Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-04
PUBLIC HANDSPRING.
Experiences of the Elder Harrison and
Lincoln-Garfield's Secret.

/ The New York Grophic publishes the follow
ing letter on public Misunderstanding from William
! G. Howells, brother of the well-known nov elist
and formerly editor of the Ashtabula Sentinel:
In your issue of March IS you speak of the
over-work imposed upon public men in hand
shaking, and the real suffering they endure at
| times i'll this way of meeting their fellow citi-
| zens. 1t is well said, but the remedy You sug-
gest Of substituting the "courtly bow" is not
| quite the thing. The hearty hand-shake is a
| demand of the whole Anglo-Saxon heart. and
there is no substitute for it. But there is
something in knowing how to shake hands that
public men should understand and ought to
learn, which fortunately they can study and
practice without any display Of artificial effort.
In 1910 met the elder Gen. Harrison on his
return from the tour he made to the northwest
OF Ohio. and the meetings at Greenvlle and
Fort Defiance, when he was actually crippled
beyond the power to use his right arm. from
this very ceremony that he could not avoid.
and from which he suffered for days. l only
wonder that his grandson has escaped as well
as he appears to have done.
In 1861, as President Lincoln on his way
to Washington, he met the people in the
rotunda OF the state-house in Columbus. He
stood at the foot of the stairway to the senate
chamber, where the enthusiastic citizens filed
past him through the passage-way and were
presented to him. I stood above where he was
ana watched the proceeding. At first he gaily
gave his hand, which was shaken most cordially
by those who took it. After few hundreds
had passed he began to flag. and presently
stepped backward upon the first step. which,
as 1t gave him the advantage, favored him; but
that tired him, and with panied look he took
another step, and soon another. and then
bowed to each group that passed. till nearly
the population of the city had gone by.
In 1880, in October. WAS at the home of the
later martyr, Garfield. when large deputation
came down from Cleveland, many hundred
strong. When they left he stood at his door
After they were gone, as we talked over the
event. l said: General, are you not worn out
with these meetings, and your arm nearly pulled
off by these hearty fellows, who put all their pa
triotism in a hand-shake?' He reached over. say
ing: Give me your hand" when he grasped my
fingers full in his hand SO as to hold them at his
own Will. Now" said he, Il have studied this
thing or / couldn't stand it. I always take the
Initiative and the advantage it gives me. 1 can
hold mans hand and shake il cordially and
agreeably to him and me in this way. In crowds
always take the hand as soon offered aud
grasp It as firmly as please and let go N.Y.
sell, and thus save mine from being crushed III
the repeated squeezing of fresh hands,"
This is the secret of public hand-shakiug In
this way 1t can be practiced if it is understood
by the man who has to meet the public, as our
candidates and popular men have to do, in
their meetings of the people fellow citizens.
They have not the advantage Of prescribed
form of salutatiOn, with the military. and
they must shake hands. and it is best to study
how TO do ii. This Garfield had done, and L
would commend his plan to others