Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-30
GUESSING CHARACTER.
How People of Various Professions
Have Done Il.

Have Done u.
There can be little doubt that close
observation of people, and ability to
read their character and their thoughts.
Is Of immense value in trade and COM
merce, especially for a shop assistant
or salesman in persuading people to
buy goods, or in detecting would-be
swlndlers. 1t is said that you can tell
a mans character from the way he,
wears his hat. II It Is slightly on one
side, the wearer is good natured IL 1t
Is worn very much on the side, he Is
swaggerer; If on the back Of his head.
he is bad at paying his debts; while IL
worn straight on the top, he is proba-
bly, honest, but very dull.
The way a man or woman walks Is
often a very good guide to character.
Witness the fussy, staggering little.
man, padding along with short steps,
with much arm action; the nervous
mans hurried, jerky stride; the slow
slouch Of the loafer; the smooth going
and silent step Of the scout, and so on.
was OuCC dSSuoCug bdJo
Gen. Baden Powell. from whose work
OIL Scouting for Boys" this informa-
ton is taken, "of mistrusting men with
waxed mustaches. Well, so, to GER
vanity and sometimes drink. Certain
ly, the 'quiff' or lock Of hair which
some lads wear on their foreheads Is a
sure sign OF Stiffness"
Apart from being Of extreme interest
and value to boys, the advice which
the redoubtable "B.-P." gives on the
art Of judging character by keeping
your eyes open should be Of much SER
vice to grown-ups. You can general
ly tell from a persons boots whether
he is rich or poor.
Il once was able" says the famous
soldier, ito be Of service to a lady
who was in poor circumstances, as
had guessed 1t from noticing, while
walking behind her, that, though she
was we'll dressed, the soles' Of her
shoes were in the last stage Of disre-
pair. I don't suppose she ever knew
how I guessed that she was In bad
way. !
But 1t Is surprising how much Of
the sole of the boot you can see when
behind a person walking-and 1t Is
equally surprising how much meaning
you can read from that boot. 1t is said
that to wear out soles and heels equal
ly Is to give evidence Of business ca
pacity and honesty; to wear your heels
down on the outside means that you
are a man Of imagination and love Of
adventure; but heels worndown on the
inside signify weakness and indecision
of character, and this last sign is more
infallible in the case Of man than In
that of woman.
1T is an amusing practice when you
are in a railway carriage or omnibus
with other people to look only at their
feet and guess without looking any
higher what sort Of people they are,
old or young, well-to-do or poor, fat
or thin, and so on, and then look up
and see how near you have been to the
truth.
"Mr. Nat Goodwin, the American ac-
tor, once describe to me how he went
to see a balloon ascent at a time when
he happened to be suffering from a
stiff neck. He was only able to look
down instead Of up-and he could
see only the feet Of the people
around him in the crowd, so he chose
among the feet those that he felt sure
belonged to an affable, kindhearted
man who would describe to him what
The balloon was doing.
Il was speaking with a detective not
long ago about a gentleman we had
both been talking to, and we were try
ing to make out his character. / re-
marked, Well at any rate, he is a
fisherman, but my companion could not
see why: but then he was not fisher
man himself. l had noticed a lot of
little tufts Of cloth sticking upon the
left cuff of his coat.
"A good many fishermen, when they
take their flies off the line, stick them
into their cap to dry: others stick them
into their sleeve. When dry they pull
them out which often tears a thread
or two of the cloth."-Tit-Bis.