Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-12-01

Shall I be tried in this manner?''
says Juno, q, who walk the queen of
the gods?"
In the "Iliad," Homer paid homage
to Thetis, the siIver-footed queen, and
Paris, when making choice among the
many beautiful maidens brough be-
fore him, did not forget the attrac-
tions of their feet.
Their gait he marked, as gracefully
they moved,
And round their feet his eye
sagacious roved.
Poets and romancers have ever
raved over the beauties Of the
human foot divine" "How beautiful
are thy feet with sandals, o princes
daughter" was the greeting of the
bride of Solomon's song, and in spite
Of the rich adornments of Judith s
dress her sandals "ravished the eye
of Holofernes, their buckles being
studded with precious gems, a fash
ion which later was forbidden to the
Roman matrOn.
Petrarch admires in his Laura her
walk above all else. He counts it
chief of her four principal charms.
Dryden, too, is not proof against
the charms OF the female foot and
walk:
In length of train descends her
sweeping gown,
And by her graceful walk the Queen
of Love is known
The mention of the foot in poetry
has often been used purposely to ex-
press reverence, as when Ben John,
son declared that his love for his
mistress was so great that he "would
adore the foot, and, if slipper was
left off, would kiss it, too" Every
one is familiar with is highly
poetical:
And where she went the flowers took
thickest root,
AS she had sowed them with hel
OdOrous foot.
Or similar reference thy Butler:
Where'er you tread, your foot shall
set
The primrose and the violet.
That fascinating combination Of
loneliness, arrant coquetry, and rigid
virtue, Nine. Recamier, worshipped
her own beauty. 1t is on record that
she preferred dinners to any other
form of entertainment, not for the
sake of the pleasure of the table, but
because her feet, which were moi
pretty, were hidden and her exquisite
hands and arms were we'll displayed
She was a coquette to the last
keeping up her platonic fiirtations
till the day of her death, and she
lived to be a very old woman
A wOman's foot, when perfect, is
followed out we'll, both inside anC
out, with high instep, short heel
and long, straight toes slightly
spatulate at the ends.
This is the type of the most beauti
full foot. It is, on the whole, a foot
not frequently seen in it's perfection
for often one or the other element Of
beauty is wanting. The rarest point
of beauty is the following of the out
side Of the foot
1t used to be that shoemakers' lasts
were made upon the Greek principles
but now a hump is made on the out
side Of the last, just above the point
where the slight hollow should be.
If any one would convince himself
that the hollow on the outside of the
foot is rare, let him watch the prints
that seaside bathers leave when they
step on dry plank walk Most OF
such footprints show a greater OF
smaller hollow on the inside of the
foot, but nearly every one shows a
straight, wet mark on the outside.
That water could flow under the
arch Of the foot, without wetting it
is an old rule where feet are con.
cerned. That the foot has an arch
under which an apple could be rolled
is said of one well-known beauty OF
the present day.
She is so proud of her lovely feel
that she has them photographed in
every possible way-in twentieth
century slippers, in sabots, skates
Louis Quinze slippers, Japanese and
Russian shoes. She has also any
number of plaster casts showing
every graceful curve and dimpIe.