528 
FOREST AND STREAM 
of a sudden, your whole body begins to feel 
“lighter” and refreshed: your pace is quickened 
unconsciously, and you would almost fain run. 
But, don’t (unless you want “experience”) : for 
the sudden exertion—throwing the weight of 
the body on the toes, which act as a fulkrum— 
causes the skin-tegument under the toes, where 
they join the foot, to tear asunder; and nature’s 
slow process of repairing the injury is indeed 
slow, with the dust and dirt getting into the 
sundered parts. Result: you have to put your 
tootsies back into “hospital”-—i.e., shoes—until 
the injury is repaired. Even experienced walk¬ 
ers with hardened feet—as the palankin bare¬ 
foot coolies of Indian cities—from time to time 
have the skin fracturing under the toes, disease- 
germs entering, and the uncurable pathological 
state known as elefantiasis (“elefant’s leg”) set¬ 
ting in. I only saw it in Hindustan. 
Inured sailors even, walking barefoot for 
months on smooth decks, are liable to this “part¬ 
ing of the ways.” They dub it the “sea kut.” 
HOW TO GRADUALLY HARDEN THE 
FEET TO BAREFOOT WALKING. 
This is extremely simple wherever you live 
—so simple that, “why, any fool could think of 
that.” To begin: discard sox and only wear 
(for sake of “appearances”) ankle-mittens- 
Never wear low-cut shoes, as they afford no 
support to the ankle. The ankle-mits or mittens 
need only be about io centimeters (4-in.) long, 
to just reach to the ankle-joint. You can make 
them yourself, by just cutting off the good up¬ 
pers from discarded holey sox—(the having- 
around of a collection of which is anything but 
a “holy host!”). 
Now, do all the walking you can for a few 
months soxless in your shoes, whether in city 
or country, and you will gradually find the skin 
growing thickened and hardened to the wear. 
It may take some four months to thus indurate 
the cuticle. You can then “take” to a sandy 
hardened road with confidence, only do it gradu- 
ally—a mile the first day, two the second, and 
so on. To attempt five miles at the start, would 
mean undue abrasion, the inevitable “sea kut” be¬ 
fore instanced; a return to “hospital”—i.e., shoes 
—and premature disgust. I have often walked a 
score miles barefooted right off on lonely coun¬ 
try roads in various countries; and calculate that 
in very many years of pedestrianism about the 
universe, the total of bootless or shoeless mileage 
accomplished is away beyond a couple of 
thousand miles. 
And, further, I always continue—thru sheer 
liking for the sense of ease—to wear only ankle- 
mittens, all the year round, for the past score 
years, during the last fifteen years of which, 
however, the barefoot “pedestrianism” has been 
chiefly confined to the house and stairs and 
walking with ease o’er a large crushed-clinker- 
covered flat city roof. It can be imagined that 
anybody whose .pedals can “negotiate” without 
concern a sort of cinder path, has indeed tufened 
understandings! 
That is another point I would urge be followed 
by one wishing to harden the feet to 'barefoot 
road-walking: always do all the barefoot walk¬ 
ing you can about your own home and (if having 
such) garden-paths. Never mind “what others 
think!” Those who are afraid of “what others 
think,” never amount to anything! 
To forestall inquiry as to where the rope-sole 
alpagatas can be obtained at retail, your own 
shoe-dealers might tell you, or get them for 
you, as they can easily find out thru the many 
shoe journals published, the runners of which 
keep track of most shoe brands. Or they may 
be obtained thru Spanish and French import- 
eries in our chief cities: for the alpagata is also 
largely made in Gallia, where it called espadril; 
but the sole lacks the wear-resisting firmness of 
the trans-pirenean article. 
Like a modern steam-vessel, the alpagata sole 
is always “on an even keel.” There is no un¬ 
natural high-posed heel, or turn-up toe-end. Nor 
is the shoe lined: no walking-shoe should ever 
be lined, as the lining becomes soon a saturated 
stench-reeking foci of stale perspiration rotten¬ 
ness that is almost incredicable. About the only 
“cure” for that foulness is to take the shoes 
down cellar, and chuck them into the furnace- 
The proper walking-shoe should be always per¬ 
fectly flat, like an Indian-made mokasin. The 
turn-up toe is a pesty abomination: the toe-end 
of a shoe should lie perfectly flat to the ground, 
—just as our own toes lie flat. If the shoe has 
an air-sniffing or turning-up front, the upper— 
if the shoe becomes 'sodden in wet weather— 
will press down on the upper part of the toe, 
near the nail, in the bending of the shoe, and 
lacerate the tender skin to the bleeding-point. 
