Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-09-24

cRlPPLEs WHO win LivElIHooDs
WITH THEIR FEET.
a Lady Artist Who Paints With Her Pedal
Extrsmitiss---A Remarkable Member
OF the British Observation-Disclosures
Wonders OF India

Extrsmitiss--.A Remarkable Member
OF the British Observation-Disclosures
Wonders OF India.
One Of the leading Belgian artists Of
the present day is a gentleman who. In
default OF arms, paints with his foot.
His name is Fehu; he lives at Antwerp,
where he has a spacious atelier In the
market place.
He uses his supple feet, without any
apparent effort, to open his color box,
clean his brushes, set his palette, and
arrange his writing materials. He
paints with surprising swiftness and
delicacy of touch. 1t may be said or
him, too, that he writes an excellent
foot. One Of his friends says his writ
ing Is as bold, free and flowing as any
handwriting with which he Is ac-
quainted. He is, moreover, a man OF
gentle nature, cOurtly in manner, or
highly cultivated intelligence, and no
less engaging in speech than in APP
pearance.
Earlier in the present century there
fiourished an armless artist, lady
named Hawlin, who, besides painting
very tolerable pictures, learned to do
with her toes a variety Of interesting
and ingenious things-cut out watch
papers and the like. She grasped and
worked her scissors in some way that
has never been explained.
N fv.iA pIn
fortunate. She was born without toes
or hands, and without any more arm
than was represented by a stump cut
short above the elbow. Yet she man
aged to make for herself comfortable
living in the artistic way.
She painted miniatures with exquis-
tie neatness and accuracy, and added
to this by cutting out paper profiles
with the aid of her mouth, a pair Of
scissors, and her two little stumps.
The Earl of Morton employed her to
paint some portraits for him, and in
PRODUCED her to the notice Of royalty,
who also patronized her, and put her
in the way Of obtaining advanced less
most men of the day. He also gave
her a small pension, with the aid Of
which she set up as n regular profess
sional. She fell in love and married,
but carried on her work, and was al
ways known under her maiden name.
She died not many years ago.
There died recently an eX-member Of
Parliament who was in many respects
one of the most remarkable men this
century has seen. His name was Ar
thur McMurrough Kavanagh, and al
though he had neither arms nor legs he
was able to carry on most OF the ordi-
maryland some Of the extraordinary
affairs of life quite as well as the ma
jority Of those who are provided by
gracious Providence with both these
limbs. Moreover, he could ride to
hounds, pursue and kill game, and land
n thirty-pound salmon as well as the
most expert of sportsmen.
How did he contrive to do all this?
Though the apology for arms extended
only few inches from the shoulders,
he was able by constant practice from
childhood to turn the stumps to practi-
cally any use. He used no hooks. In
shooting he carried a gun without
trigger guard, and when he wanted to
fire he threw the weapon across his
left stump, supported the stock, and
touched the trigger with his right.
tn III al III xx-aS
a kind of basket, in which he was
properly fastened, the bride reins
being dashed around what it Is con-
venient to call his arms, and his hunt
ing whip thrust under the straps close
to his side, and such was the supple
ness and strength of the limb at this
point that by an energetic side move
ment he could punish horse as heav-
lily as any ordinary rider. That he
did not neglect the more sober accom-
plishments of life is clear; for he wrote
a capital hand and was an excellent
amateur artist.
> In India many people who have not
been deprived of their hands have
learned to put their feet to uses not
dreamed of among us. In the native
quarters of many Of the towns
butcher may be seen seiZing piece Of
meat in his hands and cutting 1t in two
with a stroke of his knife held between
his first and second toes. Similarly,
the shoemaker uses no last, but turns
the unfinished shoe with his feet
while his hands are busy in shaping
ii. So again the carpenter holds with
his great toe the board he Is cutting,
and the wood-turner handles his tools
as we'll with his toes as with his fin
gers.
The use of the feet to assist the
hands in their labor is not, however,
the mere result of practice, but is due
to the fact that the Hindu foot is diff
erent from ours in its anatomical con-
formation. The ankle of the Hindu
and the articulation of the back of the
foot permit considerable lateral mo-
ton.
Then the toes possess surprising
mobility. The great toe can be moved
freely in all directions, and the first
and second toes are separated by a
wide space, sometimes as much as five
eighths of an inch across at the base
of the toes and two inches at their ex-
tremity. The articulation of the hip Is
also peculiar, and this renders 1t easier
to use the toes in handling the objects,
by enabling the, Hindu to sit in a
squatting posture much more comfort
ahlv than we can do