Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-07-02
HOW TO SHAKE HANDS.
METHODS ADOPTED BY PEOPLE WHO
HAVE WON FAME.

Mem With = Magnetic Touch and Mem
Who Shake Hands Gracefully-The
Latest Method OF Winning votes-A
Few Specimen Shakes"
American swells who have spent q few
years In England have a peculiar way Of
shaking hands. They elevate the elbow
OF the right arm to level with the Shout
der, permit the hand to perfunctorily
grasp the one extended, give one feeble
| shake, and that Is all. Many young men
now affect this mannerism in handshak-
ing without knowing its origin. When
anyone shakes hands with royalty he
bows low at the same time, and the re-
suit is that his elbow Is elevated. The
young English aristocrats who had
shaken hands with the Prince Of Wales
kept up the habit Of elevating the elbow
| and others Initiated. It is q most insin-
cere and he&rtless way to greet friend.
Leigh Hunt was noted for his cordial and
| irresistible hand shake. His grasp was firm
| and reassuring, and had a magnetic
touch in it which politicians of these days
would give thousands Of dollars to pos
sess. Since Hunts time Handwriting, as
| different success.
| There Is the pump-handle shake, the
Western grasp, the Four Hundred tip
| your-hngers and other styles that have no
special nomenclature. Which is the cor
rect form is q difficult question to answer
because In Boston Philadelphia gentle
| mans handshake might be deemed barba-
rous, and Hub shake in New York might
be considered archaic and stiff. But New
| York Is cosmopolitan, and never notes
with any degree Of censure the soleclsms
| Of visitors.
The pump-handle shake is the most
| democratic and the most natural. First
the hand is seized In a cordial, Lam. glad
| to-See-you way, and then the up-and-down
ump.handle movement is begun. 1t is
not beautiful, because it is simply mo-
| ton without curves, depending entirely
upon the vigor Of the shaker.
The Four Hundred shake Is a cross be-
| tween a Delsarte and the old school Of
elocution shake and is a decided improve
ment upon both. 1t is not shake Of emo
| ton, but one Of elegance and impressive
ness. The elbow is pressed to the side
and kept there while the hand Is extending
the fingers, not for real grasp, but a
slight pressure. AS soon as the fingers
touch and a feint Is made to press them
to the extended hang, the greeting is con-
| summated.
A Western grasp Is simply a tight
squeeze Of the hand without a dump-han-
die movement In olden times, when gen.
tlemen wore knickerbockers, silver
buckled shoes and superlatively frilled
shirts, they bowed stiffly, extended two
fingers or more, as the dignity of the
shakee might warrant, and passed on,
| taking care to wipe the touched hand with
a handkerchief if it came in contact with
any Precipitation.
The city Of Chicago has some few hand
! shakers who can claim originality. Dr.
rector-General Davis has a breezy, ro-
bust style, which unsettles weak man.
foundation. 1t is a grasp, a squeeze. a
push, pull and and a jerk. Someone in
| terpreted its meaning as follows: A grasp
Chicago Is big city, and I live there;
a squeeze-don't you forget that our city
and its people make everyone welcome;
| push-stand off and admire the rush and
business activity of the Western metropo-
lis; pull-come right in among us, and
say that Kippling Is Munchausen; and q
1erk-there, now, knew you could not re-
Sist Chicago, no one does.
Eugene Field, the Chicago poet, has a
dreamy, reminiscent kind of shake. His
| hand fingers as II to say: Il have met
you before and was pleased" He is not
ostracised because he has not acquired
the true style of the city of his adoption
A man who is bald headed and writes
poetry is permitted great license In the
city of Browning clubs and bacon.
In New York the styles are more varied,
but marked by no trace of provinciality
One Of the most dignified handshakers
among the legal fraternity Is Hon. William
Maxwell Evarts. His hand carefully as if
the matter was us pendens and should be
duly argued, closes and gradually relaxes.
He carries his umbrella under his left
arm, which often adds to his unique ap-
pearance when he salutes any one on the
street. Another lawyer, Hon. Grover
Cleveland, Of Broad street, formerly of
Buffalo and temporarily Of Washing ton,
| has steady, so-many-thousand-an
shake, which is more stereotyped than
| ornamental. He keeps his arm in a fixed
position and simply gives one grasp. Dur
Ing his political career he had to shake
hands with so many people that it was
impossible to adopt an ornate style. Don
Piatt, the humorist of Mack o-Cheek, says
Mr.. Cleveland does not shoot pigeons +"
| while conversing, and adds that he has
I" rifle eye" By shooting pigeons /"
he said he meant that the ex-President
looked squarely at anyone and did not
keep turning his eyes. Mr.. Piatt Is sing
ularly silent about Mr.. Cleveland's hand
shake.
Senator Frank Hiscock Of Syracuse.
whose luxuriant growth of hair is worn
pompadour, with the exception Of a robust
hyperion curl that bangles gracefully over
his high forehead, exemplifies the Delsarte
school of salutation by hand. The para
doxical part Of 1t Is that he knows nothing
about Delsarte's methods. The Senator
looks dreamy and languid and every
muscle in his body seems to enjoy re-
poseful relaxation. When he puts forward
his arm he does it perfunctorily and with
out stiffening any joint in it or his body
The fingers of his hand seem to have en-
tered a sweet, dolce far niente state and
are slightly curved. His hand rests a
moment in the one extended and Is plac-
| Idly withdrawn. The Senator Is popular.
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