The Jasper news., 1910-12-22
IS TOO MUCH HANDsHAKlEG7
Other Ways Of Greeting Efiepds Tha,
Are Much Preferably Aeeord-
Ing TO WrlteE Ss

Although a few have suffered the
unpleasant experience Of the man In
the case recently reported, the bones
OF whose hands. were forced out OF
place by the vistrlike grasp of a toe
vigorous and unduly demonstratiye
friend, most people will be inspired by,
their personal recollections to sympa
thize with this victim of a misdirect
ed ardor. Everyone knows people who
seek TO cypress the sincerity and ear
nestness Of their goodwill by squees
ing the hand they take as though they.
were trying to break every one OF the
score or so of bones which the human
hand comprises, and every one on
such occasions must have wished that
some other form of salutation than
the one most in vogue had been de-
vised and were generally practiced.
Shaking hands is relic Of barbar
ism anyhow. 1t became the custom
in the days when every one carried a,
dagger in.his-belt and when one friend
meeting another thought It necessary
to attest the peacefulness of HE In
tentions by extending an open palm.
Then the other man could do no less
than make a similarly reassuring dem
onstration and the grasp OF these two
extended hands naturally followed.
Subsequently, by logical process OF
evolution the handshake grew to be
the conventional form Of greeting and
the refusal of a proffered hand was
regarded as one of those insults
whose dishonor can only be wiped out
with blood. Now the custom is too
firmly and widely established for it's
abandonment to be conceivable, and
yet there are various things about II
which render It unsatisfactory.
Rather surprisingly It has thus far
escaped the denunciations Of the doc,
tors, who. have spared no little else, as
a possible occasion for the communi
cation of injurious microbes. but one
does not have to be President OF the
United States. nor even popular poll,
tician engaged In canvass for votes,
not sometimes to have wished that
the handshaking habit had never been
contracted. There are 30 many ways
of shaking hands that are objection.
able and there are so many different
kinds of hands whose touch communi.
Gates a sensation not exactly pleasant.
Hands that are too hot or too cold,
too moist or too dry. or whose inert
ness communicates an uncomplimen
tary sense of Indifference on the part
of their possessors.
Every one is familiar with the hand,
shake In which all the shaking has to
be done by the party of the first part
In which the hand one grasps lies
limp and lifeless in ones own, to be
taken or left, to be squeezed or lei
drop, as one plesses, while the atti.
tude OF the owner suggests an abso.
lutte lack Of interest in the proceed
ings. Behold, that also is vanity and
vexation Of spirit. So is the question
which recurrently arises, and which II
may be suspected Ia the source OF
much secret embarrassment, the ques
| tion Of to shake or not to shake
| Etiquette has its rules for this, but nc
| rules etiquette can formulate will
cover every case that may arise. and
to determine the right thing may not
always be easy.
It will be seen that the Chinese
plan has its advantages The China
man you meet does not shafe youI
hand. He bows and shakes his own
Philadelphia Inquirer.