Los Cerrillos rustler. (Cerrillos, N.M.) 188?-1891, 1890-09-12

-
re --latest Esoiutiaa ~ . Nery Aneasas
Custem.
We arr mere given 10 shaking hands
than other nztlonS Where The French
man or Gernan would content himself
with a comprehensive bow that Includes
= whole company % people in one court
ous sweep the Englishman. especially
II be Is country bred will patiently and
perseveringly shake hands with every
one present Perhaps IL IL owing % a
feeling that an unnecessary use 81 the
practice Is provincial that ~ may trace
a visible decline in Il Al the ~prcsentday.
Bot IL Is difficult 10 say 10 what cause
Is attributable the presentextraordinary
form which Il takes among certain peo-
pie when they do practice it-a form
which Is especially prevalent among
those people whose ambition 10 Is 20 be
known as smart" When two members
Of this class or OF the far more numer-
u class that initiates them. meet each
other, hey go through a ceremony
which certainly bears a faint resem-
blance 20 that Of shaking hands but IL
In all real essentials absolutely differ
emit The lady lifts her elbow as high
as a tight sleeve will permit her, and
bangles a little hand before her face,
carefully keeping the wrist as stiff and
high As possible, while she allows the
fingers % droop down. The man con-
trives 10 lift his elbow a little higher.
and. by a dexterous turn Of the wrist,
touches her hngcrs-that Is all. The
reason assigned for this is curious.
IL is said that ladies who are hidden
to court, and whose privilege Il is to ex-
change greetings with royal personages
find IL difficult 20 combine a courtesy
with a shake OF a gracious hand with
out raising their own hands to the level
Of their faces. Hence their too frequent
communications with illustrious peo'
Pile have corrupted their good
manners; they acquire a habit
and are so forgetful as TO introduce II
into their ordinary life and their rela.
, tions with more ordinary people. But
they forget the courtesy, while they for
get to remember 10 lower their hands
Another reason that has been suggested
, for this greeting, as 1t Is practiced by
the best society, is that they have Dor
|. rowed 1t from the coachman. With biz
reins in one hand and his whip in tn,
other, the only approach TO a salutatior
that a cOachman can make Is by a sharp
upward movement of tho elbow an,
/ whip hand. Indeed, this explanation 1
: very plausible, for there Is a kind o
4. natural affinity between the manners o
, the stable and those Of the very smar
people.
How ancient a custom is tho shaking
r OF hands no one can say. The givinI
and clasping Of right hands had II
4 origin most probably in a wish TO sho'
that the right hand was unarmed, an
y that no danger need be apprehende
/ from its owner. There is evidence t
show that the clasping Of hands was a
ancient Hindoo usuage In legal tran,
h actions, as IL was also among tn
L Romans in such matters as a marriag
. contract. As a mode of salutation
/. certainly existed among the latter; "a
>" we have Hurace's description Of a bore
"A Arreptuquo manu-, could agis. dulclsslm
rcrumF'
The modern idea of the science {
p~olitenoss is n science that will say
" time. No one would wish to bring bac
a. the stately o~beisances, the sweepin
10 courtesies, and the hollow compliment
10 of last century. But at least they wei
p, a pretty comedy while they laste'
a. whereas this last fashion OF hand-sha
70 ing is a g%rotesque farce. London spe
Z, tator.