Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-02-07
A STUDY IN MEMS BACKS
CHARACTER is SHOWN THERE AS
WELL AS IN THE FACE.

WELL AS IN THE FACE.
A Dissertation on the Various Kinds Of
Backs That One Is Accustomed to See.
Descriptions of the Thoughtful Back.
the Purse Proud Back and Others
The back of an individual is an easy
study-the whole Of him, his figure and
! 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 lingeI
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. a
contrast to the night walks of Charles
| Dickens, who trod the same streets and
saw everything, with head characters
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 habit of
sticking up for his rights. Even his
collar sticks up, and his hair, to CORE
spond with his inner self, is bristEng.
He thinks he can buy anything, from a
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 ut him, a back
view, as 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 a 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
Letting for the savages of Borrioboola
| He could Strengthen 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
. his will too. as he d zllis
others - Axe hi'n~-,lf Z thin, bent
back of fh6i' Student. The back of
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 as well as of character The
small child stands 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
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
! straighten his shoulders. Follow him
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 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 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, Tin the right place"
Sometimes there is no room in him for a
heart at 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 a 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 clinched or pushing might
| lily against his HARDEST knee He could
strike, but he has too much pride, and
his orders are harder than blows. He
has habit of getting his arm crookedly
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
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.