The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-04

dered his villelns about more uncere-
moniously than an experienced shopper
commands the menials of a dry goods
store to do her bidding, nor Is she, any
more than the baron, disobeyed. for
the men and women who work In these
establishments know that complains is
a serious matter. The shopper may
elsewhere be a lady in appearance and
action. but the firmly imbedded idea o:
ownership makes her despotic In the
store. IL Is easy to Distinguish he:
from the real lady. who recognizes the
fact tina clerks have feelings like other
human beings. and the right to be
treated with common pOliteness. Wo-
men aer commonly supposed to be less
secretive than men. but with regard To
their own affairs they understand now
to keep their own counsel quite a. well
as the lords of creation. Yet they are
raerly so thoroughly IN their guard,
and when taken unawares by bit OF
sudden and unexpected irtelliS"nce,
particularly II it IL disa.:reeabls. al
most invariably display their feelings
i'm a way that .crlightrns the shrewS
observer as to The real state OF their
minds. "
HANDWRITING.
Among the curious professions of the
age has sprung up that Of the expert
in handwriting, the man who, from
a line of writing, pretends an ability
to read the character Of the writer
Sometimes the pretensions go even
further, and the expert asserts his
power to divulge the past and fore
tell the future, all from a few lines
of chirography. As to the last class
of pretensions. they may be dismissed
as worthy of no consideration. but
there certainly seems. in a great many
cases, to be sort of correspondence
between character and handwriting
The British Museum has published
fac-simlles of the autographs of al
the Kings of England since the time
of Edward the confessOr, and In all
cases. where the ruler was man OF
force Of character there ia something
strikingly individual In the signature
The most impressive are the sigma
lures of William the conqueror. Ed
ward l., Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth
and the Lord Protector, Oliver Crom-
well. Elizabeth carved the letters In
large. heavy strokes with thoroughly
masculine hand, the writing of Henry
VIII. is as angular as his character
while that of Oliver is clear, the let
ters are we'll formed. and the writing
as carefully done as though written
for copy. 1t In laid down by one
authority on this art that great men
that Is, men Of strong mental charac-
teristics, usually write heavy hand
as witness the bold chirography OF
Bismarck, but to this there are num-
erous exceptions. There never lived q
man who possessed stronger individ-
uality than Napoleon. and yet his writ
ing was very fine, the letters being
small. grabbed and sometimes almost
undecipherable. II the letters in Bis
marck's name are thres-quarters OF
an inch long, those in NapOleOn's
might be expected to spread over hall
the page, and yet his signature Is
almost as delicate as that of q school.
girl.
CHARACTER REVELATIONS.
In spite. however. of the exceptions
that arise In contradiction to every
rule. there can be no doubt that much
of human character Is unconsciOusly
divulged by petty actions. A lazy man
can be instantly detected by the way
he sits down, an energetic man by the
manner in which he gets up. An en-
ployer Of mechanics Judges new man
by the way In which he picks up the
tools, a person accustomed to handle
hooks Is instantly recognized by an
other book-reader from the way he
opens and holds them. "He Is a shoe
maker" said one man Of another when
both were riding In street car. How
do you know" was the question
Look at his thumbs" and sure enough
the discolorations produced by the
constant use of the waxed ends were
apparent. A stone mason who has al
lowed that trade any considerable
length CT time can be almost instantly
detected by the much greater develop
ment of the hammer hand and its
thumb, Just as an old prize fighter
may be identified by his broken nose
The saving man picks up pins in the
street with the same carefulness now
when they are sold for &c. a paper, as
his predecessors did when pins were
lOc. dozen; the careless man can be
detected by the thoughtlessness with
which he walks on a lady's dress in q
street car: the neat man ruefully con.
templates his dust hat, while
the slOuch neither knows nor cares
that his pantaloOns are spotted with
the mudof last weeks rain. The print
er who pulls out Of his vest pocket the
emblem Of his craft will be instantly
recognized by his brethren. just as will
the gardener who uses a pruning knife
to cut his finger nails. A defaulteI
who, some years ago, fed to another
state, was suspected and afterwards
identified by a peculiar habit of biting
his under lip. while a French murderer
who at first escaped, was subsequently
arrested. suspicion beingfirst directed
to him from habit when thoughtful
of plucking at the lobe of his right ear
Almost every person, If carefully OBJ
served. will be found to have some
little trick or gesture peculiar to him
self. and in these, quite as much as In
personal appearance, individuality Is
displayed.