About Shoes

There is a tbreadbare joke about U. woman who weara a No. 3 shoe on í No. 5 íoot - a feat that is impossible ir exact ratio to the antiquity of the story There is a distinct limit to the squeezing capacity of any shoe, no mattei what may be the' endurance of th wearer. But, on the authority of th most experienced shoe dealers, we finú it true that the majority of feet are distorted and turned from their natura: growth by the obstinate and misplaced vanity of the general shoe buyer. Ver few persons get their shoes long enougK The great foot folly lies right here. The masses , buy short, broaó shoes, so that widths such as doublt C and doublé D, that never ought to be manufactured, are in muoh emaad. When a woman tells the size of her foot she likes to make the use of a short number - nothing is said about the breadth. The best authcrities assure us that any one could have what sculptors cal! the perfect foot, a long, narrow one, il mothers would only begin, with the flrst shoes.. to put their children in those that are a little longer than the foot, adding all the extra space necessary before the toes mstead of at the sides, as they are for some unaccountable reason so prone to do. Thus. ' without injury, but rather to the advantage of the foot, a pleasing shape nay early be secured at the expense of the present squat extremities. The other day a woman who had orn hfr shoes so short that her feet had öumpad themselves up at the instep in the most unsightly protuberances told a salesmau who tried to persuade her to lessen the width and íp crease the iength of a new purchasé, that she was considered by her friends to have a "perfect Trilby foot." ShG ' added, with a toss of her head: "A j louger size, indeed! Wby, my foot was modeled on the other side!" "For what, unless it were as a monstrosity?" thought another customer, who overheard the remark. The Chinese are not the Only race who disfigure their useful extremities. They po systematically to work to accomplish their deformities, while aur women do it by blindly ignoring the pedal space that nature has allotted them. The Mongolian feet are shortened by a long turning up of. the toes, ours by oramping the members till the instep is slowly raised in self-defense. A naturally high instep is a thing oí beauty, but one that is elevated by force is nothing but grotesque. And (but of course this is a secret) we flnd, if shoe dealers are to be trusted, that women are not alone in this vanity. They declare that men commit the same folly of broad and short, and, what is oddest of all, that country people are much more prone to it than city-bred inen and women. Another word of warning may prove useful, as it seems not generally to be understood, that when one goes into a shop to try on shoes the feet are contracted from the exercise of walking, and are in the best condition for making them feel easy and comfortable. Due allowance should be made, too, for the first morning hours, when, after e. night's idleness, the feet are somewhai enlarged and quite likely to be