The Portland daily press., 1893-03-24
ABOUT HANDSHAkING.
Better as an Index to Character
Than Handwriting.

The Cold, Metallic Grasp of the Avarice
and the Jerk of Simulated Delight, and
Then There's the Grip of a Friend. Never
to BE MISTAKEN.
The study of character as indicated by
handwriting is largely pursued both for
pleasure and for profit, experts claiming
that the hidden nature of the most re-
served man or woman will in4allibly
creep out through the finger ends and
proclaim itself truly to the practiced
eye; that the twist Of an IS" or the cross
Of ''t' may indicate the soul Of saint
or the instincts of sinner, while in the
lilliputian dotlet of an ii" may lurk a
whole history Of hypocrisy or honesty,
kindliness or cruelty.
IT may be so. 1t may be that, while
the subject matter is absorbing the
mind, well trained by worldly wisdom
to lie, the nnsophisticated soul slips out
in the unguarded formation Of the in
finite variety Of curve and dash which is
called handwriting
It seems, then, that, though the eye is
the window Of the soul, the hand is GER
tainly the door from which it issues
forth into the world, for none need to be
experts to recognize at once the char
acter Of man or woman when engaged in
the grand old greeting called handshak-
ing.
Variety in handwriting may be infinite
but is 1t not SO in handshaking2 And,
as a means to unvei1 hidden thoughts or
feelings the latter test must surely be
the better, for people write in truth or
falsehood and their writing remains the
same, but If people greet hypocritically,
though their words follow their wit, their
hands grasp those they greet as their
hearts alone command.
Handshaking, therefore, while in gen.
eral style it may serve to indicate the
character, may also, by individual appi-
cation, mark the true relation IN which
the factors stand.
Who has not felt the cold, metallic,
avaricious grasp, devoid Of warmth or
feeling, with which man of business
welcomes your Does not something
creep out Of his finger tips, telling you
that while his voice says, '.How do you
doY' his heart feels, How much shall !
make out Of you?"
Have not all experienced the jerk Of
| the man who Stimulates intense delight
| in the meeting, but involuntarily drops
| your paw as If he were afraid it would
| burn him? He probably owes you money.
and his handshaking tells you that his
joy in the encounter is all sham.
On the other hand, many are aware,
though the experience is more rare, how
| the grip Of friend whose heart is sim
cere sends thrill through their own,
and in that moment they know that he
reads them as clearly and truly as they
understand him. Then it is their turn
to drop or retain their warm grasp, as
their instincts dictate. But their in
| stincts alone are their rulers.
Again every one knows, or will know
sooner or later, that handshaking and
lovemaling are inseparable. When love
Is in the soul, does it not creep out at the
| finger tips and tell its tale of gladness or
| wee quicker and more surely than by
any other channel? Come, all you noble
army Of experts in handwriting, can you
tell 'sDoes my Phyllis love me truly"
| though you are shown gross Of her Lett
tiers? And can you mistake that tirnid
yet trustful pressure of her dainty digits
| as they meet yours and linger awhile like
kiss, then drop gently away like tears
Examples such as these prove that in
| the shaking Of hands individual relations
| are revealed and thoughts may undoubt-
eddy be read. BY more general appli-
cation this process may typify character
| and broad outline Of soul
| Old wise women say that "a cold hand
| and warm heart" are always ASSOC
| ciated. Some venture to think that ex-
perience proves this to be a fallacy, at
least as concerns the method Of shaking
hands. A warm, steady pressure, which
reveals the pu1sation Of life, is surely the
| habit Of those whose hearts overflow with
the milk Of human kindness, whereas a
cold, inaninate touch is the natural style
Of those unemotional machines called
heartless humanity.
/ This is generally recognized, and as all
virtues are aped and exaggerated SO a
certain class, in their anxiety to impress
their friendships, torture their victims to
the extent Of the thumbscrew. But the
boarding school miss, who will listlessly
lay her hand in yours, must not be too
hastily judged, for her manner proclaims
that her character as yet is not formed
and rnatured to the icy cold dame, the
warm, loving woman, or the fast. Tightly,
tickle and insincere ape.
The man who shakes your hand vio-
lently up and down, then drops it with
an air of having done his duty, suggests
such thoughts as nodded into words
might say: "Therel Don't say didn't
shake hands with you, whatever else you
may say" and thus the fact that he mis-
trusts you is implied.
The handshakiug Of the man who, by
prolonged pressure, causes uneasiness
should probably be read an overweaning
value Of the favors he confers and anx-
iety that you should not underestimate
his friendship. Such man may be set
down as a victim to conceit, but con-