If this disturbance of balance is increased by high heels, thrust forward under the middle of the foot, the result is very bad.
[Illustration: THE RESULT OF WEARING A FASHIONABLE SHOE (1) A foot that has never worn a shoe (from a photograph); (2) A foot so cramped and bent as to prevent firmness of step and gait.] Our Shoes, an Important Factor in Health.

Few more ingenious instruments of crippling and torture have ever been invented than fashionable tight shoes with high heels.
Kipling never said a shrewder or truer thing than when he made Mulvaney, the old Irish drill-sergeant, tell the new recruit, "Remimber, me son, a soljer on the marrch is no betther than his feet!" and this applies largely to the march of life as well.
Every shoe should be at least three-quarters of an inch longer, and from half to three-quarters of an inch wider, than the foot at rest, to allow proper expansion of these great "carriage-spring" arches.

If children run free in the open air, either barefoot, or with light, loose, well-ventilated shoes, or sandals, they will have little trouble, not only with bunions, corns, "flat-foot," or lameness, but also with their backs, their gait, and their carriage.

Easily half of our backaches, and inability to walk far or run fast in later life, to say nothing of over-fatness and dyspepsia, are caused by tight shoes.
SLEEP AND REST Why We Need Rest.

A most important element in a life of healthful exercise, study, and play is rest.