WALKING. " Let us go out for a walk " is a common exclamation among our young society girls of the period, but the phrase has a variety of interpretations. With one class of girls it simply refers to a leisurely stroll along the most frequented promenade of a city, to look in at the shops, or to observe the latest out-door dress fashions. With another class it means a walk through the fashionable portion of the city, in pairs, of a party of boarding-school girls, under the watchful charge of some ancient teacher, with the chance of taking a sly glance at some masculine favorite en route. But walking for health- ful exercise alone, and in a way to receive all tlfe benefit accruing from it, is too rarely attended to. The ordinary walking done by ladies is not what walking should be, by any means. In the first place, to become a good walker — in the pedestrian's acceptation of the term — thorough attention must be paid to all the established rules governing the exercise, such as taking the regulation step in walking, swinging the arms properly, walking with upright form and with a thorough harmony of movement of all your lin.bs, and not to walk, as most ladies do, with their arms kept in a cramped position at their sides, by their cloaks or shawls, thereby obliging them to walk with a sort of side swing, like the waddling of a duck — a style peculiar to the city promenading of most of our fashionable girls. Then, too, in order to walk propcrl3^ the lady pedestrian 'must wear walking shoes or boots, with flat, low heels no thicker than the soles of the shoe, and easy fitting to the natural form of the foot. Walking for pleasurable and healthful exercise while wearing high- heeled, thin-soled and pointed-toe boots or shoes is next to im- possible. We laugh at the Chinese fashionable belle, whom the custom of her country obliges to have her feet encased in shoes so much too small as to induce a distortion which renders walking, even a short distance, perfect torture ; and yet the fashionable American shoe for ladies of the day is but little less an invention for deforming the feet, with its two-inch heel almost under the instep, and of shape so pointed as to cramp and distort the natural position of the io6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. toe. English ladies, of the country nobility class, have their "walk- ing shoes," as well as their " dress shoes," as they do their riding habits, each fitted for its special purpose. They never think for a mo- ment of "doing a ten-mile morning constitutional" in high-heeled shoes. In fact, they could not do it; a mile walk, even, under such circumstances, would cripple them, while ten miles done in ap- propriate walking costume gives them " good digestion to wait on appetite," and imparts the roseate hue of health to their cheeks and a bright lustre to their eyes.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

WALKING. " Let us go out for a walk " is a common exclamation among our young society girls of the period, but the phrase has a variety of interpretations. With one class of girls it simply refers to a leisurely stroll along the most frequented promenade of a city, to look in at the shops, or to observe the latest out-door dress fashions. With another class it means a walk through the fashionable portion of the city, in pairs, of a party of boarding-school girls, under the watchful charge of some ancient teacher, with the chance of taking a sly glance at some masculine favorite en route. But walking for healthful exercise alone, and in a way to receive all the benefit accruing from it, is too rarely attended to. The ordinary walking done by ladies is not what walking should be, by any means. In the first place, to become a good walker — in the pedestrian's acceptation of the term — thorough attention must be paid to all the established rules governing the exercise, such as taking the regulation step in walking, swinging the arms properly, walking with upright form and with a thorough harmony of movement of all your limbs, and not to walk, as most ladies do, with their arms kept in a cramped position at their sides, by their cloaks or shawls, thereby obliging them to walk with a sort of side swing, like the waddling of a duck — a style peculiar to the city promenading of most of our fashionable girls. Then, too, in order to walk properly, the lady pedestrian'must wear walking shoes or boots, with flat, low heels no thicker than the soles of the shoe, and easy fitting to the natural form of the foot. Walking for pleasurable and healthful exercise while wearing highheeled, thin-soled and pointed-toe boots or shoes is next to impossible. We laugh at the Chinese fashionable belle, whom the custom of her country obliges to have her feet encased in shoes so much too small as to induce a distortion which renders walking, even a short distance, perfect torture ; and yet the fashionable American shoe for ladies of the day is but little less an invention for deforming the feet, with its two-inch heel almost under the instep, and of shape so pointed as to cramp and distort the natural position of the io6 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. toe. English ladies, of the country nobility class, have their "walking shoes," as well as their " dress shoes," as they do their riding habits, each fitted for its special purpose. They never think for a moment of "doing a ten-mile morning constitutional" in high-heeled shoes. In fact, they could not do it; a mile walk, even, under such circumstances, would cripple them, while ten miles done in appropriate walking costume gives them " good digestion to wait on appetite," and imparts the roseate hue of health to their cheeks and a bright lustre to their eyes.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home