The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-03-07
TO HAVE LITTLE FEET.
1t Is Not Impossible with Care and Prop
Boots.

1t is safe to aver that there is nor /.
important part of the toilet than III
which concerns the feet, although i'll
seems usually to receive the least con
sideration. Why so little care should
be deemed necessary in the treatment
of those useful appendages, whose duty
it is to labor so arduously, is difficult
to determine; but the fact remains
that the average woman takes little or
no thought of their delicate construc-
ton until they begin to rebel-as they
must sooner or later-against theii
long continued abuse.
Poets have sung and novelists have
raved about the dainty feet of their le-
spective heroines until we have colae
to regard small feet as irrefutable e,'i-
dence of refinement and aristocrattc
birth. Fallacious reasoning, indeed, Is
this, and responsible for an incalculaI
BILE amount of self-infiicted torture,
silently endured for the sake of that
most potent of human vices-personal
vanity.
The desire to possess small and pref
ty feet is as natural to the usual run of
women as the air they breathe, but to
seek to obtain by artificial means what
nature has denied seems unworthy a
reasoning being. And yet it is the rule
and not the exception TO SO Squeeze sss.a
compress these unfortunate pedal ex-
tremities that they become source of
constant pain and annoyance, instead
of serving the purpose for which they
were originally intended. So extern
sively is the custom practiced that a
woman whose feet are innocent of
corns, bunions, or other unsightly ex-
crescences is a rarity in the world of
fashion, while even among the lower
classes the tight shoe is becoming far
more general than it once was.
Speaking generally, the foot of lit
tie child is absolutely perfect in shape
and proportions. 1t seems pity that
the approach of womanhood should be
the signal for the commencement of
the torturing process, during which
the pretty dimpled member is gradu-
ally transformed into the monstrosity
which the fashionable foot too often is
Although we realize that the classic
model is no recognized standard of
beauty, it is possible to preserve the
natural contour of the foot and still
render it lovely to modern eyes. We
marvel at the cruelty of the Chinese
mother, who arrests the growth of her
baby's feet by encasing them in splints
and bandages, but we ignore the fact
that the western mother is but shade
less cruel who thought fully permits
her growing daughter to wear shoe
that is too small, or that is in no sense
adapted to the shape of her foot.
Too much attention cannot well be
given to the footwear of young girls,
since much of the comfort of their after
life depends upon the care which they
| receive during their early years.
Ready-made shoes should be studiously
avoided, for in the majority of cases
they are constructed upon lines diamet-
rically opposed to natures plan, while
individual peculiarities can, of course,
receive no consideration wltateyer.
The sole of the ancient sandal may be
taken as a model of the required shape,
since it follows all the graceful curves
of the foot and allows free play of all
the muscles
The danger attending the use of i'll
fitting shoes, as well for grown persons
as for children, cannot be overesti
mated. If the foot is ma turally large
it is the most arrant fol ly to attempt
to reduce it's size, since compression is
inevitably followed by more or less
serious deformity, while not infre
quently it is attended by disease. Shoes
that are sharply pointed at the toe
should be avoided by wide-footed wo
men, for not only is the result-vieweG
from whatever andpoint-undeniab
ugly, but the shoe will always spread
or split after it has been worn a few
times High heels, too, tend to per
I manently widen the ball of the foot
owing to the full weight of the body
being thrown forward, while they are
fruitful source of enlarged toe joints
and ingrowing nails, to say nothing Of
I greater and l esser evils.
| 1t is scarcely necessary to say tina
! no large or irremediably ill-shaped foot
| should be encased in a colore or other
wise snowy boot. In this case blacl
should be adopted upon all occasions
and always in the softest an most phi
able of fabrics. Aggres sive decoration
in any form will invariably attract at
tention to the size or deformity of thu
foot and should ther efore be avoided
Long skirts, though disadvantage il
, many instances, are decidedly advan
tageous in this, inasmuch as they cal
always be relied upon-particularly !
they are we'll weighted and befounceC
to cover a multitude of sins IN
Y Advertiser.
Doctor Galapius.