The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1888-05-10
ABOUT HANp.sHAKlNo.

The Pump.Haudto Process IN Unnsces.
sary and Disagreeable One. t
II any one who 10 ut all curious IL
the matter Of statistics will be good
enough to try and calculate the mum
her Of people who meet each other
every day in London alone. to say
nothing Of the provinces or In fact
of any other place either in or out Of
England. and of whom quite two
thirds we think we may positively as
sert, shake hands, when they do SC
meet, the numbers would probably ap-
pear absolutely incredible. and yet
more extraordinary still 1t would seam
that out Of these many millions Of
hand-shakers no two are absolutely
similar. Why do we shake handse No
'one appears to know It does not
mean much, II any thing. Who has
not suffered from the strong and hearty
grasp Of let us fondly hope. ardent
friendship when our perhaps wringcd
hand is wrung with, the fervor Of
enthusiastic gushingness or affection
by some juvial Hercules in
dogskins. who forgets he some
times goes near to smashing the frag-
lie and confiding fingers rashly for
the moment placed at his mercy. Why
are we thus compelled to suffer from
our friendsp Who has not suffered
from the man who, when You meet
him, holds your hand as II it were a
pump-handle for ten minutes and will
not lot gop Who has not suffered
from that other who will not hold. on
:at all, but allows you TO do the shak-
ing process for himp Who does not
know: the naan who simply seises your
hand to throw It violently away from
him in apparent furyP Who does not
fear the sort Of spssmodic hand-shaker
who pushes you backward and for
ward to him and away from him. a. Il
he were saving you perpendicularly
through Who does not try to shun
tho man who works your arm around
as II you were q barrel organP Who
:is unacquainted with the man with the
clammy hand who. as rule, will no,
wear glovesr Why must we shake
hands with himp
Yet we all do 1t; we dislike II; we
dislike It very much. even; he sees we
dislike it that it IL positively distaste-
fnl to rs; yot, meet him tomorrow.
and out comes his hand once more "a
ongulf your own. and make you wish
you had gone wherever you were going
by another route. To sit down calmly
to write Of 'shaking hands' is 60
enormous an undertaking that one
would require almost threo volumes
wherein to express all thereis TO be
SAID on this subject. When one thinks
that not only every country In the
world, but nearly every county In that
country has some special and dis
tinguished method Of salutaiion on
meeting friends and acquaintan ces. II
seems absurd even to attempt It. We
are credibly informed that handshak.
Ing. which is supposed to be = prool
Of friendly feeling. first came iute
fashion In the time OF Henry. IL
Up 10 that time our ancestors were
more atfsctionate In their greeting
than we. their coldsr.n atured descend
ants. embracing and kissing eacl
other much In The same fashion ~ 0ul
neighbors on the other side Of ths
Channel and In Italy are accustomed
to do at the present moment tn.
historian who Is pleased to date the
commencement of hand-shaking II
place Of osculation and embracing
about Henry u.'s time 10. perhaps IN