Newport daily independent., 1905-11-23
FEET AND INTELLECT.
People with Small Pedal Extrcmfties Are Not Always Possessed of Su-
 perior Mental Requirements

|
 Small feet are considered by many to l De mark of arstocracy, but they cer- i tainly do not indicate superiority of i intellect, for many women of supreme
 intelligence have had very large feet,
 George Eliot, for instance, who re- ' sorted to all kinds Of devices to make ] her big, broad, flat feet appear less
 enormous. Mime. De Stael, the most bril- l liant woman Intellectually of her day, had such immense and ungainly feet
 that she was made miserable by the consciousness of their undue propor- tions, and knew that she was the sub-
 ject of many joke on their account Her face was not beautiful but her
 figure was handsome and statuesque, and she once ventured to assume the
 role of a Greek statue in some tableaux vivants which were given before an au- dience composed of clever and distin-
 guished people, among whom was the
 witty Talleyrand Mime. De Stael was i grievously offended at hearing that her
 brilliant friend had invented bon mot at her expense by remarlling that he had recognized the impersonator of the
 Greek character at once by the pied de Stael."
 1 The Germans and Scotch are credited
 with having the largest feet in Europe and Spanish women, particularly An
 dalusiSns, the smallest. The queen re-
 gent, who is Austrian and of as aristo
 cratic descent as the most fastidious
 could desire, is not blessed with small
 feet; they are large and broad, and al- though, of course, she has the best of l chausseurs that money can procure, they never look neat. This is one of the grievances that the Spaniards have against her, for they have a horror of big feet on a woman, and look upon
 such defect akin to crime.
 l know Spanish lady who went to
 Berlin, and few days after her arrival,
 on dressing for ball she discovered
 that her maid had forgotten to pack the
 case containing her evening shoes. She
 sent out for pair, giving one of her
 walking shoes as q sample, and after prolonged absence the messenger re- turned saying that no shoemaker had anything so small on his premises ex cept for very young children. The whole city was searched with the same result, and she was obliged to wear her walking shoes until some could be made for her. The shoemaker did not have last small enough, and special one had to be made, which fact gives elo- quent if not altogether fiattering proof concerning the truth of what we hear anent the size of the German ladies feet. Such size and shape as A would, I think, not be found in any oth CT country, yet it is commonly asked for here. English women are great walkers, and wear wide, comfortable boots for their long rambles through muddy country lanes-they scorn rub bers-and in consequence their feet l have become broad, but compared to those of their Scotch sisters they are fairylike.
 French women have short chick feet | and their shoes made rather to increase this appearance than otherwise. They | wear their high heels almost in the mid dle of the foot, the instep is padded to arch it, and she whose foot is long and narrow will use every art to take of about half its' length, the result be- ing that as she gets older she Is so troubled with corns and bunions that pair Of good old felt slippers-lher husbands preferably-are the only things she can endure with comfort, and in these she will shuttle about the house, an eyesore to everyone who sees her, donning the high heels. however. r. French woman will suffer the tortures of the inquisition every day of her life with all the fortitude of saint rather than wear sensible, low-heeled shoe that would give any idea of the real shape of her foot.-N. Y. Telegram.