Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-12-06
BAD FEEL The KuLE
A ChIROPOOiST TALKS ABOUT HIS
WORK AND HIS PATIENTS
He Says He saves More People From
Acute Misery Than Most Ply
sicians-A Twist I'm the Walk That
Does Dn suase to the Feet.

Gossiping with the undertaken. the
veterinary surgeon. the barber. the
barkeeper and other familiars. who
call him Doc" the chiropodisf was
IN an instructive mood He could not
quite understand how it could be thar
the really good and able nen of his
calling were not ranked higher in the
social scale.
Now. | save more people from
acute misery than most physicians.
he said. My work is often Just as
dangerous as that OF the surgeon. for
there is the same peril of gangrene.
that awful shadow that looms up
wherever the knife touches the body.
The surgeon has an advantage over
me. When be has made a wound
there is no danger of the patient put
ting next to 1t goods too often highly
coiored with very poisonous dyes.
This my patient is apt TO do in dra W.
ing on his sock. My position is really
one of great responsibility. but there
are not many who treat me with any
marked respect.
1T would surprise you to know how
many people have bad feet II my
observations are correct. and l don't
see why the average ! give should not
be right, 80 per cent of the people
in New York have one form or an
other of foot trouble. l cut away more
than twice my own weight in callous
every year.
'Of course the trouble comes from
the shoe. and there seems to be no rem
edy. for the made to order shoe is real
1y. as rule. no better than the one
manufac tured by wholesale The near
est approach to remedy for trouble
that is rarely cured. but can be greatly
relieved, is to wash. the feet every
night and every morning. They act as
one of the main sewers of the body
and should be constantly washed.
Then do not wear a loose shoe or a
tight one. The snug shoe is the best.
Another and a very important point
is that the socks should exactly fit the
feet. and, if one can afford them. they
should be wool of different weights
for the different seasons.
Scarcely man whose toes l am
whiting fails to ask me why any
man, careful as he is. should be pes
tered with corns. In wet weather or
just before a change in the weather he
is brought to the verge of nervous
prostration. He is irritable and even
suffers fever His business is inter
fered with in the daytime. and at night
his rest is disturbed by aching feet.
Il tell him the exact truth. and that
is that the vast majority of his fellows
suffer as he does and that those ex-
empt have their feet regularly attend
4,x- io
for people to be regular with their
meals or in their visits to the dentist.
The reason for this is in great part the
city pavementS. 1t Is the same with
men as with horses
every few men walk properly. They
twist on the sole of the foot. making
an extra strain and wear at one spot.
Nature tries TO remedy this by forming
a protection of hard skin. but she
overdoes this. because she is hampered
in the operation by the shoe. This
twisting is absolutely due to what any
physician will tell you Is true. One
limb in nine out Of ten cases is q
fraction shorter than the other. Then.
too. few men with their eyes closed
can walk in a straight line. With their
eyes open they steer with their feet.
1t is this difference in strength or
length Of the legs and the necessary
steering that makes the twist, and the
twist makes the corn.
Talk about your Bertillon measure.
ments. 1t would be better to record
the twist and character of walk. Nc
two men walk just exactly the same,
and the twist of the foot is absolutely
different in all men.
with such good fellows as you for
companions l ought not to talk about
my social station. l treat not less thar
200 patients a week, and they aver.
age 80 cents apiece. SO my income Is
something over $500 a year after
have deducted expenses ! own my
own home. but the wife and daughters
do not like the chiropodist's sign and
the great gold foot at the front door" "
New York Times.