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6
Copyright. 1918, by the Star Company Great Britain Rights Reserved.''
Nursery Rhyme
Gave
“The Woman
with the
Best Feet in
America,”
the Hint That
Made Them the
Best—Here
She Tells
What to Do
vith YOUR Feet
Mother Goose
nine inches. Not only are these
measurements absolutely correct,
but Miss Houston’s foot is without
flaws. Her instep is an inch
high. Place a nickel edgewise un
der her foot, and it will move easily
about. Miss Houston has told this
newspaper how she came to have
perfect feet and how every other
woman may have them.
Nine into sixty-three inches, seven
times. Her foot conforms to the
further classic measurements: The
distance around the ball of the foot
and over the Instep is nine inches,
the same as the length of the foot.
The circumference of the lower
part of the ankle is the same as the
length of the foot and the distance
around the instep and the sole is
M ISS Clara Houston, whose feet
the National Association of
Chiropdists acclaimed a per
fect pair, wears number fives. She
could wear number threes if she
pinched them, but that she declines
to do. Freedom of foot is as neces
sary to beauty as freedom of body.
She says New York women would be
twice as pretty if they would wear
shoes large enough for them. She
comes from Chicago.
The perfect foot is of generous
size. It is in correct proportion to
the rest of her body. Miss Houston
is five feet three inches tall and
weighs 126 pounds. The foot should
be one-seventh as long as the body.
Miss Houston’s foot is nine inches
long. “Do your sum” in arithmetic.
illustrating the Massage
of the Instep.
The Greeks were right in wearing
strong straps on their sandals. The
straps were not only to keep the
sandals on, but for support and to
prevent that dangerous casting of
the weight upon the weak toes.
A reason for my foot remaining
as flawless as when I was a babe is
that I have the habit of going bare
foot about the house. While it is
true that the soles are sensitive to
change of temperature and that the
pores of the soles are the largest in
the body, and so absorb much and
quickly whether of air or moisture,
yet if you begin as a child to go
barefoot there is no danger of
catching colds and your feet will
have the chance they need to
spread.
Change your shoes several times
a day. You say you haven’t a
chance to do this. Gh, yes, you
have—every ciianc" you need, if
you are at home. If you are in an
office or store or factory, keep an
extra pair of shoes there, and if
Clara Houston's Left Fool
Which Approaches Closely
the Classic Standard.
ish towel. I take five minutes more
for this drying, because it is neces
sary to keep the skin between the
toes free from moisture. If you do
not, some day you will behold there
a soft corn.
In the evening I give my feet a
tepid bath, either in salt water or
water containing Epsom salts. To
a foot tub half full of tepid water I
use one tablespoonful of Epsom
salts or two tablespoonfuls of salt.
The salt strengthens the feet. The
Epsom salt opens the pores that are
too weak to open without help.
After the evening bath I exercise
my feet as I have described, using
cream or olive oil freely, then wipe
the cream or olive oil off with a
towel and rub the feet with alcohol.
The alcohol is a tonic, also it pre-
The “This Little Pig Went to Market” Beginning of the
Foot Massage.
was not pinched. Their tight shoes High shoes, it is very well kn
gave them a gait like an imitation should be worn by persons
Japanese shuffle. It was most awk- weak ankles. But if your ar
ward and ludicrous. Their tight are strong, low shoes are cool
shoes and pinched feet reacted in comfortable, and may be worn n
their faces, which looked worn and months a year with safety to
peevish and old. One can wear health. But the shoe should 1
snug shoes for three or four hours straps across the instep to sup
a day without harm, but you cannot the foot and keep it from slip
wear them all day without harm. into the toe of the shoe anc
New York women and frivolous crowding all the weight upon
women of other cities wear pumps, toes, i would never wear a
dancing sliders, all day. without straps, if only ribbon c
Flower Shows* Festivals and
Seasonable Amusements
By MRS. FRANK LEARNED, Author of “The Etiquette
«r XTaxt V rl o l- *
She Invented These Shoes to Keep Her Feet Perfect.
By CLARA HOUSTON.
