08-18
FOOT DISTORTION IN CHINA.
Exact Description OF the Process In Com.
mon Use.


In many provinces the small foot is
almost as much novelty as it would
be in Ontario or New York, and in Tar.
tar and Mongol districts, southern
Manchou excepted has never been toll
Grated. During the Ming dynasty, the
custom received a blow from which it
has never fully recovered, and it was
then forbidden on pain Of death. Ever
since the custom has been slowly on
the wane, and it is now forbidden with
in the precincts of the emperor's court.
1.-THE Son of Heaven" as his imperial
majesty is termed, will have none of it,
and his harem is made up exclusively
Of females possessed of normal feet.
Even in Kwangtung, where the custom
prevails, it is possible for one to re-
side for months without encountering
a small-footed female. unless especial
ly brought into contact Herewith, as
in the home of some medium-class
official. Conspicuous chiefly by its
absence in higher circles, it is en-
badge Of the middle class;
though every high-rank mandarin
usually aims to possess one small
footed wife or concubine, bh the same
principle, doubtless, that led ancient
conquerors to drag captives at their
chariot wheels.
The distortion is not, as commonly
surmised, commenced in infancy, but
reserved for the period embraced
11< gt~AE <ADAh
years. Experience has taught the
fallacy of meddling with bones and
tissues until they have attained cer-
tain degree Of flrmness and consist
ency; if soft, they are too readily yield
ing for Elasticity, and donot take kind
ly to the bruising and squeezing that
accompany the act of molding.
The torture, and it is no less, IL insti-
tuted amid relatives and friends espe-
cially hidden for the occasion, and to
do honor to the feast that follows. In
order to render the flesh amenable to
the squeezing process, the feet are first
submitted to the prolonged action Of
intensely hot water, and next plenti-
fully busted with powdered alum to
insure complete contraction of the mi
mute and superficial blood vessels.
Then the bandage is applied with all
the combined force of two operators,
one Of whom is usually professional;
the child meantime being extended
upon the couch, and forcibly held by
attendants, who do not scruple to stife
the evidences of her suffering with the
hand, unless, as sometimes, though
rarely, happens, the narcotic powers Of
opium have been invoked. The band
age employed is a stout, non-elastic
band, especially woven for such pur-
pose, some two or three and one-half
yards long and two inches wide, and Is
newly wrung out of boiling water at
the instant of application.
The four other Qesser) toes are
doubled under and confined to the sole,
the intervening space being packed
with astringent powder (aluth), when
the bandage is given a turn to confine
it about the point of the heel, and then
returned over the top of the foot, and
at the point of articulation Of the toes.
Powerful traction is now made, ex-
preston, kneading, and other manual
aids being called into acquisition, and
in way to crowd the bones Of the an.
terror portion of the foot backward and
forward upon those of the instep,
which in turn are thus crowded down
to meet the heel that, by the same act,
has been drawn downward and forward
to occupy a position in the same plane
with, and perpendicular to, the bones
of the leg. Finally, the whole is tight
ly wound laterally as high as the calf
every effort being made to limit mo-
tion and blood supply.
Every four or five days during the
first month-after that once in rs many
weeks the bandages are loosened. each
removal bringing away considerable
quantities of exfoliated cuticle and
dead tissue, whereby more or less SUI
perficial bleeding is provoked. So, too,
there is some liberation, and not infre.
quently small particles Of gangrene'
The hot-water bath affords cursory
cleaning, more alum is applied and
packed in the creases and raw sur.
faces, when the bandages are replaced
with greater severity and rigor 1t is
only when the deformity assumes a
semi-ovoid, or rather hemi-conoid form
of which the great toe is the apex, that
the operation is deemed at all salts
factory.
From two to five years are required
to bring the deformity to the acme Of
Celestial perfection. During this perioo
the little one is positively never for ar
instant free from excruciating suffer
ing, and the anguish which condemn'
her to spend alike her sleeping and hel
waking hours in a rccumbent position
with legs dangling over the hard edge
of the couch--that circulation may b.
impeded sufficiently to benumb thu
parts-may better be imagined thar
described. Never by any accident arr
the feet permitted to touch the ground
and by disuse and lapse Of time, thu
muscles from the knee down become
fiabby and incapable of responding t.
the efforts of the will.-Dr. g. A. Stock
Will, IN Canduldu MdHdZihc'
Feminine Pride.
Mrs Vaders with conscious superior
ity)-Oh, l almost forgot to tell you
My husband and and the children ar
going to take a run over to Europe TO
the summer
Mrs. Bluffe (who is dying to 60 ant
never has been able to)-Oh, dear, yoi
don't tell me! It's such bore afte
the first half-dozen trips, you know
Chicago Record.
Difficult, But Satisfactory.
Mamma-What are you trying u
draw?
Little Ethel-A elephant.
Rather difficult subject"
"rd rather draw elephants than an.