Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-06-20
USE THE RIGHT HAND
A PREFERENCE THAT is SHOWN IN
NEARLY EVERYTHING WE DO.


Is the Rule-The Buttons on Our Cloth
ing-Customs That Recognize the supe-
riority of the Right.
The other day, ON offering to shake
hands with self possessed young gen
tleman," l received from him the left
hand for salutation, and his revered
parent instantly remarked, THAT is the
wrong hand" Before had well gotten
by this expression, saw a carpenter
driving nails with his left hand in the
most easy going fashion. There are left
handed players in the baseball field, in
the cricket field and in the tennis court,
and it is curious to note the changes
made in the disposition Of the field"
in the first two cases and the evident
discomfort of the other players in 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 abnormalities, 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 i'll the right hand and not
eat with it, but with the fork held in
our left, while a 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 a person
who ventured to use the 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 i'll 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. 1t may be SO to large
extent even now, but am told ON very
good authority that with the introduce
ton 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 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 fell
lowship, not so much perhaps from any
sense of its 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 are made
to be turned by the right hand, and
that useful article at picnics-a cork
SCREWS 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 arc 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
a lightning flash from left to right was
propitious, while one from right to left
was unfavorable. 1t may have been be-
cause, as the lightning was supposed to
be hurled by Jove, 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 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 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-
gion of his body where it is located with
a 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 its own bent, but
the practices of its 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 its 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.
must cut my food, write my letters,
greet my friends and do thousand 9TH
er things with my right hand In the
main, | must tell the truth, for that is
right; but, according to Il certain phrase
of the code, l may tell an untruth if ]
qualify it by the phrase lover the left. "
,-pbilaIalpbia prnc.