The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-03-22
CHARACTER IN GAIT.
PERSONALITY OF PEOPLE SHOWS
ITSELF IN THEIR WALK.
The strutter Has Boundless Conceit-The
Woman who steps With Painful Accu-
r.cy-Ah. Here Comes the Man With
STEADY Tread and Manly Carriage.

Woman Who steps With Painful Accu- !
racy-Ah. Here Comes the Man With
Steady Tread and Manly Carriage.
Ii is Plutarch who says that IAN ac-
ton Of small note, a short saying or jest
will distinguish a persons real character
more than the greatest sieges or the
most important battles" and Lavater,
the father of ~physiognomy, declares that
no man can set a glass upon a table
without betraying TO a certain extent
his individuality. True, no doubt, but
one must have the keen vision, the well
trained eve, in order TO interpret these
mystic signs. The indications of char
acter as exhibited in the walk Of a per-
son, however. are patent to every be-
holder and may be deciphercd by the
most untutored. the least astu-e.
Sit by your window some Inc morn
ing and watch the men and women as
they pass to their varied avocations.
Take. for example, the II IN just APP
preaching. HIS chin Is 9 waited TO an
angle OF 20 degrees. a : If important
frown corrugatesShis broy acomplacent
smile plays about his II nth, he struts
rather than walks. Ne 4 | point him
out as a man of boun less couceit. of
monumental brass. of { lossal gall: His
amiability is impertur' able, for one who
is absolutely self satisfied Is apt 10 take
an indulgent view Of the world at large.
His faith in himself is limitless. No
t~raitorous feeling Of self distrust will
ever cause his failure He will under
take without the slightest misgiving
what a man of ten times his ability would
hesitate to attempt. His success in life
is assured. and yet one cannot help feel
ing that if traced TO its roots 1t would be
found TO spring from defects rather than
merits.
The dress of the woman coming Just
behind him is arranged with mathemat-
zeal exactness. The placing of each pin
has been a matter Of special care. Her
lips are compressed, her hands clasped
primly before her, her steps are taken
with painful accuracy; there Is not a
h~alrbreaGth's difference il the length Of
them. If YOU follow her 10 her home,
you will ind that the sam ~scrupulous-
ness prev ais III the disposition Of every
thing abort her. The furniture j. ar
ranged with rectangular o~gactnr>s.
there is not a ila out q rtat. H h"r
bureau drawers. and the 49, I.I u,r
pantry sLtiyrs are I.a--aa.at Ia ~.i-
diers on parade. she VIII accomplish
no great work in life. how re-. . !aa
precisionist and spends her time lau1gi-
ously doing nothing. And. also. take
r of this woman. She j. absolutely
uncomproml~Iug. and all about her must
be Topped OF or stretched Out to iii the
idea of order which exists IL
her own mind.
But don't-you who are in search Of a
wife-fall into the opposite error Of choos-
ing as a life companion the girl with the
frouzy head. the skirt Of who's dress
dips in points, whose gait is careless.
who swings her arms a. she walks. She
is generous. warm hearted, good natur
ed, possessed Of noble traits, but con,
fusion, with all its hiieous train Of evils,
follows IL her wake. One ~foresees for
her an untidy, chaotic household, irreg,
ular, i'll arranged meals and uncleanly,
badly governed children. If her husband
happens to De "A strong, an exceptionally
stroug man, he will simply be supremely
wretched and uncomfortable. If not,
his ambition will be paralyzed, his dis.
position spoiled; he will escape the phys.
icsl discomforts of his situation by every
means in his power and perhaps drown
the recolie. ton Of them in drink.
The man with the shutting, uncertain
gait, whose steps seem to be directed by
no guiding power within, is weakmind-
ed. There is nothing which more surely
betrays feebleness of intellect than the
walk. And he Of the awkward gait, the
restless manner, the furtive glance, il
the morbidly self conscious man, who
cannot for a moment divest himself OF
the sense of being observed; who lives,
so to speak, under a glass case. And he
of the soft, cautious tread, who givesyou
the impression of creeping upon some
object as a cat creeps up upon a bird, is
feline in his nature. He is not to be
trusted; he is treacherous; every faculty
of his mind is poised for a spring.
Let me commend to your confidence
the man just coming into vIew-the man
with the earnest eye, the manly carriage,
the firm tread, who walks with simple.
straightforward d~irectness, as If toward
some given point. He is stable in al,
his ways He has a distinctly defined,
well considered purpose in life, toward
the attainment of which he advances
with answering steadfsstness, never
farming 10 the right or the left, never
Allowing himself to be drawn into by
mathis. NO matter how alluring. His vic
fory IL assured, his success merely q ques
ton Of time.
And 90 might one multiply types ad
in6nitum, for the variety in mankind II
Kmitless. Nor is it to be wondered a
Nat the characteristics of men and won
a exhibit themselves in the gait, fol
the motive power, the propelling force
i from within.
In his account of Cataline, Sallust
~-..t ,paster of nature. has not for