The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-08-29
A Judge Of Character.

A Judge of Character.
An attaehe of the Mercury Office who
Is young, ambitious, and perseveripg.
anu VINO daily improves his stock of
an1Wleuge by severe application to
stuuyi mas tue least possible self-eonceit,
an aIticle that does him no harm, and
"hlcu every young man ought to Dos
sess II he expects to make his wav i'm
this world. A person not fnIIv con
scious-of his powers can never exDact to
successfully buffet the storms Of life
Among other things, our young friend
has made human nature a study. and
from the book and volume of his brain
has evolved the proposition that be can
determine the character Of almost anv
man or woman, not only by phrenolog-
| fcaI processes, but by the PERSONS hand
writing. A test of this latter quality
was given the other day when he
dropped into the Office of the city super
/ intendent of schools. The latter had
| just finished collecting the bills for
teachers salaries for the preceding
month. Our character student saw his
opportunity, aud picking up one Of the
| bills, on the outside of which was affixed
/ the name in writing of the teacher, to-
gether with the amount of salary, stated
that he believed from scrutiniZing the
different names as written, he could
give an exposition of each PERSONS
character and qualifications for teach
ing. a bland smile played around the
mouth of the superintendent as be sig
nified his desire to have the trial made.
The package Of bills were placed before
our young philosopher, and taking up
the first one, he began:
This writing, which is irregular and
- 81 ~
this teacher is careless, / might say
slOvenly. She hurries things through,
doesn't give that attention to her call
ing that the law requires, and evidently
teaches not for love of the vocation, but
the money il brings.
This one" taking up another bill,
sis of a different type. Look at the bold
curves, the freedom and grace exhibited,
and you have a teacher who not only e
knows how to govern, but possesses
those faculties that must win success.
That man is capable of explaining a
problem in manner TO be perfectly
understood.
This handwriting shows intellectual
capacity, the ability to understand thor
Oughly what is taught, but from the
fact that the letters are far apart and
there is a nj jxture of several systems of
penmanship, you must understand that
this teacher is failure; she can never
win the confidence Of her pupils, she
will not trust any one, has few friends,
is cold, distant, and reserved, and, I
should judge, an old maid, to whom the
bloom and freshness Of youth has long
been unknown.
"This," taking a serawl of hero
/ g4yphics, ISIS peculiar case. That man
| has no business to teach anything but
D % Il -
enlist, ever looking beyond and above,
and caring little for the common Gus
/ toms and amenities of society; agenius
in the rough, and destined to achieve
honorable distinction. But don't let
him hide his light under bushel.
This belongs to a delicate, refined,
and sensitive creature, who is so dainty,
so affected, sO-sO-sugary, that she
ought TO be eaten and thus rescued from
the drudgery and mOnOtOny Of school
life. She is too weak a plant for her
present sphere, and how she got there is
more than l can tell.
"This one was born lazy, and ever
since has been cOnstitutiOnally tired. I
will venture to say that if you 60 into
her schOOl-rOOm you will find her yawn-
ing, and her pupils in . semi-sOmnOles-
cent state. Should you remain there
half an hour, the chances are eight to
seven that you will fall asleep yourself.
She knows but little, and is not capable
of imparting that knowledge to others.
/ It's wonder she can get up gumpsion
enough to draw her salary.
This one is teacher par excellence.
/ The writing exhibits grace, beauty, firm
ness, and intellectually; a capacity to
grasp an idea, retain it, and afterward
I impart il, brilliantly elaborated, to
others. She can govern a school; and
the pupils, I'll wager, love and respect
her"
"That will do" remarked the super
intendent, whose face, for some reason,
was as red as beet 81 guess you've
had a fair show"
"Well," remarked the other, chow
near did I come to the truth ?"
The superintendent could contain
himself no longer, but burst into an un-
cOntrollable fiji Of laughter.
az don't see anything to laugh at,n
said our young friend, Indignantly.
"NOu don't? Well, then, to show how
smart you are, will inform you that L
wrote all those names myself"
And then-but why harrow up the
character students feelings further?
He got even, though. After peace had
been restored, the superintendent said:
"NOw that you have made failure,
will show you what | can do. l claim
to possess that faculty myself"
The young man happened to have
check with him signed by a weil-known
citizen. The superintendent looked at
itthoughtfully, read it I'D. NJ. DoBrass," ,"
s and gave it as his opinion that the gen.
2 tIeman was an ordinary business man,
= of limited education, aud very ordinary
5 generally.
5 ssThat's your opinion, is it?" re-
- turned the young man. "Well, then,
. that is the signature of one Of the lead
D ing lawyers OF San Jose" mentioning
D the name.
D as that a fact" exclaimed the super
r intendent; and the laugh was on the
: other side.-SdTl Jose Mercury.
Quiet men are painfully regular and