Dear Sir, - I was much amused at "One High Heel's" objection of the word "monopede." As a matter of fact it does occur in the New English Dictionary, where it is given as an alternative to monoped (in French, of course, it would be the feminine form), where also "monopede" is listed with the same sense. The latter would be the better as being wholly Greek instead of half Latin and half Greek, as monoped is; but this form goes better with English usage, on the analogy of biped, quadruped, etc.
As for the objection that monopede means "one-footed" and not "one-legged," I'm afraid that's only a quibble. Perhaps the young lady would like to be styled a "monoskelide," from a perfectly good Greek adjective meaning "standing on one leg"!
But enough of verbal gymnastics! One thing I do feel about such a letter as Miss "One High Heel's" - why didn't she enclose a photograph? Seeing, you know, is believing; and when a charming young lady with one leg drops tantalising hints as to her attractiveness to the eye, then surely she might be kind enough to go the length of giving us a visual glimpse!
I greatly appreciated the note from "A. H." and the additional photograph in your issue for May 13. It would be most gratifying if he (or, better still, the bride herself!) would send us a full account of the wedding, with a photograph or sketch of the actual costume chosen, the clearer in detail the better. I'll own I feel very curious.
Again, I should like to see a photograph (so, no doubt, would many other readers!) of the plump young lady who wrote to you in an April number under the signature of "One Leg and a Crutch"! I wonder if she could possibly be so generous as to oblige!
Incidentally, I should strongly recommend her to consider her decision to go through life on a single crutch. If she persists in so doing, even if she escapes a disastrous accident, she will probably find, before many years are passed, either that her remaining leg will "let her down" badly - I've known an over-enterprising heavyweight monopede laid up for six months with a heavily strained thigh muscle through too much hopping about indoors on one crutch - or that she will develop spine trouble that will turn her into a real cripple, perhaps for "keeps"!
The enclosed sketches and their captions (if publishable!) will make my meaning the clearer.
Yours truly,
C. D. B.