Evening star., 1896-03-14

both hands at once seem equally helpless"
Not very long ago the button-holes and
buttons of women's dress were on opposite
sides to those of men. 1t may be so to
large extent even now. but l am told on
very good authority that with the intro
duction of tailor-made dresses the old rule
Is going out of vogue. II SO, TINS last
badge of masculine superiority Is doomed,
and the future man will have but little
difficulty in donning the coat Of the new
woman. A man generally carries his loose
cash in his right-hand pocket, In order that
he may reach it with ease. His pocket
handkerchief is placed in the right pocket
CT his sack" coat If low down: in the left
breast-pocket If higher up, for similar
reason. His railway ticket and nickels for
car fare occupy middle position on the
rght-hand side, in order that they may be
handy" A soldier wears his sword on
the left for convenience: the driver holds
his reins in the left hand, while the right
carries the whip as his weapon Of offense.
The right hand Is the seat Of honor at
banQuets and ceremonies, and the phrase
has come into use for the post of dignity In
out the right hand of fellowship. not so
much, perhaps, from any sense of its su-
periority as because. In days gone by. 1t
was found that II it was extended in greet
sword. and thus give an unforeseen blow.
In the way of tools. screws are made to
be turned by the right hand. and that use
full articles at picnics-a corkscrew-is
Clocks and watches run round from left to
right, as the sun appears to do: although
the earth, whose time they are keeping, Is
so perverse as to move from right to left.
In walking down the street we keep to
the right-hand, and that is the rule of the
road in driving. as well as the way. in
which trains move along the track
Our Bodies One-Sided.
When we come to- augury. matters be-
come mixed up. The Romans held that
lightning flash from left to right was pro-
pitious, while one from right to left was
unfavorable. It may have been because.
as the lightning was supposed to be hurled
by Jove, from left to right would be the
way in which 1t would be seen if the Deity
had his face toward the suppliant: but II
Jove turned his back on the watchers the
lightning hurled by his right hand would
move from right to left.
But why is there this difference in our
hands at all? The truth is, our bodies are
one-sded The heart is, after all, very
Is fatal. Hence, even savage man found
out that he had to defend it, and devised
the plan OF covering the region of his body
where 1t is located with a shield. Blows,
therefore, were struck by the right arm,
and soon right showed might. With fire.
quent use in this way followed aptability
in other ways; and as each generation of
the initiative genus followed not its own
bent, but the practices of its predecessors,
right-handedness became the mark of the
individuals, and, although there might be
less necessity for striking blows with each
generation, the right hand did not forget
its cunning" Civilization has adopted the
principle as a law of polite society, and.
therefore, to be right-handed is right, to be
left-handed Is wrong. l must cut my food.
write my letters, greet my friends, and do
a thousand other things with my right
hand. In the main. I must tell the truth.
for that is right, but according to GER
truth. If I qualify it by the phrase "over
the left.'