The Portland daily press., 1894-01-18
CHARACTER IN GAIT.
Personality Of People Shows Itself In
Their Walk.

The strutter Has Roundless Conceit-The
Woman Who Steps With Painful Accu-
racy-Ah, Here Comes the Man With
Steady Tread and Manly Carriage.
1t is Plutarch who says that San ac-
ton of small note, short SAYING or jest
will distinguish persons real character
more than the greatest sisges or the
most important battles" and Lavater,
the father of physiognomy, declares that
no man can set a glass upon table
without betraying to certain extent
his individuality. True, no doubt, but
one must have the keen vision, the well
trained eye, 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 decipnered by the
most untutored, the least astute.
Sit by your window some fine morn
ing and watch the men and women as
they pass to their varied avocations.
Take, for example, the man just APP
preaching. His chin is elevated to an
angle of 90 degress,,. self important
frown oorrugates he brow, a complacent
smile plays about his mouth, he struts
rather than walks. Need point him
out as a man of boundless conceit, of
monumental brass, of colossal gall? His
amiability is imperturbable, for one who
is absolutely self satisfied is apt to take
an indulgent view of the world at large.
His faith in himself is limitless No
traitorous 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 it would be
found to spring from defects rather than
merits.
The dress of the woman coming just
behind him is arranged with mathemat-
ical 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
hairbreadth's difference in the length Of
them. If you follow her to her home,
you will find that the same scrupulous-
ness prevails in the disposition of every
thing about her. The furniture is ar
ranged with rectangular exactness,
there is not a pin out of place in her
bureau drawers, and the jars upon her
pantry shelves are rnarshaled like SOL
diers on parade. She will accomplish
no great work in life, however. She is a
precisionist and spends her time labori-
ously doing nothing. And. also, take
care of this woman. She is absolutely
incorporating and all about her must
be Topped off or stretched out to fit the
procrustean idea of order which exists in
her own mind.
But don't-you who are in search of
wife-fall into the opposite error of choos-
ing as a life companion the girl with the
frouzy head, the skirt of whose dress
dips in points, whose gait is careless,
who swings her arms as she walks. She
is generous, warm hearted, good natur-
ed, possessed of noble traits, but con.
fusion, with all its hideous train of evils.
follows in 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 beSa strong, an exceptionally
strong 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
ical discomforts of his situation by every
means in his power and perhaps drown
the recollection 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, is
the morbidly self conscious man, who
cannot for q moment divest himself of
the sense Of being observed; who lives,
SO to speak, under glass case. And he
of the soft, cautious tread, who givesyou
the impression of creeping upon some
object as cat creeps up upon bird, is
feline in his nature. He is not to be
trusted; he is treacherous; every faculty
of his mind is poised for spring.
Let me commend to your confidence
the man just coming into vlew-the man
with the earnest eye. the manly carriage,
the firm tread, who walks with simple,
straightforward directness, as if toward
some given point. He is ''stable in all
his ways" He has distinctly defined,
well considered purpose in life, toward
the attainment of which he advances
with answering steadfastness, never
turning to the right or the left, never
allowing himself to be drawn into by
paths, no matter how alluring. His vic
tory is assured, his success merely ques-
ton of time.
And so might one multiply types ad
ininitum, for the variety in mankind is
li1nitless. Nor is it to be wondered at
that the characteristics of men and wom-
en- exhibit themselves in the gait, for
the motive power, the propelling force,
is from within.
In his account of Catalina, SallYst,
the great master of nature, has not for
gotten to remark that "his walk was
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