The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-01-19

exports, ties. slippers, and laced boots.
can readily testify that the demand
from the English importers is for a
shoe from the English importers is for
shoe from one to two sizes shorter
ard one to two letters narrower than
that asked for by the domestic market
These of course are cruel facts, but
facts they are, and here in my shop
where on an average seventy-five pairs
of shoes are tried on every day, the
woman who boasts the longest line of
American born ancestors requires
nearly always the largest make of foot
gear.
Among my customers are several
whose progenitors were signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and
though the question of actual size and
letter is never discussed between us,
all the clerks in my place know that
nothing less than number nine of r
width will fit either mother or daugh-
ter. Those of course are rather ex-
ceptional cases, but to prove my as
sertion as to the size of the average
foot. you would need only run over the
stock stacked on the shelves of my
shop from floor to ceiling. For every
ten pairs of twOS, threes and three and
a half, l find it absolutely necessary to
order and keep on hand twenty-five to
sixty pairs of fives, skies and skies and
d half, running in width from G to T..
An honest number six is what the
average woman wears in a walking
shoe, whether it is a tie or a high laced
boot, while in a slipper she will usually
purchase a five and a half, if she is
going to use it for dancing and walk
ing. Should she be sensitive about her
feet and eager to minimize their size,
she will buy her calling and shopping
shoes with high heels and if the wealth
err is decent, she will wear big buckled
walking slippers on the streets. Such
slippers are of course not practical, nor
in the least hygienic; the weight is
thrown or the ankle. and on the deli
cate joints at the root of the toes, with
the inevitable result of increasing bulk
and breadth at both these points, when,
however has woman ever listened to
reason if fashion or vanity got her ear
first. and, what is very lamentable
from the standpoint of comfort and
common sense, is the increasing de-
mand for a shoe and slipper with a
narrowing toe.
Happily though, there is saving
remnant of our American women who
insists firts of all on wearing stout and
easy shoes. and who this winter refuse
to endure the heat and weight of rub
Der oVershoes.N Among the very smart
women, who walk and golf a good deal,
the overshoes is regarded as an evil
dence OF a feeble intellect OF pitifully
inadequate constitution and to meet
the requirements OF the robust class
the shoema kers have brought out rain
proof blucher walking boots. The soles
OF thes are quarter OF an inch in thick
ness and fun extension; the vamps are
made of the best American calf and
the tops OF grained English leather All
day long, over sodden fields or stream-
ing streets. woman can tramp I'm
these without knowing % damp stock
Ing. and " after thorough wetting
the shoes are dried Oh trees and treat
ed with the proper dressing ana polish
the leather VIII be- perfectly pleasant
nud nxible fOr further use.
Perhaps IL b. only fair 90 admit '
confessed the sIor dealer. that the
steady Increase DO the Hizc of our Won-
ems ieet a. yery largely due ~ The