The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

E@O have small feet is the aim of every fair Celestial maiden. Their
 eyes may not be as almond shaped E as they would wish them to be,
 their faces not round enough, their
 nails may be too short, but if their feet are tiny, then all other troubles count as nothing with them. To be the proud and happy possessor of minute distorted pair of feet is a thing of joy and beauty forever, according to the Chinese standard of the beautiful.
 Nor is it easy to have feet sufficiently tiny to satisfy the cravings of the aris- tocratic Chinese maidens. Feet that appear ridiculously small and unrnan- ageable as their possessors toddle in and out the busy thoroughfares are heap big in the eyes of the half dozen Chinese women who have feet small enough to satisfy the most fastidious mandarin.
 Among all the Chinese women who help to make this city picturesque there are but six with really small feet-that is, their feet are called small by even the rigid Chinese standard. These six women were eagerly snatched up as wives by the most prominent members of the rich and powerful Six CompanleS the moment they landed in San Fran cisco.
 In fact, they were brought here for that purpose, and in the matrimonial contracts it was distinctly stated that their price would not be paid unless they were women with Lilies Of Gold, for it is by that poetical name that the Chinese women with surprisingly small feet are known.
 The length of the feet of these SIX women varies from 3A to 412 inches The wife of MT. Sing, powerful in the Six Companies has the smallest 1oot or them all. Her shoe from toe tip to heeI line measures exactly 3A inches.
 Down in Chinatown when Mrs SlnS appears on the street in her gorgeous robes, supported on either side py servant the women and children crowd the doors and windows to see The Lily of Gold pass. Even with the help or her women attendants, Mrs. Sing sWays to and fro in perilOuS manner when she attempts to walk on the street.
 In her own house she moves about from room to room by balancing her self with her arms. If however, 1t IS necessary to go through several rooms she does not depend on her arms alone, but carries a parasol with which she steadies herself.
 MT. Sing is very proud of his w1fe's feet Tn his rather fluent English, he recounted at length that there are but six lilies of gold" in the city, lingering always on the fact that his wife IS the rarest and best of the lilies of geld.
 Mrs. Sing. who does not understand word of English. piled the gold threads in and out in the new pair of shoes she was making for herself She intuitive- ly knew that her feet were the subject of conversation. and perSlStently hld them. If for a moment she forgot ana let them peep forth from beneath her trousers. the instant she noticed they SI them with her fan and slid them back
 "A Chinese lady does not like to show her feet" said MT. Sing. She does not think it is what you call modest.
 How is it" was asked. that so few Chinese women have small feet like your wife's, when they all bind them in infancy as was done for Sour Wife?'
 "Oh my wife is of vera fine family verra fine family, was the reply "Only the ladies in the very best fami- lies of China understand how to prop erlv bind the feet to make them small. The mother does it herself and she teaches her children how to do It so that when they marry they can do It to their daughters. They keep the method a strict family secret among themselves and the common people never under stand how to do it.
 lyon see her feet?" pointing to one of the waiting women be!onSlng to hIs wife Look how big her feet are. vet they were bound when she was child, but her mother was of the common peo- pie. and she did not understand how It was done As said the proper method is a great family secret"
 The attendant referred to laughlnsly disDIaved one foot alongside that of her mistress. It was almost again as large:
 The binding process is said to exert a markedly depressing influence upon the emotional character of the women who are subjected to the extremely nainful process Compared to Mrs. Sing. stolid and eXpressionless, the at tendant seemed almost animated. Per haps it was the awful torture that Mrs.