The Tupelo journal., 1906-01-05

hOW To neIIlOVc 0tdlllS-AVoAu IAC
Questionable Hand-Shake" - The
Cordial Hand-Clasp Better Than
the Kiss.
BY MARGARET e. SANGSTER.
Copyright, 1905, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
A pretty hand is desired by every
girl.
What is a pretty hand? suppose
we shall agree that it is n which
is white and dimpled, with rosy
finger tips, nice nails and small joints.
| Large, obtrusive knuckles, hands that
are too thick and pudgy, or too thin
and scrawny to be symmetrical, are
not precisely beautiful. But so fan
as the size and shape of our hands
| are concerned, we have to take them
as they come. We are born with the
hands of our ancestry, but the care
| of the hands is our own, and has far
more to do with keeping them beau
| disposed to the opinion that u hands
show character almost as unerrlngiy
tiful than some people think. am
as our faces do, and l think the man
ner of using them and the general
Ieatness or slovenliness which their
oW ners impose upon them, are apt to
be revelations of the inward life.
For instance, there is Amy, a rest
| less, and excitable girl, whose
| hands are never still a minute when
| she is awake. She is always clasp
ing and unclasping them, taking UP
books and laying them down, fussing
WITH her hair or her dress, and show
ing il unmistakable ways that she
has no basis of quietude in her own
nature. There is Lucy, who cannot
| sit beside a friend without possessing
! herself of the friends hand, slueez-
ing it and fondling it as one strokes
q kitten, and near Lucy sits Fannie,
| with a yet more Objectionable habit
of handling everything she sees; OBJ
jects of art, curios, fans, or other DELI
| cate things in other peoples houses,
or in the shops, articles meant to be
| looked at, but not intended to be
touched. Fannie's way is sure to rem
der her persona non grata wherever
she goes.
George Eliot, describing Dorothea
| in Middlemarch, says: "Her han and
wrist were SO finely formed that she
| could wear sleeves not less bare of
| style than those in which the blessed
| Virgin appeared to Italian painters
If you look at some favorite pic
| ture Of the Madonna, by Raphael, you
| will see the sort of hand that Dor
| othea had. Such hands "a lie peace
fully crossed in ones lap, or, If busy
with the pen or the needle, they still
| retain their feeling of calmness.
1T was all very we'll for Dorothea
to have had those statuesque hands,
| exclaims Marjorie, "but just fancy that
| she had been in my case, and had
| dishes to wash, beds to make, and
sometimes pieces to iron. Although
/ am a schoolgirl l have to help my
| mother with the homework, and kitch-
en- work spoils a pretty hand" l am
| aware that many girls think just as
| Marjorie does about this. l have even
| known girls who shirked household
| tasks and allowed tired mothers to
| grow more tired instead of trying 10
| ease their burdens, simply because
| they feared to ruin hands of which
| they were vain. You would never do
| this, | am sure, you girls who are
reading this talk.
1t is possible that hard daily labor
| without intervals of rest may cOarsen
| ana enlarge a girls hands, but few
| of us are exposed to this danger. With
a little care, a girl may work in the
| garden, may sweep, dust, or, if neei
| be, scrub, and may wash dishes three
| times a day, and not injure her hands
in the least. Gloves may be worn
| in the garden. India rubber gloves,
| fitting tightly to the skin, are a good
protection against hot suds, and
| dainty dish washing, which is preemi-
| nently a lady's work, is greatly helped
by the use of a mop. For pots and
| pans there is an iron dish washer
which is more radical and thorough
than a cloth in ones hand. If you
are troubled with rough, red or cal
lous hands, if they crack in frosty
| weather, or the skin peels off, be eX.
tremely fastidious about your toilet
| soap. Wash the hands very thor
| oughiy with soap of good quality,
| rinse them in tepid water, and be sure
to wipe them dry. If hands are al
ways wiped until all the moisture is
| gone and absorbed by the towel, they
| will seldom crack. The use of cold
cream, we'll rubbed into the skin at
| night, especially around the finger
nails, softens and whitens the hands,
ana a good plan for a girl is to slip
| such hands into a loose pair Of gloves.
AT old pair of her fathers Or broth
| er's gloves nswer admirably.
While l am about it, let me eau
| ton you not to wear dress gloves too
| small for you, or that fit too tightly.
Ipstead of making your hand look
| smaller, tight gloves exaggerate its
size. Gloves should be long enough
to ft the fingers comfortably, and
| should come up well over the wrist.
am rather old-fashioned, and do
not like to see young girls putting on
their gloves in public. Ones out
door toilet should be fully completed
before one leaves the house. | know
a school where girls receive dement's
If thew 90 ont to walk or make calls