The Monmouth inquirer., 1920-12-30

sacridce yourself on the altar OF fash
ion?" asks the Medical Department of
the New York Telephones Company in
one Of its series Of talks on health for
its employees.
The shoe That seems a harmless
part of ones apparel, and It is if one
wears the right shoe. The foot expert
describes the misery of the person
who wears the wrong type. Of shoe. as
follows:
How many of us have ever stopped
to think of our present day foot-gear
except, perhaps, to weep tears of an
guish over its cost? Have you, friend
reader, for instance, ever considered
how the personal vanities of few in
diyiduals, now (happiIy or not as the
case may be) dead and gone, have in
fiuenced the type of shoes we wear to-
day? Do you know that the. high bel
was originally designed by very vain
French monarch Of short stature who,
because he felt chagrined at being
smaller than his courtiers, had his
heels so constructed as to increase his
height?
That this Louis had only his own
personal vanity in consideration, there
is no question but he nevertheless in
stituted a custom, continued by the
generations succeeding him, which is
tending toward making civilized people
a race of foot cripples.
In the days of the ancients, the foot
was considered always a part Of great
beauty. and in some countries today,
notably Spain, ii is still considered as
the point Of great feminine charm, and
is guarded and protected from view as
such.
When we consider, therefore, the
feet, more particularly of our women
of today, we are bound to admit that
civilization has certainly done much to
rob this part of our organism of its
beauty from an aesthetic standpoint
and much more, to weaken it from a
practical physiologic standpoint.
Feet and Fitness.
People, in geperal have realized that
the high heel and the pointed toe of our
cipal causaiive factors Of many pain
full foot conditions but they have failed
to realize, until very recently, that
many diseased conditions in other
parts of the body are traceable also to
this type Of shoe.
We are coming more and more to
realize and appreciate the question of
Ss.ia ies In
vestigatlng just how great an influence
an incorrect position of our body, or
any part of it, has on the cause of GER
tain prevalent diseases and no doubt
more light viii be found in this con
nection during the next few years.
This particular theory of correct
posture is now being employed in the
physical development Of children from
their early school days, and so we find
the adjustable desk and bench, exer-
else tending to develop correct car
riage, and general instruction as to
how the body weight should be bal
anced when standing, walking or sit
ting.
That High Heel Again!
There is no one part of our modern
scheme of dress that so deranges cor
rect posture as the high heel. Com
mon sense tells us that normal posi-
ton cannot be maintained with high
heels and that the body Immediately
falls forward. To overcome this
tendency to fall, our body, instructive
ly, without our realizing 1t, finds it
necessary to so align itself that 1t can
keep upright.
In order to recover balance, the
curvature of the lower region OF the
backbone is unduly increased, and the
abdomen is thrown forward because of
this abnormal curvature (; the knees are
bent to compensate for the changed
relationship Of the lower reg bones to
those of the foot at the ankle joint.
This newly acquired posture natural
iy disturbs the normal alignment OF
many of the internal organs of the
body. The stomach, liver. kidneys, and
intestines, in particular, must now per-
form their duties while in an unnat-
ural position and relationship to each
other. The corset is laced more tight
ly to hide or overcome the Increased
protrusion of the abdomen and also to
compensate the ever increasing weak
ness In the muscles of the back, whose
/ normal tension and strength have also
been disturbed and this tighter lacing
serves to still further weaken the
muscles of the back by accustomtng
them to artificial support and keeping
/ them immobilized.
How to Get "FIat Foot"
To return to the changes occasioned
the foot and lower leg through the use
of high heels. Normally the group OF
muscles forming the calf of the leg are
long enough to allow the heel to rest
on the same plane With the ball of the
i foot. With the elevation of the heel
bone, due TO the modern shoe, these
muscles shorten or contract to de-
gree governed by the height Of the
! heel. With this there Is naturally
| corresponding lengthening and weak