The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-25
M E lI w o M t N
 A N D T Fl N c s

igagemenfs of the Birmingham Lyceum Association at Temple Emanu-El tonight
 
 ln his confessions he says: Tt came over me yesterday that the whole secret ot~ my being, of my happiness and my misery. was to be discovered in my hands ] speak as a biologist not as a paimist,' and just because he takes pains to make this distinction what he says is of interest to me-
 I daresay I will nave all the palmists and those who believe in palmistry down ron me when l make bold to say that so far as l am concerned I have never been able to take them seriously or to accord to it the degree of thought which the subject may deserve Perhaps it comes from the fact that in it's first flush of invading society I was dfsllusioned
 
 It was during the Tennessee Centennial ! at Nashville, while l was at the First Baptist Church, that very charming and cultured young woman whom I had met in Paris while she was studying art l A~N e1S iiCi 5bCot q IfOltu pdlInlSL, whom was invited to meet I found her a thorough woman of the world and she talked very learnedly about the science of palmistry, and told of her power of i divination
 But all the time she was on tenter hooks because her baggage had gone astray, and she was afraid her costumes would fail to arrive in time to be worn at the reception to be given in her honor. Hat, ing to see a lady in such distress after having done what l could to help trace her missing wardrobe, I mildly suggested that to east her mind she resort to pairn- istry. It was the helpless look which she gave me that caused me to become a doubter
 am sure, however, in spite of the many claims of palmistry that hands are in a way indicative Of character, and that the study of the various types is one of in- terest. There are people who are neither deaf nor dumb who can talk with their hands in a manner not to be misunder- 1 stood. The French have one on the stolid
  English, for besides the voice and the they have a sign language which is most eloquent. And every one who witnesses the caricatures of the Jew on the vaude- vile stage are familiar with the gestures which are peculiar to the Israelite.
 
 Du Murier took a foot, that of Prilby's, and made it known around the world and therefore I am not surprised that Powys by tour de force has been able with his hands in a style which to say the, least is arresting and interesting. Hear him: Under ordinary conditions my conscious ness does not penetrate to my hands, These curious human appendages remain inert, clumsy, helpless, heavy, dead. have dead hands, the hands of a dead person." If he had stopped here we would have all called to mind those peo- pie of acquaIntance whose hands are ciammy and left us shivering as if in q charnel house
 But then he comes into different region when he says: T cannot do the simplest thing with my hands without a definite and concentrated effort of the will. It is like working with clumsy tools, tools that require elaborate direc- ton every time. I cannot tie my shoe strings, or post letter, or light q match, without issuing special mandate to my incorrigible hands. That is why they are always knocking over things and dropping things. They are out of reach of the electricity of my being. My they hang. swinging so helplsssly at the ends of my arms.'
 Had he left off here we might have showered him with pity. Anyway .here- after we will be less disposed to repri- mand child whose hands are not under perfect control. He goes on: When I am lecturing, however, and this irritates my profoundest pride, for despise the featuring animal, my hands change com pletely and my consciousness flows through them to the tips of my fingers. They become sensitive then, abnormally sensitive. I feel them as I sepak; and between them and the waves of nay thought there is direct magnetc con- Eecton. Under ordinary conditions my hands are the hands of dead body. When I am featuring they are the hands of lover; or a lover caressing his darling."
 It certainly Is strange phenomenon, and just because it ls I expect to be at Temple Emanu-El, for want with my own eyes to see the resurrection of his hands This in answer to his question, "Is it not curious thing" In another story I called attention to the fact that he did not take the trouble to flatter his hearers and to substantiate this I quote the following: ''The general public is cer- tainly not any darling of mine; and yet when under the spell of addressing 1t my fingers become the fingers of lover. This does not mean that my emotions are kind. The emotions of lovers are not always kind"
 At another place he says; My hands are made for nothing upon earth but ex- planatory gestures. They refuse to obey any practical command and the rest of my body is as helpless as they are. l have not the mechanical skill necessary for the simplest undertaking" am sure that there are many who can make a sim liar confession. I for one have always envied those who are dexterous in the