Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-08-10
CARE OF THE FEET.
THE GRANTED AND TORTURED FOOT
NO s.oNGER THE IDEAL
Views Of Celebrated Anatomist-The I'm
portancc of wearin. the Right Kind Of
shoes-Sornething About Corns and How
to Treat Them.

Very few seem to realize the impor-
lance of giving the feet proper attention
| in order to secure better health as we'll
as general comfort. 1t is almost incon-
| ceivabIe that in our civilized nation in
the modern age there are still so many
otherwise sensible women who are will
ing to MAIN and cripple their feet and
suffer fortunes for the sake of wearing
shoes Just little too small, or which
are, as they imagine falsely, pretty or
more fashionable. We see the folly of
the cramping process upon the feet of
the Chinese women, but how much more
inexcrsable it is for women of this en-
hghtened country.
IL former times it has been the fash
| ion for shoes to be made with high
heels, narrow, pointed toes and all sorts
of extravagant shapes contrary to ease
and comfort, and as too many people
have felt it incumbent upon them to
bow to the demands of the tyrant fash
ion, no matter how unreasonable her
| demands, the result has been for sue
ceeding generations untold suffering in
the form of corns, bunions and other
deformities, until now it is comparative
~ rare to see, except among savage na-
| tons, perfect, well shaped foot. But
q moro sensible fashion allows the wear
ing of various styles of sensible shoes
that arc adapted to the ease and COM
fort of the wcarer, with thick soles,
| wide, low heels and plenty Of room for
FREQ expansion Of the toes and muscles,
and the numerous corns, which are not
only exceedingly painful, but often seri-
Gus affairs, are gradually disappearing
| from the feet of the sensible ones and
the ideal foot is no longer the cramped
and tortured foot.
The celebrated anatomist, Professor
Hyrti of Vienna university, opened one
of his lectures to his class with the sim
| gular question, (which is the most beau
tiful foot, considered from the anatoin-
| ical standpoint" and then continued {:
at IS remarkable that there are so many
| divergent opinions Oh this subject.
| While tho sons of men look upon q
small, slender and graceful foot, 4 lady's
| foot, as an ideal one, the anatornist ut
| terly rejects it as beautiful, and only
| tho large, long and broad foot is the
ideal one il his eyes. Even the greatest
classic writers of antiquity, Horace, Ca
| tallus, and others, who had great appre.
citation of the feminine beauty, never
| mentioned in the descriptions of their
| beloved-and, as is well known, they
| had many-tteir small feet.
| 1.-The people belonging to the Celtic
race have small feet; the Hintioos es-
pecially have such feet and hands that
| they may DO Cnvied by many European
countesses. The native troops of the
English army il India possess in Eng
land their own armory where peculiar
kinds OF weapons are constructed for
them, AMI the sword hits made for
them are much too small for us to grasp
with case. The greatest beauties of Eu-
rope. the Italians, have really long and
broad feet
But even if we do not care to be con-
vinced that the ideal foot is tho foot
that is long and broad, we can certainly
realize the importance of care in select
ing shoes OF the proper size for comfort
as well as beauty. The foot never looks
pretty in shoe too small for it, and
such shoes soon become unshapely from
undue pressure, giving anything but q
pretty appearance.
On the other hand, we should not fall
into the error of buying shoes too large.
These are quite as apt TO cause corns as
small ones by rubbing certain parts of
the foot. Ii any one has the misfortune
to fall into this mistake. it can be rene
died to great extent by irsertinga soft
wad of cotton batting in the toe of the
shoe or i'll the part that rubs against
the foot.
The same care is necessary in buying
shoes as il buying gloves. They will
last much longer and have better ap-
pearancc when made of new, good skins
Old leather or kid is not soft and elastic
and does not easily shape itself tAthe
foot or the hand This is not only a
matter of comfort, but of economy. In
this. as in many other things, 1.-THE best
is the cheapest, and as few women, or
men either. for that matter, are good
judges of leather it will be wise to buy
only of honest. experienced dealers, in
whom we can confide, for we cannot
afford risks in q matter where so much
is involved. An uncomfortable shoe is
really very serious matter when we
take into consideration the pain and
discomfort, tie probable deformities in
the way Of COINS and bunions, the wear
on the nervous system and the unpleas
ant consequences of our irritable tenn
perS because of personal discomfort.
1t scarcely seems necessary to speal,
of the Importance of frequent bathing
of the feet and pairing of the nails. ard
yet many are surprisingly careless in
this respect. Corns are simply composed
OF great number of layers of cuticle,
O. scarf skin, one above another. each
successive layer being larger than the
preceding, so that the whole assumes
the form of grain of Indian corn
hence its name. This is constantly press
ing its point upon the tender flesh when
the shoe presses or rubs against 1t, and
as this cuticle is easily dissolved to a
great extent by the warm water and
soap we can see that bathing is the most
ready and harmless remedy as well as
! - vol,