The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-27
ON SHAKING H4SDS.

necnle thinking whether 1t is not possible to
invent Some inade Of salutatlon more conFe-
MEN. than that of shaking hands. When the
thermometer is at 90 in the shade, and when
the oniy hope of escaping sllnstroke seems
to be to drink so much tea and to wear 30 little
clothes as shall best promote persplration,
then the tyranny of the social law which COM
pels us TO grasp the hand Of casual and very
hot acquaintance, and to give 1t the establish
ed vibration, is fully felt, and becomes almost
insupportable. But the inconvenience OF the
practice OF shaking hands Is not connnea TO
the season of hot weather only. There Is pro-
badly no mode of salutation commonly prac-
ticed by any civilized nation which IS so en-
compassed with difficulties and embarrass-
ments. The difficulty Of making correct bow
IS, no doubt, considerable. There Is the dith-
Guilty of knowing how to bow; how to draw the
artistichue between theunceremonious nodand
the obeisance; and-for people who aim at
doing things in good form-the difficulty OF
apportioning their due angle OF re;'erence to
the different sexes, and to the different social
positions, ages and degrees OF intimacy or
persons in each sex. And there Is also the
difficulty OF knowing when to bow, SO well
described by Steele In the Spectator. But all
the difficulties that cluster round the bow are
as nothing compared to those that encompass
the shaking Of hands. The difficulties of
knowing how TO bow are, after all, only the
difficulties which reset the attempt to do any
thing wet; and difficulties OF the same kind,
not Inferior in degree, will be found to beset
the practice Of shaking hands. AS for the
difficulties Of knowing when to bow, u Is
obvious that they must be at least doubled in
the case of hand-shakiDg. for this simple rea-
..Ron, that that mode OF salutation requires the
cc;Snsent and cooperation Of two persons to
execute 1t. Misunderstanding as mode Of salu-
tation has the fundamental and fatal vice that
IL necessjtates personal contact, hence 1t is
subject to objections the saaETue In kind, though
certainly not the same in degree, as the nose
Tr,,.uu,ug Of The Polynesians, and similar modes
Df greeting employed by savages:
# any person should be inclined 10 douot
whether hand-shaking is difficult operation,
let him consider the different modes in which
the custom Is observed among his various
friends and acquaintances. There are mega
tive modes and there are positive modes OF
shaking hands. There are, first OF all, the
people who seem to fear that If they once give
you their, hands they may never get them
back again, aud who mauguVre SO tnat you
may not possess yourself of more than the tips
of their. fingers This mode Of hand-shaking
may be called tipping, and those who use 1t,
tippers. Closely allied TO them is another sort
Of half hakers-those, namely, who DO
not clasp your hand, but finger It with TWO
digits. This mode OF shaking hands Is some
times adopted by men OF political ana literary M
offence; and the most serious conse-
quences have been known 10 ensue from
It's having been practiced BY young author
upon critic whom he had mistaken Tor
rival writer. These persons, who, falling TO
give the whole hand, nevertheless do not toucn
your hand with the tips OF the fingers only, but
dnger It with the whole Of one or more nn-
gers, may be called fngerers. Then there are
those. who give the whole hand, but give 1t IN
A limp. fabby manner, as New Fonndlano
dog gives Its paw. These people seem TO think
they have discharged the whole duty OF nana-
shaking when they have put their neighoors
IN possession of their hands. We're 1t the Gus
tom,to, make our adieu to dear departed BY
shaking hands with: his corpse, the sensation
Toulo no doubt be very like what we expert
ence WIN, we salute these flab5y shakers;
who. as they use their hands much In the same
way the mock turtle uses his flaps, may be
called fappers. These negative modes OF
shaking hands are disagreeaole enough.
But the positive modes are still more
unpleasant. Among these, the least dis
tressing is probably the thrusting mode.
There are some people who, when you
offer them your hand, take 1t; but take IL
: -only to put it from them, as If 1t were some
thing common and unclean. They seize 1t
with quick decision, as brave children seize q
thrust forward In uerce, they return 1t to
your side; and having got 1t there, they drop
or shoot it into space. These thrusters are a
numerous class, and, oddly enough, their mode
does not seem to give so much offence as that
of the tippers and fngerers. More physi.
cally painful, though ethically less Injurious,
is the mode of those who squeeze. This
mode is chiefly practiced by Methodists. by
fervid preachers Of evangelical persuasions;
and BY other persons Of power and
piety. Torments are sometimes suffered
by small boned or rheumatic men, and
nv fragile women, who have fallen into
the hands of one OF these feryid giants, and
who happen to have rings on their fingers
when the cruel clutch is effected. But worse
even than this class OF squeezers is that of the
clingers-the people who having once got
hold OF your hand, refuse to let 1t go, but use
1t as they would a button-hole, or as the an
Client mariner used his glittering eye, to COM
Del you to hear all they have to say; giving II
at intervals little prcssures, motions or vlbra-
tions. "a i running accompaniment to their
twaddle. OF all the kinds OF shakers above
described, these clingers are undoubtedly the
mos: pestlential; and when, as Is occasionally
the case, they combine squeezing and cling
ing, they ore simply unendurable, and ought
to be treated as creatures tnat outrage society
take. in q greater or less degree, of one or
more OF these faults in hand-shaking. II any
reader has hitherto been accustomed 10 think
that hand shaking Is q less difficult form of
ealutation to execute well than bow, let him
consider carefully, in one Of his moments OF
deepest consciousness. his own mode Of shak-
ing hands, and, when he has done this, let him
consult candid friend on the subject. Il is
lust possible that the result OF such colsulta-
lion and self-eXamination may be favorable
He NAV still be able to believe that he has
mastered the accomplishment Of shaking
hands, and that his shake is free from all the
defects above named-that he neither tips,
fingers, flaps, thrusts, squeezes nor clings
when saluting his acquaintance. But at any
rate he will not continue to. underrate the
difficulty OF the accomplishment, and will
probably be prepared to admit that be who
can shake hands well should be able to bow
better. In truth, the conclusion that hand
shaking is more difficult mode Of salutation
than bOwing Is established by two distinct, but
equally convincing, lines Of argument-by the
argument from the reason Of the thing, be-
cause, as we have said, 1t necesSitates per-
sonal contact, and requires the cooperation Of
two persons to eXecuteit; and by the arSll-
ment from facts, because 1t is found that fewer
,oeople do It successfully. Even, however, il
we suppose that the difficulties OF bown1 cr VI
shaking hands are about equal there ren! .in,
one more conclusive argument against tho
shaking of hands. It is this. Granted thus,
if bowing took the place now occupied 6y
shaking. the number OF bad bows would be
about equal to the existing number OF BAD
shakes, Yet the amount OF social discomfort
would be materially reduced. For there Is
this important difference between the bad bow