M Y feet are perfect because I
have always taken care of
them. Yours will be perfect if you
give them as much attentlou as 1
do. Twenty minutps a day will
make your foot a model of pedal
perfection.
Feet need exercise. Not merely
walking. Two or three miles a day
besides the ordinary moving about
you do in an office or at home give
your feet all of that exercise they
need. Dancing may easily be over
done. A little tangoing one or two
evenings a week is harmless, but
the hideous series of distortions of
the human body, the ' turkey trot
hurts the feet as much as it does
the morals. It is an over-emphatic
dance, straining the feet as it does
good taste. No. For valuable exer
cises for the feet, go back to your
nursery habits. Go back to the
Mother Goose melodies, and, saying
1 j yourself—
This little piggy goes to market.
This little piggy stays at home"
pull and twist your toes as you
■d when you measured your age by
uOnths, not years.
Yes, the toes need pulling. Every
ight before retiring I pull each one
■ igorously three or four times, or, if
:'.ie feet are very tired and burn and
sling, 1 pull each toe eight or ten
limes. This makes the joints sup
ple and causes the toes to lie as
they should, flat on the floor, with
spaces intervening, not curled un
der each other, weakening the liga
ments by non-use and forming hard,
bonelike corners on the toes.
Also, the “little piggies" need
rolling. Every twenty-four hours I
roll them round and round at the
joint by which they are attached to
the foot. Fancy yourself a baby
again and this playing with the toes
will not be tiresome. The few min
utes of playing baby will give you
the mental relaxation everyone
needs at the end of the day after
one is twenty. Roll each toe sepa
rately, beginning at the joint I have,
described and rolling them round
and round until you reach the end
of the toe. Not only does this rest
the toes, but it preserves their
shape. A perfect toe is the shape of
a perfect cylinder. Some men and
most women have conelike or
pointed toes.
The greatest need of the feet is
good circulation. Recall all the
feet you have seen. They have been
either yellow or red. If yellow, they
were not sufficiently nourished by
blood. Not enough blood reached
them. If they were red, it was be
cause they had been abused by bad
shoes or by over-exercise, and too
much blood had flowed to the ex
tremities. The feet were congested.
The healthy foot is pink. It should
never be white. The alabaster foot
the poets rhyme about is a symp
tom of aenemia. Everyone should
study to get enough blood into the
feet, but not too much. in other
words, have before you the standard
of pink feet.
To secure proper circulation it is
not enough to pull and roll the toes.
You must revert to more baby
tricks and work them back and
forth. Practice drawing them un
der and over the foot until they be
come easily manageable, and press
them back with the hands, using
much of your strength. Wriggle
your toes up and down.
Five massage movements 1 in
variably use-*every night to coax the
blood into the feet. If it seems to
you unnecessary work, remember
that the feet are so far from the
heart that it is hard for that organ
to pump the blood that distance,
and we must help it.
With the cushions of the fingers
of one hand rub the region about
the cuniform bone. That is the
bone that lies parallel with the floor
aiong the outside of the foot.
Stroke this toward the toes. Some
mistaken persons stroke the foot
away from the toes. They would
not do this if they understood that
To foretell the past, present and
future events of the lives of the
great masses of people is no small
task, yet there seems to be no one
more anxious p— ; ——— L
to prove his , ? !
ability than ,, ....
^ Wher
"Just so sure
S^eat bodies ^
time of birth
lias .1 divert
bearing upon i
the life of 4
rustic dairy offers for sale milk,
cheese and butter and eggs in fancy
baskets. At another booth ice cream,
cake, lemonade and iced tea are
served. At a fete of this sort, given
on the grounds of a well-known
hostess, a special feature was a large
booth representing an inn. with an
old-fashioned sign-board, “The Lark,”
in token of the jollity of the occa
sion.
Flower dances, for instance, in
which children take part, are exceed
ingly pretty and graceful. Each child
represents a flower. Dressed in
white, with garlands or wreaths of a
chosen flower, the children dance in
charming groups. A screen or large
curtain of greenery forms a back
ground. This may be arranged or
hung between trees. Pergolas mav
be easily constructed with poles.
