Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1900-04-26
THE FASMlONABLE SHOE.
II Has Varied Much In shape ThYouGk
the Centuries.

the form OF sandals, which gradually
became not merely protective solss
dashed to the feet and legs by thong,
but highly ornamented footgear, Jew
eled, patterned and embroidered. The
conservative east still wears the shoes
II wore some hundreds of years age,
in time when the east was the cen.
ter Of civilization and gave ideas to
the more or less barbaric west. The
curled toe point undoubtedly had ~
origin in the east.
Delh's shoe of to-day is the same In
shape as worn many centuries past,
and bears close resemblance to the
gorgeous gold plated slipper of the
queen of Abyssinia that reposes In .
glass case at the kensington museum.
The "lleathen Chinee' has not let
fashion fiddle with his toe covering;
1t remains much as it was In the first
period Of its adoption as shoe, and
shows likewise Il curled toe with the
addition of clog sole, which leada
one to suspect the birth of clogs took
place also in the continent of Asia.
Japanese clogs are primitive affairi
and illustrate equilibrium possibilities
that suggest cautious experiment by
the uninitiated. The same might BIZ
said of the early English clog and the
later date pattern; il walking were
difficult in these, however, what must
1t have been in Venice during the
sixteenth century There the fash.
ionable danes raised themselves OF
clogs, or chioppines, SO high that 4
writer of the period described the We.
netian women as made of three things
zone part wood (referring to theis
chioppines,) another part apparel and
and the third woman!' These chop.
pines were most handsomely fashion.
ed, embroidered and Enthusiastically dec.
GRATED with pompons, and their lese
extrayagant pattens were equally
elaborate.
Spanish women of the same period
who in the house wore morocco shoes
that fitted the feet like a skin and
were guiltcss OF heels, out Of doors
slipped over these the straps Of their
brocade or velvet clogs, which learn.
ed authority tells us were set upon
plates of gold, which raise them half
a foot"
France, ever to the fore with ex-
travagant notions, was not likely to
let such fashion escape her, and we
find in Louis XIll's reign the women
wearing pattens of velvet with abnor.
mally thick cork solcs. In the four
teenth and fifteenth centuries the wo.
men elongated their headdrcsses, and
the men their footgear. The famous
shoe u poulaine became the rage In
France England and Germany, which
borrowed the fashion from Poland,
hence the name of poulaine.
To such lengths did the votaries Of
this fashion go that the points of their
shoes and boots had to be chained up
to their knees to allow of their walk.
ing. An old chroniclcr of Richard III
reign speaks In contemptuous terms Of
the shoes worn. Their shoes and pat
tens are shouted and picked more
than finger long, crooking upward,
which they call crackowes, being like
devils claws, and fastened to the knee
with chains Of silver or gold" In Hen.
ry rs time the shape was even more
absurd, for the points were Xix, o
scorpions tail, or stuffed with tow
and made to curl like a rams horn"
In Flanders the barbarous device wAe
of such wise that the wearer must poSs
itively have walked on the tip Of W
toes.
Scientific Newspaper
Many of our newspapers draw such
Oh income from their advertising cob
umns that the editors are unwilling
to print any criticism which would
lead to the restriction OF this source
Of gain; thus II a company promoting
q scientific bubble should advertise
literally in lending newspaper, the
editors are usually loath to insert an
article upon the scheme, for the print.
Ing OF the criticism might lead to the
of the advertisement. II
Is possible that the editors OF such
daily papers have not overmuch con.
fdence In the judgment of scientific
men, for have not the latter often
been mistaken? There was Lardner,
who prophesed that steamships could
not cross the Atlantic, but we must
remember that Lardner was not
scientific man; and it Is said that
there have been college professors
who have denied the possibility OF
sending messages under the ocean.
This / also doubt, for am witness
In the flesh of the way such stories
can arise. Not long since was in.
vited to speak before commercial
club, and the presiding officer, in
introducing me, remarked. "The por-
fessor will now address you on the
advances in electricity. When | was
In college well remember his de-
scribing I'm electric motor and his
remark that it would never become
a practical invention" There was, Of
course, laughter, and the president
sat down with a comfortable air of
having made point. The professor
pointed out that the presiding officer
graduated before he became pro-
fessor in the university, and before
the Gramme machine and the electric
motor were invented. Nevertheless,
the world loves to believe in the in
accuracy Of the accurate, and even a
sophomore takes infinite delight in