What pedestrian has not experienced that 
misery? It is all due to the turn-up-toe un¬ 
sightly idiocy. 
Nowadays, in Iberian cities, the rope-sole al¬ 
pagatas are made so as to be perfectly adaptable 
Mr. President, and gentlemen commissioners: 
It is a great pleasure for me to come here, 
but I congratulate you on the fact that my time 
is so short that it will be impossible for me to 
bore you for more than two or three minutes. 
We have now pending in the Senate a very 
important bill, and if the Sergeant at Arms ap¬ 
pears at the door you will know that my de¬ 
parture is for the purpose of voting on that 
bill, and not because I have committed any se¬ 
rious offense. Moreover, I have very little to 
say about the migratory bird law. I have made 
a good many memorial day addresses in my life, 
and I have always been careful to give the 
credit where it belongs, to the private soldier 
who does the fighting and suffers the depriva¬ 
tion, and gets very little of the glory; and I 
want to say to you gentlemen that had it not 
been for the assistance which I received from 
the game and fish commissioners in the several 
States of the Union I am afraid that we might 
have been very much longer in securing suc¬ 
cessful legislation. It was due to your loyal 
and efficient support, together with that of the 
ornithological societies and the assistance which 
we had from the ornithologists in the country 
and especially our good Dr. Palmer here, that 
we were enabled at last to secure public senti¬ 
ment sufficiently strong to bring enough pres¬ 
sure to bear upon Congress to secure favorable 
action upon that law. You know the situation 
as it is at present in regard to the enforcement 
of the law, probably better than I do. I regret 
to say that in one State an adverse decision has 
to both town and country wear. The illustration 
shows also the city-wear style of alpagata. These 
have the krom-tanned greyish-greenish elk up¬ 
pers ; but russets and blacks and grass-green 
and kro-indian-white leather-uppers are also 
available; also similar-color canvas-uppers. The 
open all-lacing upper of the peasant classes of 
Espana are only obtainable in the bigger penin¬ 
sular cities like Sevilla, Koruna, Zaragoza, Bada- 
joz, Kordoba, etc. The writer is at present wear¬ 
ing about Manhattan town exclusively the city- 
wear alpagatas, and they are as passable as any 
other of the big shoe tribe—plus a measure of 
comfort of which the all-leather-shod victim 
knoweth not. 
Our own city-wear mokasins, called shupaks, 
are away superior to the ordinary “fashionable” 
$3% to $5 cotton-lined abortions. They are ob- 
obtainable—for the trouble of looking around or 
inquiring for them—in most all cities of the 
Union. 
Beware of some of the so-styled “common 
sense” shoes! They are “dressy” enuf for draw¬ 
ing-room appearances, but when it comes to a 
score-mile walking stunt-! The rottenest 
pair of shoes I ever bought were precisely of 
that “common sense” order. About ten days 
after purchase, I dropped into the sales office and 
called the chief’s attention to the advertised 
“guarantee” and the “automatically ventilating” 
—i.e., splitting—state of the uppers. Said he: 
“That guarantee is a guarantee for the shoe’s 
stylishness—and not for walking purposes!” 
been reached, but that has been offset by a fa¬ 
vorable decision in another State, and I am 
very glad to say that the law has the full sym¬ 
pathy of the Department of Justice and the 
Department of Agriculture, and that everything 
will be done to enforce it, notwithstanding the 
fact that we didn’t get the appropriation that 
we should have had. But I want to say to 
you that should the Supreme Court fall so far 
from grace and justice as to declare the law 
unconstitutional, I still think that we shall be 
able very soon to secure the ratification of the 
treaty with Great Britain, and then Congress will 
undoubtedly have a right to enforce the regu¬ 
lations of that treaty, but I am very hopeful 
of the case in court. Many good lawyers be¬ 
lieve the act is constitutional. But if we fail 
in the law and fail in the treaty, I want to say 
to you that I believe a constitutional amend¬ 
ment is bound to come, and that speedily, giv¬ 
ing Congress full power to act. I am encour¬ 
aged in that belief by the constantly increasing 
interest of the best people, and it does me a 
great deal of good to hear the gentleman who 
just finished, coming as he does from the State 
of Louisiana. He is put up right, to mean 
the useful birds, I have no concern that we 
are in any danger of retrogression in this mat¬ 
ter. It is especially important to the South. I 
have not time to go into details in discussing 
the wisdom of protecting the useful birds. I 
have delivered several times rather long ad¬ 
dresses upon that subject, but I want to in¬ 
sist that it is especially important to the South- 
(Continued on page 547.) 
Address of Senator George P. McLean 
Meeting of National Association of Game Commissioners, Washington, 
D. C., Oct. 2, 1914 
