Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-01-15
HANDSHAKING AS AN ART.
Some of the Fashiona BILE Nodes of Uniting
Hands


Rands.
There is nothing which so harrows the
sensitive soul of my friend the Professor
'profe: sor of music, etiquette and dane
ing says writer in the New York
Herald, as the way we ordinary Americ ms
shake hands. H9says it is rude and boor-
lsh and collateral evidence of mans ascent
from the lower animals. In our case he
thinks the ascent has not reached much
above the second rung of the ladder, nor
snail we ever get any higher until we learn
how to use our hands
snail not dispute such an eminent au-
thorlty, tor he tells me he has studied the
suelect In the royal courts of Europe.
"iere he mas often been an honored guest,
ahd therefore knows whereof he afirms.
on the contrary, In the meek and lowly
spirit in which we learn of our aefecfs
from the critical stranger within our
gates, transcribe the Professors obser-
vations for the benefit of our untaurht
countrymen.
In the first place, the professor saws we
have no style about our band shaking. but
do 1t In dull, unthinking way, as if it
were any ordinary proceeding, whereas he
says 1t should be governed by strict rules
or procedure, and be made a sort of poem
or action, so to speak.
All the methods of handshake practiced
by the denizens of the metropolis this care,
tul observer has classified and named after
their proper genus, and the most of them,
candor obllges himto say, are very bad
those which escape his condemnation are
the habits employed by few travelled
persons, familiar, very likely, with the
way Wales himself does those, ana the
pupils of the Professor himself Which
Is not very strange.
The best of all handshakes is known as
the latest English, and is done 10y rule
after this fashion:
In advancing to shake hands the body
should be held as stiff as possible, bat in
cllned forward, the walking being done
chiefly by the hip, and must be held out at
the ankle Joints. The arm sides in such
way as to form a triangle with the body.
the hands being held limp and fiabby like
pair of dead fish. In this way stride
forward in somewhat threatening man
ner and stare hard at the other man. At
the distance of three feet stop suddenly,
grab the other mans hand with a Jerk.
raise it to the level of the scarf-pin and
yank it downward twice At the Same
time grunt-not to any purpose, hut
just grunt. After that retire and stare.
The second cOmmendabIe method is
called the Central Park, " and is a thing
of beauty much affected by the adorable
young gentlemen who wear bag overcc ats
and frequent the stage doors of theaters
1t is modification of the latest English,
accompanied by a slight kicking of the
lett heel and a sharp downward jerking Of
the mead. The jerk brings up pectoral
How er yer?' which is greeting enough
for any man.
They do these things even better in
France, as old Sterne says. The true
French method, also much beprased of
etiquette professors. is to advance with
arms he'd out stiffiy, something like a
prize lighter guard. Then in u clammy
sort of way, each man seizes the others
fingers, and the hands being elevated to
the eyes and the elbows slightly crooked,
two Hips are given, and the thing is done.
Aside from the e methods ali that the
professor sees is sheer barbarism, as he
was good enough to point out the other
night at certain popular asSemblage.
Ia his judgmen the handshake was so
characteristic of the man that he could
tell from seeing it from Just what prov
fence III this benignted land hailed the
shaker or his ancestry.
The old New Yorker shake. as he pro-
C ,eded to show consisted in langudly ex-
tending passive hanl to be shaken at the
Others pleasure, the Offering being made
as a concession to an unreason able habit
and Without apparent faith or interest in
It's efficacy. The hand is not in any case
lifted above the pocket, but is merely de-
hvered over as loan Of something for
which the owner has no use. This Is
ciiicised as not being the best form, but
mnch better than other methods in vogue
among the careless.
Tue Boston method, according to the
sane authority is a sticking out Of a hand
- -'raight and fat as board, the thumo
H"'n< held stiffiy upward like the hammer
of gun. This being slid along by the
t"r side of another hand as stiff and
W joden, there ensues three or four me-
cnanical up and down movements hinged
at the elbow. The hands are then drop.
ped like piece of ice.
The southerner takes your hand in his
In a confidential sort of way, exerts gen
tie pressure, manipulates his whole arm
with show of enthusiasm, and ends with
final little shake from side to side as an
earnest IF his good will and approx ltion.
But if a man grabs you hard by your
nand untll your myers acne, ana OaClllaJeS
your arm up and down with Bundry jerks
from the shoulder Joint, know him as
woolly westerner and hencetorth avoid him,
1t will save you many pang.
So firmly fixed are these local charac-
teristics that the Professor says they de-
scend from generation to generation, and
man whose father and grandfather were
born in New York, will greet you after
the New England method if his forefathers
were Yankees.