The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1884-09-11
SHAKING HANDS.
Some Of the Various Modes.

The pump-handle shake Is the first
that deserves notice. 1t is executed by
taking friends hand and working it
up and down through an arc of fifty
degrees for about u minute and half.
To have its nature, force. and charac-
ter this shake should be formed with a
fair and steady motion. No attempt
should be made to give it grace, and
still less. variety, as the few instances
in which the latter has been tried have
uniformly resulted in dislocating the
shoulder 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 equable. tranquil movement
to the operation, which should on no
account be continued after perspira-
tion on the part of your friend has
commenced.
The pendulum motion may be men,
toned next, us being somewhat similar
in character. but moving, rs the name
indicates. in a horizontal instead of n
perpendicular direction. 1t is execut-
ed by sweeping your hands horizontal
" towards your fIirndS, and after june
tion Is effected, rowing ii from one
side to the other according to the
pleasure of the parties. The only
caution in its use which needs partic-
ularly to be given is nos to insist on
performing it in place strictly paral-
lei to the horizon. You may observe a
person who had been educated to the
pump-handle shake, and another that
had brought home the pendulum from
a foreign voyage. They met, joined
hands. and attempted to put them in
motion. They were neither of them
feeble men. One endeavored to pump
and the other to puddle; their faces
reddened, the drops stood upon their
foreheads. and it was at last pleasant
illustration of the doctrine of the COM
position of forces to see their heads
slanting into an exact diagonal. in
which line they ever after shook; but
it was plain TO see there was no cordi-
ality in it. and, as is usually the case
with such compromises, both parties
were discontented.
The tourniquet shake is the next in
Importance. 1t derives its name from
the instrument made use of by surgeons
to stop the circulation of the blood in
the limbs aboIt 10 be amputated. 1t
is performed by clasping the hand of
your friend rs far rs you can in your
own. and then contracting the muscles
of your thumb. fingers, and palm until
you have induced any degree of COM
preston you may propose in the hand
of your friend. Particular care ought
to be taken. if your hand is as hard and
as big as a frying-pan, and that of your
friend as small and soft as q maiden's,
not to make use of the tourniquet
shake to a degree that will shake the
small bones of the wrist out of their
places. 1t is seldom safe 10 apply it to
gouty persons. A hearty young friend
of mine, who had pursued the study of
geology. had acquired an unusual
hardness and strength of hand and
wrist by the use of the hammer, on re-
turning from a scientific excursion,
gave his uncle (the gouty one) the
tourniquet shake with such severity rs
had well-nigh reduced the old gentle
mans fingers to powder, for which my
friend had the pleasure of being dis
inherited as soon as his unclo's fingers
got well enough to hold pen.
The cordial grapple is a shake of
some interest. 1t is hearty. bolster
Gus shake of your friends hand. ac-
companied by modern pressure and loud
acclamations of welcome. 1t is an ex-
cellent travelling shake. and we'll
adapted to make friends; it is indis-
criminately performed.
The Peter Grevious is opposed to the
cordial grapple. 1t is q pensive. tran
quill junction. followed by n mild sub
sultory motion. cast-down look, and
an inarticulate inquiry after your
friends health.
The prude major and prude minor
are nearly monopol.zed by ladies.
They cannot be- accurately described,
but are constantly to be noticed in
nrac'ire. They never extend beyond
the fingers; and the prudo major al
lows you to touch them only down to
the second joint. The prude minor al
lows you the whole of the finger. Con-
siderable skill may be shown in per-
forming them with nice variations,
such Us extending the left hand instead
of the right. or stretching n new glossy
kid glove over the finger you extend.
l might go through long list of the
grip royal. the sawmill shake, and the
shake with malice prepense, but they
are only Fictitious combinations of the
three fundamental forms already des-
cribed. as the pump-handle, the pendu-
lum, and the tourniquet. l should
trouble you with Il few remarks in con-
on the mode of shaking hands
as an indication of character. but as l
see friend coming up the avenue who
is addicted to the pump-handle / dare
not tire my wrist by further writing.