If these poles cannot be put in the
ground they may be sunk in tubs of
earth, placed at intervals. The per
golas are garlanded with greens. In
this way, with pergolas and screens,
a background is made for little
pastoral plays or for pantomimes.
A Venetian fete may be a delight
ful evening entertainment, if there
is the necessary environment of a
harbor, lake or river, with boat
houses. Lanterns and garlands of
flowers may be draped from tree to
tree or from poles forming pergolas.
The day has gone by when a
floral parade was a feature in the
September -amusements of the Sum
mer residents of Lenox, when smart
traps of every description and the
horses were decked with hydran
geas or golden-rod and asters, and
when the afternoon finished w-ith a
tea at a private residence. Now-, the
automobile exhibition is in favor and
a pageant of flow-ers may be devised,
w-lien cars of every sort, decked in
fanciful designs, with wreathed
wheels and arches of flowers, may
compete for prizes.
T HE making of beautiful gar
dens, the culture of flowers,
plants, fruit and vegetables is
a present-day interest. Garden clubs
and horticultural associations are
serious matters of the moment, and
flower and fruit shows are becom
ing more and more the fashion. In
all regions where there are wonderful
gardens there is great competition
among the residents in raising fine
fruit and flowers and in making the
best arrangement, or grouping, of
them at exhibitions.
Annuals, perennials, garden flow
ers and hot house productions, wild
flowers showing the flora of the fields
and woods of the region are displayed
at these ejSiibitions. At some
flower shows there are Japanese
gardens, rock and water gardens.
Exhibitions are held at a clubhouse,
casino or other convenient place, or
open-air flower shows are on the
lawn of a private residence. Awards
are made to successful competitors.
Guests are invited from far and near,
and the afternoon closes with the
serving of tea and refreshments,
either on the lawn or in the house.
If the exhibition is to be of a public
nature there may be a charge for ad
mission and the proceeds may be
devoted to some charity.
Provided there are spacious
grounds on some private place noth
ing is more effective than an out
door bazaar or festival. Booths or
tables are in charge of married
women and young girls. They wear
fancy costumes of flowered organdy,
white fichus and dainty aprons and
straw hats garlanded with flowers.
At one booth flowers, fruit and vege
tables are sold. At another baskets
and garden tools; at another hats
and parasols; at another household
articles — towels, dusters, mops,
brushes and kitchen utensils. A
The Massage for Perfect Feet and Toes.
vents rheumatism in the feet, which
might follow catching cold in them
after the opening of the pores by
the tepid water bath.
I always lie with my feet higher
than my head. I use no pillow for
my head, but my feet never fail to
have one or two. This is to allow
the blood with which they have
been gorged by the day’s walking
and other exercises to flow back
into the other parts of the body.
I always wear stockings a half
size too large for me. The reason
for this is a good one. During the
day the weight of the body causes
the feet to spread. The stockings
should be large enough to permit
this spreading without squeezing
the feet. Be sure that your stock
ings are a half size longer and a
half size wider than the foot. Don’t
be afraid of wrinkles forming in the
stockings. The spreading of the
feet will take care of that.
And shoes! Is it any use to tell
women of New York, for instance,
to wear shoes that fit them? I
studied their feet while I was in
New York. I saw thousands of
pairs of feet, and not a pair that
the object of manipulation is to per
suade the blood to flow into the
toes.
With the fingers spread apart
stroke the foot firmly from the in
step to the toes along the scappoid
bones. Parallel with the floor, on
the inside of the foot, lies the oscu-
lapius bone. The muscles about
this must be rubbed round and
round with the palm.
Rub the soles firmly, pressing
them upward to strengthen a weak
arch.
A last and important exercise is
to stroke the ligaments from the
heel upward toward the calf of the
leg. This is to loosen and rest
them.
For the nightly massage of the
feet use a pure cold cream to your
liking, or, if you are in great haste,
use olive oil, for it is quickly ab
sorbed by the skin.
My feet have two baths a day.
Every pair of feet needs as many.
In the morning at all seasons I
thrust them into cold water, moving
them briskly about for five minutes
or longer, then withdraw them and
wipe them thoroughly with a Turk-