Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-06-04
LEFE-HANDEDNESS

good clergyman, who evidently peppers his
piety with a relish of things Pickwickian called
together all the left-handed folk of Orange. N. J..
some days ago and, after discussing sagey on the
virtues of their singularity suggested that they
form society to be called The knights of Ehud.
Ehud. it viii be observed, was a Hebrew patriot,
"a man left handed" as the book of Judges de-
scribes him. who many thousands of years ago
slew an oppressive king.
It is well enough that the worlds attention
should Be called to the truth that lefthandedness
far from being necessarily disadvantage is often
the mark of peculiar skill. It's a common be-
lief among physiognomists that If a man has
mole his nose. he is endowed with extraordi-
nary reasoning power; and the more moIes, the
wiser. II this be true. then left-handedness is
beyond doubt favorable omen despite the ad-
verse testimony OF our Latin. The fact has been
cited that Leonardo da yinci. accounted by many
to be the most universally gifted man the world
ever knew painter. poet. sculptor goldsmith.
athlete. architect anatomst lutte player and what
not-was himself left-handed; and so were many
more of the immortals.
The sum OF the matter is probably this: II
Ieft-handed person becomes famous then left
handedness is an insignia of genius; if he does not
why then. he is Of no use to the theory and
shouldn't be counted; that is the way most of our
theories and PHILOSOPHERS are formulated. 1t is
worth nothing. however. recent students of this
subject have discovered, that out of every hun
dred babies. four or five are born left-handed;
that is TO say, they show. or develop, a marked
preference for using their left instead Of their
right hand. why is this? Or, to put the question
from the standpoint of the left-handed babies why
should they use the right rather than the left hand?
handg
One writer. discussing the problem in the New
York Times. explains that everybody is born with
q brain carefully divided into two hemispheres
Just alike and one as good as the other" We
could use both of them theoretically, he continues
but practically it would not work. On this hurly-
burly planet, we must act promptly. we must be
quick, or we may be dead. In lodging an auto
mobile there must be one brain to tell its body
servants what TO do and parleying or balane-
ing OF nice opinions between two equally author
itative sides of the head. Now in the average per-
son, we are told it is the left side of the brain
that does this work. left side of the brain con-
trolls the right side Of the body" wherefore most
o. US use the right hand l., however it should be
the right side of the brain that has grouped to-
gether these important centers, then by every rule
Of nature the left hand viii instinctively respond
when command is given.
That is just the some people are left.
handed. 1t is fit and proper that they should use
their left hand rather than their right And So
the psychologist to whom have referred de-
clares: do not force child to one side of
the brain when he shows stronger desire to depend
On the other. If the right side of the brain is
markedly stronger and he is forced to deYelop the
left side. obviously he will go through life less
well equipped than he would have been If he had
used the best that was in him"
Such is the philosophy Of left-handedness. If
Ehud's parents had logged him into holding his
baby spoon Csee the antiquarians) in his right
instead Of his left hand, he probably never would
have been able to drive his good spear tellingy
into the wicked tyrant One hand indeed. is as
good as the other. if. you know-how to use it,