Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-09-20
SHAKING HANDS.
Right and Wrong Ways OF Performing en- I'm
pertaat Social Function.

Right and Wrong WAYS of Performing Tn I'M
pertant Social Function.
From 1.-THE Glass of Fashion"
Let the reader remember that there is right
and wrong way of Misunderstanding. 1t is ho.-
rible when your unoffending digits are seized in
the sharp compress of kind of wise. and wrung
and squeezed until you feel as if they were re-
duced to jelly. 1t is not less horrible when you
lind them lying in a limp, nerveless clasp. which
makes no response to your hearty greeting. but
chiIls you like lump of ice. Shake hands as if
you meant it. swiftly. strenuously and cour-
teously. neither using an undue pressure nor
falling wholly supine. You may Judge of the
character of man from the way in which
he shakes hands; there is the shake lynn
snpercilious. the shake imperative, the shake
suspicious. the shake sympathetic and the
shake emotional. Charles Lamb describes also
the pump-handle shake, which is executed BY
taking friends hand and working it up, and
down. through an arc of fifty degrees for about
a mi mute and a half. To show its nature force
and character. this shake should be performed
with firm and steady motion. No attempt
should be made to give it grace and still less va
riety, as the few Instances in which the latter
has been tried have uniformly resulted in dislO-
eating the shoulders of the person on whom it
has been attempted. On the contrary persons
who are partial to the pump-handle shake should
be at some pains to give an agreeable tranquil
movement to the operation, which should on no
account be continued after perspratiOn on the
part of your friend has commenced" Then there
is the pendulum shake, which somewhat resem-
Dies the former; but, as its name implies, the
movement is on horizontal instead of per-
pendicular direction. ut is executed by sweep
ing your hand horizontally toward your
friends, and after the junction is effected
moving with it from one side to the other ac-
cordng to the pleasure of the parties" Nor must
the to'1miquet shake be forgotten, which derives
It's name from the instrument employed by sur
geOns to stop the circulation of the blood in a
limb about to be amputated. You grasp the
hand of your friend as far as you can in your
own, and then contract the muscles of your
thumb, fingers and palm till you have induced
any degree of compression you may propose in
the hand OF your friend. Particular care ought
TO be taken, If your hand be hard and big and
that of your friend small and soft as maiden's
not to make use of the tOu,niq,tet shake to such
degree that it will crush the small bones of
the wrist out Of their places. 1t is seldom safe
to apply it to equity or hot-tempered persons
You will see some persons thrust forth their
hand with sudden jerk, like that of steam
engine suddenly set in motion; and 10, they
have taken possession of your own and are do
ing with it as they will, before you have recov-
cred breath. Others put forward their fingers
with an apparent timidty or reluctance, and
compel you to pounce upon them and draw them
toward you in order to perform an effective
shake Others, again, extend their hand tim
idly. partly withdraw it and again extend it.
until you are uncertain whether or not the act
of handsfaking will be performed after all. AS
for the cOld-blOoded creatures who austerey
offer one or two fingers, l recommend you to
ignore them; look lOftily over them as if I'M
conscious of their existence and-their fingers.
But when lady (and more particularly fair
one) does you the honor to offer her hand, take
it with an air of grateful Difference which will
show how you appreciate the honor; do not
drop it instantly as if the touch scared you. nor
hold it SO long as to cause her feeling of I'M
eaSiDeSS