Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-16
Reading Character
by Frederic J ifaskin


Of persons YOU can find IN a great city
like this, who will tell you all about your
abilities and possibilities, and The number
Of different methods by which they will
do it, is bewildcring.
The shape of your head, the bumps
upon your skull, the form of your features,
the color Of your hair and eyer, the lines m
the pans Of your hand, your handwriting
are al made the bases Of systems Tor the
reading of your character LlkewIFe, you
can be put through scientific tests and
examinations which will reveal the exact
grade Of your Intelligence, your pfWers oi
memory, concentration, perceptgn, m.
vention and many other thlugs. Many oi
these systerns Of diagonosing the human
pereonaIifv are practiced by quacks and
charlntans, mingled with oil sorts of SUI
perstition but they are also cultivated
bv persons Of real intelligence and scieh-
tife attainment They played n large
part in choosing men for the army ne
United States Navy employed a hand
writing expert as we'll as p8ychologF's.
And many Industrial plants now nae
some system Of testing the intelligence
and studying the characters Of prosI'"c-
/ tive employee
Theoretically then, there IL no reason
why YOU should be ~ any gnnrAnc' oi
/ your own potential'ies why you should
/ go about woudNng what you are g9"d
/ for. cherishiug My ilurion about what
+ you can do With All Of these metn"ds
/ available, it should be as easy ~ have your
abilities auayzed as II IL ~ have case ~
+ fncasles diagnosed And likewise, there IS
nuparently M reason Why yOu should nnt
+ he able 70 choose your friends and en-
ploves with scientific precision, instead
1 of laundering about u the way you nj
for all rf these methods are taught, and
many of them are taught hy corresp<'n
+ dcnce. and books have boeu written about
all of them
w RLCHDgH STILL.
And vet somehow, we seem n 70 N
laundering about ourselves ard others
as of vorp And even those of us who have
studied these systems are not 70 much
better of than those who have not. an i
he that there is nothing IN them after All
In the Judgment of one charac'er-
reading fan, who has plodded through
the literature of many d thrse mPfhod7,
and tried nightly - apply their teanh-
ingg. there Is something IN each q tnem
bur no key to the riddle n human person
alify in any one ~ them, or n ai =
them PIT Together There i nothing more
/ terrible than tn become Victinn ~ s'Iile
orc of these systems and u Try n apP'y
= literally on an occasions. ake me
matter Of head-form, for instance 0h
learn that a man gIth fine square brow
has a dominating intelligence II he aiso
bas weII-placed eyes, good chin ana
high neao. no l. the ideal type. the master
Of civilization hen you meet iH,n oh
the street. He Il a traffic cop. And ne
saroe day Won meet men who has writ-
ton a remarkable book, and YOU ind 'ast
he has low retroafirg forehead 2 Pog
ros4 and several If the stWnafa q Or
Qeueracy. and that he ought - r. porch-
climber or 2 p!ckpockef
Does this prove that the system 4 no
good? Not exactly The shape q ma
Resd ard features does revea 4 good deal
aboil+ the nature IF his abilities Duf \
4ocs no+ reveal much about ms ca,ih"T
The traffic cop may indeed ~ man q
wen-balanced lnteihgence and Eooa
character he kind who viii handle 2
bad traffic jam with fine sense q llst4ce
and without becoming confused orahgFF
Ard tha writer with he bullet mead TIA
indeed be ali erratic But MS BRAN cells
are three or four times as strong ana Artl't
a. thcsae II he traffic cop. de is not ~'icn
!. weTl-blarced machine, but ~ = one =
much higher horsepower and f1aer qllaIty.
rHE MYSTERY or POWER.
The proper method. perhaps, Z 70 ap-
nIv all If the systems for what thay -re
worth, ard never 70 let any q theh. t.'-
-erfere with the ge~ e.al impression H T
he degree Il power which resides 1 Q
man that determines more man any thii
ele. his effectiveness for human purposes
and mere 4 Ia system for accurately -
r,nafIrg that selee III power fa- eai
l4dee il onIv bs lltAuou and. experience
i l. invisible and vital : ne amount
Of electricity which courses taroush
wire.
And It 5 Just as nard FOR man - es,i-
mate his own powers except ot erior-i-
arce. s. il : for MIN 70 stlmaJe hose
another The teetIg II power seen, I.
he 10 guide 81 ali he World i ii--
zotIstIcal fools who IA y teei <e---
5relv sure that they ~ere born - Z
gestlay. whiic many great men cal scarce
" believe ia their own PoNrr~ even Fl l"l
thew have discovered Them.
II seems veil thel. - caAs -ce"ti, =
al these systems Tor luoglng Ine. Ni-'
nl!t ever letting a-E If them get "a the 4 Sl'
O: general impression Il YOU are Soi's :
10 hare = man, study the shape u las Aeal
- l., sure II he mas d good bToR j q
his favor. \ uau with . hign brow S api
=
and ore with low. square brow Is more aP'
10 make a good salesman. y well-forned
sensitive mouth Is a good thing 20 hanA
on. and deep cleft between ne eyes
shows uumlstakably that Its owner mas
Jo1 some thinking. And do not over
look the mans Handwriting, either
it IS only a signature 70 typeywuttef
letter There seems TO be no aouot tha'
an ascending signature shows courase ane
end bone-s personality which IS grow
ing and winning in the struggle oi li'
and 3 descending signature shows a uSI
discouraged or frightened Or N poo
health Simple graceful capitals Shoy
good taste, and ornate capitals show Vul
; garity, while unduly large ones are
: pretty good Indication q egotiSIn hes
: things are significant ard worth taxing ~
10 account. bat they dc rot prove much
: EVERYTHING SIGNIFICANT.
In fact, everything about man IS Siga.h
: cant. There is no effect without a cause
: Every move that 2 man makes every in
: IN his face. every infection Of his voice
: ~, 80. - aOp,bs his hair and the VA