The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-10-15
hAND SHAKE
Past Methods With Remarks Upon the
Present and Future.
IRON the St. james Gazette,

Present and Future.
from the st. James Gazette.
What is to be the next la mode shake of
the hand!
The question was suggested at the present
moment by very inadequate cause, being
nothing more than the tumbling off musty
bookshelf Of q woebegone little volume,
which proved to be a copy of the Pocket
Magazine for 1921, and the opening OF its
faded, stained, and dust-begrimed little
pages at an article by some whimsical con-
TT butor on the subject of hand shaking, a
catalogue OK the various modes in vogue at
the period. AS some of these fashions have
survived through every chance and change
up TO the present date, few specimens may
here be gwen, to enable those who may re-
cognize the different species to classify
them by knowledge
For Instance, here is the "pump-handle"
shake. To this is yielded the place of honor.
1T is executed, writes G. of seventy Years
ago, by seizing your friends hand and
Worklngl 1t up and down through an arc of
fifty degrees for about a minu.e and half.
10 nave its nature, force and character, the
shake should be performed with fair,
steady motion. No attempt should be made
to give it grace. still less vivacity. On the
contrary, persons who are partial to the
'pumD-handle' shake should be at pains to
give an equable, tranquil movement to the
operation, which should on no account be
continued after perspiration on the part Of
your friend has commenced.
The pendulum shake" proceeds our
chronicler. lis executed by sweeping your
hand horizontally toward your friends,
md, after junction is effected, rowing with
it from one side to tae other, according to
the pleasure CT the parties" Here an amend
ment must be made. 1t is not always "ac-
cording to the Measure OF the parties" but
according to the pleasure of one, who cares
nothing about the pleasure OF the other,
that the pendulum" snake is prolonged.
Jolly old Admiral Sou wester, for example,
rows" with my hand from one side to the
other" whenever | meet him, aud takes my
feelings no more into account than Neighbor
Goodfellow does. He rows" away like
anything, all by himself; while my limp
reluctant digits perforce ROW" also in his
mighty grasp, but as for any cooperation
on my part, he takes no more heed of my
mournful inactive countenance than Good
fellow does Of the beads upon my brow.
Evide4tly the pendulum" shake has also
survived two-thirds of a century.
Neither has the next in Importance,
'tourniquet,n died out in the land. THE
'tourniquet,' we are informed, "derives
its name from the instrument made use of
by surgeons to stop the circulation Of the
blood in limb about to be amputated. Il
is performed by clasping the hand of your
friend in your own as far up as you can,
and then contracting the muscles of the
thumb, finger and palm till you have in~
duced any degree of compression you may
propose. Particular care ought to be
taken, if your hand is as hard aud as dry
as frying pan, and that of your friend as
small and soft as young maidens, not to
make use Of the 'tourniquet' shake to the
degree that will force the small
bones of his wrist out of
place. But, good heavens! there
be folks who will never hear of this latter
most excellent precaution, and who-let me
be Ineligible For years l have suffered
beneath the hearty greeting of that mus
cular Christian, Parson Ploughboy. The
parson is large in mind and body. He has
the hand OF a mature octopus. When be
throws it around mine feel the finger tips
tickling my arm far. far above the wrist
preparatory to the contractionn which
am only too we'll aware is about to follow
Rightly is that vise-like grip of his denomi-
mated the "tourniquet;" he might hire
himself out to surgeons, in lieu of the in
strument itself; he could stop circulation
for any length Of time required, and
the only point on which he might
require admonition would be respect
ing that irrepressible tendency toward
forcing the small bones out Of place."
limited at by our authority in the Pocket
Magazine. The same pen has terrible
tale so tell in connection with this danger
Gus hand shake. "a hearty young friend I"
he says, addicted to the study of geology,
had acquired by the use of the hammer an
unusual hardness and strength of hand and
wrist. One day, on returning from scien-
tlfic excursion he met equity aud wealthy
uucle with 'tourhiquet' shake Of so severe
a nature thatn-mark what follows, ye
reckless and har1-handed youths of the
present generation-''he had the pleasure
of being disinherited as soon as his uncle's
fingers wero sufficiently recovered to hold
the penw
The cordial grapple" comes next under
notice as hand shake of considerable pop
ularity under the last reign. ut is ac-
companied," says our author, 'by cheerful
EXPLANATIONS OF welcome; it is a good
travelling shake; it may be unfortunately
performed. Ay. ay; we all know that
shake; ne see it extended to the playmate
of childhood, the school fellow of ripec
years, the most recent acquaintance, the
fellow passenger of half day, with the
same engaging impartiality. 1t Is accom-
panied by cheerful words of welcome" is
itg We can hear in our minds the How
are you? How are youn which performs
that part of the duet nowadays We know
how much it is worth-ditto the hand
shake. Each is simply the result OF physical
we'll being and general 6onhOBlie. having
no significance for the individual nor any
value for him as their recipient Brown
cordial grapDesn Jones; Jones cordial
grapples" Robinson; ali three cordial
grapple" anybody and everybody as long as
things look tho right way in the city and
the inner man is at ease with its surround
ings.
On the other hand, the peter Grievous"
touch indicates the precise opposite of such
Overlooking geniality. 1t Is, we are as
sure1, "pensiVe, dsprecatory, accompanied
by cast>doWn look and an almost inartic-
ulate inquiry after your friends health"
And here, for the first time, we are out of
touch with the fashions OF 1921. 1t IS no
loncer the mode to be 'pensive. depreca-
tory ~ while IL a mere form of words should
shape themselves into query regarding
anothers welfare, the last thing to be ex-
pected would be response. Hence tender
inarticulsln would be altogether thrown
away we have, howe er, our own edi-
lions of the Peter Grievous" touch. We
have the hand like a dead fish, and the ha I'D
that adheres like a burr-the latter without
anv apparent volition on the part OF the
owner We have the red, raw-looklng
hand. whose horrible healthiness CONVEYS
tacit reproach; we have the clammy claw.
and the bony knuckles. These are the
neyver variations of the Peter Grleyous
touch.
Unrude minor" hand shakes still extant.
"The .prude major " we learn, "onlY per-
mits the fingers to be touched down to the