The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-11-01
DRESSING THE FEET.
VIEWS OF A DOCTOR AND A CHIROP-
ODlST ON THE SUBJECT.

The True Ideal OF Beauty In the Human
Foot-Health and Comfort Sacrificed to
False Ideals--The Shape and Fit of the
Correct Shoe.
at is lamentable fact that the great
bulk of the foot covering industry is i'm the
hands of persons utterly ignorant not only
of the anatomy of the foot, but absolutely
Indifferent to it, p" said learned doctor to
patient the other day. 1.-The leaders of
fashion change the style and shape of the
shoe whenever 1t pleases their fancy, just
as If the human foot could be made to con-
form to the changing shapes instead of the
shapes conforming to the foot
1.-THE foot, being one of the most flexible
portions of tsc human body and readily
tutored and tortured to take almost any
shape, temporarily at least, whatever may
be the subsequent anguish, it follows that
you obey tho behcsts of fashion unthink-
ingly, taking it for granted that n foot is
properly and rightly squeezed and crowded
so long MS the pain and suffering are not
instantly made insupportab,e, and from
this practice n false taste is developed and
a false and absurd ideal of beauty estab-
lished; the natural shape and symmetry
and the due proportion of the foot to the
body ere forgotten; n tasto for a certain
deformity, an utterly unnatural foot both
In shape and size, is acquired, and soon
we have become the posscsSors of misshap-
Ell, hideously deformed feet.
lone of the most surprising things that
Du Maurier told about 1rilby's foot was
that the great toe was well away from the
second toe, and that the latter was the
longer of the two. How many of the peo-
pie who wear pointed toed shoes can show
such a conformation of the foot as that?
But people of the present day have lost a
liking for the natural shape of the perfect
foot. They may profess admiration for
the Trilby foot, but in their hearts they
really think the shape, at least in shoe,
is ugly and secretly prefer their own de-
formed, pointed feet, with the great toe
Tapped over the small toes and all the lat
ter trained into pointed bunch. 3"
but, then, the agony Of such feetP
said a chiropodist when consulted. "Ten
corns to a foot is no unusual number foI
me to be called upon to treat. The admir-
ers and wearers of razor toed shoes ought
to take glance mt the illustrations of the
resulting deformites as described by q
famous surgeon chiropotlist He shows
| the injuries, diseases and ailments t.
| which the foot is liable. During the 30 OF
more years that he practiccd his profession
| in this city he had among his patrons anC
patients some of tho most distinguished
men and women in the country, and dur
| ing that time he treated some of the wors
cases of deformity that ever came into thu
I hands of a surgeon. This doctors labor
were not confined to the cure of simpl
corns and bunions. He undertook som
of the worst possible cases of distortion
and painful ailments of the feet. One o
his great and successful operations wa
| the restoration of the foot deformed by tn
displacement of the great toe joint. l
was long considered incredible that tn
natural shape of the foot thus deforme'
could be restored, but by the use of band
ages the bunion was reduced, the joint re
placed, and the natural movement of tn
toes was restored.
at is surprising that the majority O
| people are willing to sacrifice their healt
and comfort to false ideal OF beautiful
feet" said one shoe merchant. lit is eve
I stranger that those who value themselve
! on what they regard MS their beautiful fec
do not reflect that this beauty is attaine
only by the loss of real beauty of face an
| grace of movement. A foot crowded int
a narrow toed shoe too small for the foe
means lines between the eyes, crows feet
worried expression of countenance an
the gait of an invalid or worsc-a cripple
Such people go about tormenting otht
people with their plants of oh, my feet!
1t is impossible to restore patient
feet to their normal condition so long G
she wears boots and shoes constructe
with no regard whatever to the anatom
and physiology of the human foot-that II
without regard to the natural shape of I'll
foot and the necessity of leaving ccrtai
muscles of the foot free to do their naturi
work in the business of locomotion.
According to one doctors views, the co
rect shoe is the one that fits closely owe
the instep and heel, supporting the arc
of the foot and displaying the beauty of Il
outline. 1t should be broad over the toe
providing the necessary room for the mu
Giles of the foot to freely perform the
work in the act of locomotion. The he
must he low and the shoe of good length
The result is u shoe that is beautiful
the eyes of those who understand what IL
foot should be or what it is by natur
Such a shoe, according to this doctor,
hideous only to those who set up falls
ideal of beauty.
Many deformities of the feet disappe'
entirely without other treatment than thu
of the proper shoe. The shoe that fits II
foot is the cheapest shoe to buy. 1t wea
tho longest, because, fitting the foot,
never undcrgoes that transformatio
known as losing shape. New for
Tribune.
He Reclaimed His Jewels.