The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1910-01-09

YTHE beautiful foot is that of the baby.
1t is beautiful because it is natural, I'M
Il marred by ill-ftting, cramping distort-
. ling shoes. ~~~--"
just in far the foot has departed'from
its original shape and habit is it less than
perfect 1t is hard, indeed, to find a beautiful
foot. The story is told of New York sculp-
tor, who. searching for a perfect foot, dis.
missed three thousand models who ap
plicants for the honor, declaring that there
not beautiful foot among them.
By the established modern standard, the
foot should be neither small nor large, though
1t is preferable that it be small rather than
large The tiny foot of large woman is alb
surd. 1t suggests deformity. So does the
short foot the tall The foot
should to belong to the woman, not to
have been loaned to her for the occasion. Like
her hand, it should seem to be in perfect har-
mony with the rest of her body If the
be plump. the foot should not be thin.
If she be thin. the foot should not be plump.
1t should be neither bony nor too fat The
bones should be well covered. but their out
line should be plain enough to give certain
~ dfstfnctfon called character" to the foot. The
toes should spread comfortably apart, yet
there should not be unseemly spaces between
them The spaces should be slight and even,
like those between regular and well-kept
teeth. The skin should be smooth and pinky
white The nails should be strong but
pink Above all, there should be blemsh,
no disfiguring on the small toes. en-
largement of the joints, nor bunions no cal
loused spot upon the sole The high-bred
foot lies, according to existing standards, not
flat upon the ground, but rests upon heel
and front part of the sole. so that rl of
water may easily run under it. To CORE
spond with this natural bridge, there must
also be arched instep.
This is the standard.
Now how to achieve it, First, shoes
that are large enough, and let them be of soft
pliable leather. Large enough, 1 said, but not
TOO large The foot that slips about in large
shoes is as likely to get callous disfigure-
ments the one that is pinched. Heavy
leather and thick soles have place a
woman's delicate feet. The stiff unyelding
boot may be all right upon the masculine
foot. and it may keep more perfect upon the
inch-thick sole, but the skin of a woman
foot is too tender for this The leather should
be close but fine, the soles of medium thick
ness. But 1 cannot lay too much emphasis
upon the need of straight, even heel on the
shoe. The heel is to the snoc what the cor
nerstone is to the house 1t is quite nee
essary that IL be we'll laid straight and Sc
cure. The crooked heel threatens the health
the insecure Cornerstone disturbs the Sc
curity of the house.
The rune down heel disturbs the adjustment
of the internal organs. 1t pushes some of
them close upon each other. draws others
away from their natural support 1t destroys
the balance of the foot, causing blisters and
callous spots IL throws the weight where
II should not be- doing violence to the center
of gravity.
Watch your heels closely you should
the running time Of your watch. When the
bottoms of the heels disclose an inclined
plane at the back the sides, you will find
corresponding blister of newly formed cal
lous spot the sole Your ounce OF preVen-
ton Is sending the shoes TO cobbler the
moment you see the hint of crookedncss in
the heels. They can be plaped or built up
10 their former evenness at very slight ex-
pense The money spent thus IL much less
than the fee of chiropodst taat you will
save
Having formed the habit of wearing com
Portable shoes--and let be say here that
American shoes the best and that / al
ways wear them---see that the feet are re-
leased often from their prison. Even the
best pair Of shoes " . prison. In your own