The Press., 1896-06-18
USE THE RIGHT HAND
A PREFERENCE THAT IS SHOWN IN
 NEARLY EVERYTHING WE DO.


 Ins-Customs That Recognize the supe- riority of the Right.
 The other day, on offering to shake hands with a self possessed ''young gen. tleman, " I received from him the left hand for salutation, and his revered parent instantly remarked, ''That is the wrong hand Before I had well gotten put of my mind the thoughts stirred up by this expression, saw carpenter driving nails with his left hand in the most easy going fashion. There are left handed players in the baseball field, in 5he cricket field and in the tennis court, and it is curious to note the changes made in the disposition of the ''ficld" in the first two cases and the evident discomfort of the other players ill the third case. We may even see left handed gunners in the sporting clubs, but the bystanders instinctively draw back when one appears on the line, as if they were afraid that the weapon held in the left hand might shoot round the corner.
 These things, and many others of like kind, are considered abnOrmalit1es, for men and women are supposed to be nor mally right handed and not left handed. There are, however, some marked incOn- sistencies, as, for instance, that we must hold our knife ill the right hand and not eat with it, but with the fork held in our left, while 8 spoon must be held in the right hand, and the soup conveyed to the mouth by that, for every eye at the table would be turned on Q person who ventured to use tho spoon in the left hand
 The results of the prevalent right handedness of man are shown in many curious ways If we look at dress, we find that mans buttOnholes are on the left, while the buttons are on the right. "A man in buttoning grasps the button in his right hand, pushes it through with his right thumb, holds the button hole open with the left and pulls all straight with his right forefinger. Re- verse the side and both hands at once seem equally helpless. :" Not very long ago the buttonholes and buttons of women's dress were on opposite sides to those of men. It may be so to large extent even now, but am told on very good authority that with the introduce tion of tailor made dresses the old rule is going out of vogue. If so, this 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 of 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 a middle position on the right 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 matters both sacred and secu- lar. We hold out the right hand of fel- lOwship, not so much perhaps from any sense of it's superiority as because in days gone by it was found that if it was extended in greeting it could not be used to grasp the sword and thus give an unforeseen blow.
 In the way of tools, screws arc made to be turned by the right hand, and that useful article at picnics-a cork screw-is fitted for dextral and not sin istral use. Clocks and watches run round from left to right, as the sun ap- pears 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.
 When we come to augury, matters become mixed up. The Romans held that propitious, while ono from right to left was unfavorable. It may have been be- cause, as the lightning was supposed to be hurled by love, from left to right would be the way in which it would be seen if the Deity had his face toward the suppliant, but if love 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 sided. The heart is, after all, very important item in man. An in- jury to it is fatal. Hence even savage man found out that he had to defend it and devised the plan of covering the re- zion of his body where it is located with 8 shield. Blows, therefore, were struck by the right arm, and soon right showed might With frequent use in this way followed adaptability in other ways, and as each generation of the initiative genius followed not it's own bent, but the practices of it's predecessors, right handedness became the mark of the in- dividuals, and, although there might be less necessity for striking blows with each generation, the right hand did not forget it's cunning" Civilization has adopted the principle as law of polite society, and therefore to be right handed is right, to be left handed is wrong. I must cut my food, write my letters, greet my friends and do thousand oth- or things with my right hand. In the main, I must tell the truth, for that is right; but, according to 8 certain phrase of the code, may tell an untruth if I qualify it by the phrase lover the left. '' Philadelphia Press.
 Suggesting a Remedy.
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