Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-18
HANDS OF MEMBERS.
The New House of Representatives q
Fighting Lot, Says n CheirOlogist.
tho N.,z- Yorl S,,,,

HANDS OF MEMBERS.
Fighting Lot, Says n CheiroloEist.
From the New York Sun.
The New Yorker who had been down to
Washington to take in the grand congress
sional opening in that town on the first
Monday in December was making a. few
remarks to a small group in the Hoffman
House.
81 am not" said he much of cheirolo-
gist, but"
"And what's a cheirologist?" inquired a
Wall street man whose poker record is
such that he ought to know all about hands.
You ought to know smiled the tallzer.
''but as you don't seem to I will say for
your benefit that cheirologist is one who
tnterprets character and instincts of men
by the habitual actions Of the hands and
the natural positions into which they I'M
consciously place themselves when in
state of repose."
Thanks; go on with your rat killing"
well, as was saying, I'm not much of a
cheirologist, but when I was down there at
Washington watching the able representa-
tfves from all over this broad land of free
dom going through the ordeal of the oath
Of allegiance, or whatever they call it, /
noticed their hands as they held them up to
be sworn in. They came up in detach-
ments before the Speaker, and he admin
istered the oath to each lot in a bunch.
What first attracted me was the open
handed way those statesmen had. Out Of
group of d dozen in the first batch 1
didn't see one, that now recall who didn't
have his fingers spread wide out, indicat-
ing liberality and an inclination to let go.
As that batch was from Alabama and Ar
kansas, the roll being called alphabet
cally, they belonged to the party which
hadn't much to give up, and could afford to
be liberal. AS the roll went on l noted
thumbs; always a strong feature, and 1 am
a
gress shows by it's thumbs that it has firm
ness in plenty. 1t was a rare thing to see
a thumb that wasn't sticking out sassy
as a snakes head and in the entire lot of
members 1 only saw one that was turned
clear in on the palm, indicating weakness
and disposition to be led around by the
nose. One' man held his hand so that the
thumb and little finger touched, showing
that his disposition to be schemer was
met by a weakness in carrying out his
schemes.
"Now and then all the fingers of hand
showed an inclination to fall into the palm
of the hand, which took to mean that the
owners of such hands were waiting to see
which way the cat jumped before they as
serted themselves. Again there were hands
with the fingers tightly held together. a
sure sign that the possessors were secretive
men, who would go about with the great
affairs of state their shoulders and the
sec rets of councils and caucuses in their
bosoms, yet they would give no sign, and
If they happened to forget themselves and
In burst of confidence say something to a
newspaper correspondent that might prove
unwisely or untimeiy spoken, and looked
different in print from its appearance in
language, would hasten to deny the inter-
view and denounce the correspondent. The
assertiyeneSs of some of those outspread
fingers was more than that; it was agrees
siveness, and l think the Fifty-fouEth Con-
gress Is going to show good deal of nerve
in some of the things it does. Possibly
some of those new members were thinking
of Great Britain and Venezuela when they
were swearing to be true to their country,
but it showed only in their hands, not in
their faces, because the hand tells a lot
more than the face does. A half dozen
hands were closed almost to fist size, but
that is no sign of strength. 1t is weak
ness, rather, for the strong hand doesn't
relax. AS a rule the held-up hands were
of the spatulate or active variety, the fin
gers being square at the end and stubby
rather than long and slender. Now and
then such hand appeared, and the owner
nearly always showed in his face and bear
ing that the hand fitted the character, and
if he had his way ne would prefer to sit al
his desk reading or writing rather than be
ever ready to jump up and have a scrap with
whatever opponent might be on the floor.
There were a few of the long and slopng
hands which indicate the scholar or the
hands of the artist. They were the ex-
ception, however, and a general show down
of the hands of the Fifty-fourth Congress
would indicate that it was ready for any
u.
This was further shown in the thumbs,
which, while not only aggressively sassy in
their protuberance, indicated by the long
first phalanx that their owners when once
they had reached a position were going to
stick right there TIL the end came. Some
Of the palms of the hands, as well as I
could see from my position In the gallery,
were soft and rosy, with a well-developed
thickness under the thumb showing con-
clusively that if there were Juliets in the
balcony those Congressman on the floor
xI-n 10
enough rope to make a serviceable ladder
Of"
How about T. Bracket Reed?" INQUIRED
the Wall street man.
The che1rolosist laughed.
ut was funny to see him when he was
sworn in" he said. The hand he held up
was absolutely eXpressionless. 1t didn't
mean anything. but the one he didn't hold
well. that was kind of behind him, and
I'm shot il know whether he had it on a
gun IN his hip pocket or hold of a club"