Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-11-23


vestigation - Those Who Walk Suffer
Most From Corns-How Sidewalks Exer-
else an Important influence.
"What makes corns?''
IF people would not walk, they would
not have corns, " replied the chiropodjst
emphatically.
The reply was satisfactory Is far as il
went. but it didn't 60 far enough. and
therefore the sufferer, not being able to
rid himself Of the pain by riding al
ways, walked and pordered.
He began to notice, when he walked
in one direction on one side Of a street
that one foot was affected and when
ne walked in the opposite direction that
the other foot was affected. The distress
was In the foot that was toward the curb.
he could not walk ahead awhile and
then walk backward to relieve the pain.
because he thought that he might be
looked upon as a crank and that sucb
pehavlor In q public street would be alb
surd anyway. Then he examined his
shoes and observed that the most Of the
wear was on the outer edges of the coles
and heels and. that the upper leather
had begun to bulge slightly over the
worn parts of the soles. When he nut
his shoes on again, he observed that the
leather where it bulged pressed On the
painful area of each little toe.
With the results of the observations
in mind, the sufferer proceeded, step by
step, somewhat painfully at times, to
ascertain the cause Of the effect ON his
Shoes He would not acknowledge that
he might be bowlegged and unable to
wear evenly the soles of his shoes, and
nobody who met him could observe auv
unusual DETECTION from the ordinary
lines of legs. He trod carefully, and.
without making himself conspicuous
tried to walk on level, SO that the
pressure would be equal on the whole
surface of each sole. His toeing was
moderate-neither too much outward
nor too much inward-and at times he
succeeded in walking as his mind di-
rected, but usually the distress that he
WINGED from indicated that something
was wrong somewhere. The foot on the
curb side of the walk was generally dis
tressed more than the other. The fit of
his shoes was fair, and for awhile the
suffering investigator could not deter
mine the reasons for the tendency to
bulge on the sides. He defied any one to
prove that the bottled waters that he
drank could have an effect on his sys-
tenn that would tend to make him edge
toward the gutter. Such an idea ought
not to be thought of.
(rOlnO coYnovvl,< Iooror srto 81. -
Ject, beneath the shoes and the painful
areas, the investigator gave some atten-
ton to the surfaces on which he walked,
and slowed away in his memory the
characteristics CT localities in which ne
believed he had experiences that were
painful, moro painful, and most pain
full, or almost painless. He noticed, for
instance, when he walked across an as
phal5 pavement from one sidewalk to
another i'll certain localities, that his
tread was even and that he had little
pain. The experience suggested that he
could generally have relief by walking
on asphalt pavement, but he remember
ed the arrest of an eccentric pedestrian
who INSISTED On having the privilege of
walking in the middle of the street and
decided that he would not risk himself
In that direction, notwithstanding the
relief that might be obtained. He no.
t1ced also that the distress was less in
some localities than in others and that
all sidewalks were not alike. He tried to
confine his walks to the localities in
which he felt the least distress, but he
had to go such roundabout way to ar
rive at any particular place, especially
his place of business, that the plan had
to be abandoned. Besides, he never trod
q perfect route-a route that throughout
its length had surface that could be
paced without pain. At one point or an
other the patient investigator felt
twlnges that were almost unbearable.
Lining up the subject on the best
route he could find, he devoted his at
tention to the spot or block where he
had the most severe twinges. That sent
him to the sidewalk, describing the ac-
ton fguratively. He did not drop on
his knees, although he had the impulse
to do that and to howl also, but he
stopped at the curb and thought awhile.
He inferred that his sufferinps were