The first question of importance both to walkers and runners is how they shall be shod, and too much attention cannot be paid to this matter. We will begin with the needs of a walker.

It is not our intention to advertise any particular firm of shoemakers as unequaled in the manufacture of walking-shoes; for the fact is that the very best of the crack firms will turn out botch jobs if you do not watch them sharply.

There are four points to be attended to in the selection of walking-shoes:—First, the sole of the shoe must be under the whole of the foot; second, the uppers must be soft and flexible; third, the fit must be snug around the ankle and heel, but easy at the toes; fourth, the heels must be low and broad.

To secure the first of these points there is only one certain way, which is to stand in stocking feet on a piece of paper, and have the outline of your sole traced on the paper, the actual sole of the shoe being cut to this pattern, and never coming inside of the line.

The second and third points depend on your own vigilance and determination not to let the maker put off a stiff, ill-fitting pair of shoes on you. As for the last point, low broad heels, no heels at all would be better. Very low heels of India rubber would, however, diminish the jar of fast walking, and are worth more trial than they have yet had.

The only reason for having a heel on a walking-shoe is to enable it to resist the unequal wear that comes on that spot, and not to elevate the heel of the natural foot.

With regard to the first point, that of the sole being under the whole of the foot, this cannot be too much insisted on, for shoemakers will make them narrower, with the idea of giving an appearance of smallness to the feet. Your only remedy is to refuse to take all shoes where the maker does not follow exactly the paper pattern of sole.

The softness and flexibility of the uppers are more easily secured, as also the fit round the ankle, where walking-shoes should be laced. Buttoned boots or "Congress gaiters" with elastic sides are not fit to walk in, as neither can be accommodated to the size of a foot that is swelling during a severe match. Laces can be relaxed or tightened; buttons are inflexible; while elastic webbing always keeps the same pressure.

A professional walker, or one who is ambitious of excelling on the track will need six pairs of shoes in a long race, beginning with those that fit close and changing to those that are old, worn, and easy to the foot, as it becomes sore and inflamed. The man who rests his hopes of fame on mile-walks, needs a different foot-gear, analogous to that of the sprint runner, whom he resembles. Strong shoes are thrown away on him. He needs the very lightest kind of slipper that can be made, consistent with enough leather to preserve the foot from bruises, and the running slippers that are sold in all sporting warehouses are just the thing for this kind of work. Those that are furnished with spikes are well enough for running on turf, but to be avoided on hard tracks.

Next after the shoes, and equally great in importance, come the socks. There is only one point necessary to be observed about these: they should be of soft woolen and as thick as possible. Hand-knit are preferable to woven socks, but the thickness and softness are the great points, as these secure the absorption of the perspiration. Cotton socks would be sure to work into hard wrinkles in a match-walk and cause severe blisters, though it must be owned that these will sometimes occur in spite of all imaginable precautions.

About the rest of a pedestrian's dress there is but little to say; as it depends almost entirely on individual fancy. There is no doubt that the best dress for active work of all kinds is a suit of common white cotton tights, which cost less than two dollars, while trunk-breeches can be made at home at an almost nominal cost.

But whether the walker rejoice in silk tights and velvet trunks, or remain satisfied with the homely flannel drawers and cardigan jackets of Rowell, is a matter of indifference to his speed. The only things he cannot wear if he hopes to do good walking, are ulster overcoats and trowsers. In a word, his dress may be anything he likes, so long as it leaves his joints free; and this is why knee-breeches have never given way to trowsers on a walking-track.

Trowsers are in fact the worst dress possible for all active exercise. They cramp the knee and prevent its free action in a manner which, while it does not interfere materially with walking at ordinary rates of speed, affects a runner seriously by the time he has passed over a few yards at top speed.