The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-05
The Barefoot Cure.


10 be gaining in favor on this side OF the
Atlantic. There are said to be a number
Of people IN New York who In summer
I paddle around barefoot in the wet grass
Of the parks IN the early morning, and in
winter trot barefoot through snow and
/ slush. for the purpose OF aiding digestion.
| strengthening weak lungs OF quieting vi
brating nerves. As queerly as it may
seem, the barefoot cure is regarded by
its devotees as an equally good cure for
rheumatism and dyspepsia. and a dozen
other ailments, when taken in precisely
the same manner. From cOrns to con-
sumption they have faltn IN its efficacy.
II may be that the faith is the specific,
after all; in which case the cure deserves
credit for being the vehicle which car
ries the faith.
Anyone who has the pleasure Of the
acquaintance of the typical American boy
between. say and 1s years old. need not
be told that bare feet and appetite go
together. The typical young American is
just a little short Of the goat. in the way
Of appetite and digestion. The joke-mak-
up the small boy and makes an angel of
him is nothing more than a joke in so
far as our typical boy is concerned. 1t
may sometimes happen that the city
small boy, who wears Fauntleroy clothes
and curls, and never knows the delights
Of going barefoot from the beginning of
the year to the end of il, gets done up
freckled-face young American who dis
cards shoes on the first day of May and
puts them on again after the second frost,
is the absolute master of fruits and veg
etables, through all of their stages of
development To him a peach is a peach.
whether the blossom has not yet dropped
OF of the sharp end Of II, or whether its
blush and color and r;peness are equal
to those of Lillian Russell Everything
goes with our boy; and the boy goes, too.
There is no cloggng of machinery with
him. He never needs pepsin. When he
imagines that his digestion is little i'm
paired. it is mince pie that he wants not
medicine. II may be that going barefoot
is what keeps the boy in such prime con-
dition; and then it may be something else
altogether. At any rate, the boy, the
bare feet and the appetite are there, at
the service OF scientific investigators
who may feel interested in the subject.
our young friend furnishes also an OBJ
ject lesson in corns, or rather. absence of
corns. After the winter Imprisonment of
his feet there may be some suspicious ex-
crescences on the toes and joints. But
when frost comes after the season of
freedom there are neither corns, bun
ions, ingrowing nails nor warts, provided
our hero is not a frog hunter. There may
be some bumps and angry-looking knots
on the feet But such things are the le-
gitimate perquistes of the small boy. and
are acquired in involuntarily testing the
hardness of the toes against rocks and
roots. The sore toe to the small boy is
what the stolen diamonds are to the prima
dona; his advertisement among the peo-
pie whom he most wishes to infiuence-his
chums. There are no corns there, though,
and going barefoot may properly be given
credit for their absence. That corns are
an invention of the shoemaker there APP
pears little room for doubt. To get rid
of them effectually. 1t is probable that the
barefoot cure might be adopted with con-
fldence.
In this city the cure might be taken
with less frills-hguratively speaking,
only-than in New York. There the man
or woman who wishes to press the sod of
mother earth with his or her more or less
Trilby-like pedal extremities, must get a
permit from the police. and may not walk
on the grass more than twenty minutes.
Furthermore, the New Workers are the
most enthusiastic freak hunters in the
world, and whenever they see any WELL
dressed person of adult age plodding
around in bare feet, they imagine at
once that they have discovered a freak,
and call all of the neighbors to see if it
isn't so. This city would no doubt prove
more good hammered. if not less curious.
Besides, there are many big trees in
Savannah behind which the modest maid
en- might hide while taking the cure for
corns. i,xiRk8