Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-03-05
IA STUDY IN MEMS BACKS
CHARACTER is SHOWN THERE AS
g. WELL AS IN THE FACE.

walk, his shoulders nodded by the habits
of his life, the carriage of the head, the
wearing of the clothing. Face to face
we see the man as he desires to be seen;
but behind his back we take him by sur
prise, and catch sight of his character.
Follow the thoughtful man as he wan
ders through the streets, seeing nothing.
While he walks his head and shoulders
bend: one knows that his eyes seek the
ground just as one sees his feet Gnger
on it. In this manner it must have been
that Macaulay walked in his famous
night wanderings, when he traversed
the London streets and saw nothing,
contrast to the night walks of Charles
Dickens, who trod the same streets and
saw everything, with head characteris-
tically held back and slightly to one side,
an energetic observer rather than deep
thinker
Very different from what we may call
the refined and intellectual back is the
back Of the broad and vulgar figure who
struts past US as if he owned the street
His glory is not in his mind or heart,
but in his pockets He has a habit of
sticking up for his rights. Even his
collar sticks up, and his hair, to CORE
spond with his inner self, is bristling.
He thinks he can buy anything, from
picture of which he knows nothing, to
an elector, who knows nothing of him.
The purse proud man will never hand
money out Of that pocket for charity,
unless he is pretty sure that his name is
IN printed list Of subscribers
THE ROGUE's BACK
Not so the wealthy man who has a
heart above gold. Look at him, back
view, Us he stands at public meeting
called at some time of calamity or need.
He is sure to be there. If the hall is
overcrowded you can see him standing,
never complaining of the lack of seats;
he is there for the comfort of others; he
forgets his own. He is large hearted
man. and everything about him is large.
The big hands are only waiting behind
him to give freely, the broad back can
bear Il goodly share of others burdens.
AS for the back of the rogue, it is of
infinite variety. If there were only one
sort we might all make what soldiers
would call a reconnaissance to the rear
and detect and outwit him There is
the sharp dealer of the business world,
who is remarkably spruce at the back,
and the adventurer Of society, who can
bow like the first gentleman in Europe,
and ten thousand more varieties, from
the welcher on the turf up to the gentle
man who ought to be a baronet, and
who has lived for the last thirty years
on that statement and on charitably col
lecting for the savages of Borrioboola
He could straighten his body if he liked,
but his mind is fixed in curves of cum
ming He and his principles are as
crooked as wriggling eels He can press
others to his will, too, as he presses his
cane to a curve like himself
His spare form is not the thin, bent
back of the student, The back of a
bookwOrm is another kind of bend-a
curve to be respected. Nor is it the
stoop of old age The back is an index
of age us well as of character The
small child stands a square, upright
atom of humanity. The man grows
straight to his full height; then his
shoulders broaden; then his shoulders
come forward, and his head goes down,
BACKBONE.
There is an old saying to describe a
man of weak character that he has mo
backbone" There is not much back
bone in the man who walks as if not
quite sure Where he is going to, who
drops his letters and never cares to
CT, i,r,i III rl l,
and note how his hat points backward,
and you know from the angles to which
he has set his hat and his whiskers that,
seen front face, his aspect is not wise.
Still he is a good natured fellow, and by
some instinct we read on his back that
he has an ambition to be amusing One
is perfectly certain that the man with
such back sings comic songs, and
equally certain that he never knows
when people cease to laugh at the song
and begin to laugh at himself.
But there is such a thing as having
too much backbone, and that is rather
worse than having too little. When a
man has too much backbone his heart is
not, as people say, lin the right place."
Sometimes there is no room in him for a
heart ut all. Now, there are some men
in whom force of character is carried
into the extreme, and becomes hardness
and habitual severity. A severe back is
pleasanter sight to see than severe
face 1t is not what we would call the
just and righteously indignant back,
which is straight and noble. fine thing
and a venerable 1t is the bulldog shout
dered back that denotes the domestic
oyer His bald head shines.
One knows that in the front the veins
are bursting. His mustache has been
twisted to sharpness by angry fingers.
His hands are chnched or pushing mI ght-
lily against his HARDEST knee He could
strike but he has too much pride. and
his orders are harder than blows He
has a habit of getting his arm croobedly
bent to his knee in self restrained wrath.
There are, indeed, many backs that
are more gladly seen than the CORE
spending faces The back of the bore is
a goodly sight, while, on the other hand,
when good-by is grievous, how much
precious regard is wasted on the dear
characteristic, well known back that
never knows what loving looks went
after it.-Toronto Truth.
Chinese Money.
One Of the most troublesome questions
to contend with in travelling in China is