WHY WE DO THESE THINGS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 14 April 1908, Page 5

WHY WE DO THESE THINGS.

THE ORIGIN OF SOME OF OUR CUSTOMS. Many customs are so Gammon- that we have lost eight of their origin. Times and habits have changed. Relica of olden days have been handed on and carried down from generation to generation, w out present day. Shaking hands is m example, an* began in this way: When adversaries, -wew making a truce, with oft© an<xther ; eftpl found) it wiser, to grasp himself ag a [na, ««ach«ry. The truce concluded; % & fc. >Ie friends, and so the custom .grew cat. • salutation between- feiejads; even as 4. 'ays enemies do not shake -handi Howao.. "•«— a truee — is made. tiH peat the modern woman discovered Ferhaps f the curtesy, and that is Why the origin o. d out of use. At one time rt has droppt torn for women to go- an f, ™*• «*. ■< rank to. begformeroyj the knee to men . an niaSm^^^ and later it becai, is wh % i,3J£ of supenonty. That „ concerned; Imt tamed where Royalty , • ..„-!,„ - * U6 the example ol the^V '3SJ7"* who still "boW 4» t'-VSrjS 1 "* « not followed by the younge, - \%^ T"' and the pretty cumtsey that -Vi^ , c as " hion when- ouor grandmothers hs f .^way Ls now forsaken and almost obsole. - ' '" „ A man when greeting a lady raik" 68 .^! 8 hat. Why does his salutation tak* „. ™ form? " '' _ .._-"". In the days when armor -' was mote\ fashionable tham silk hofe or panamas, the helmet,, was only raised when no danger, was Iriear, so to lift the hat was a sign that ike wearer dared' to 'etand' in tHe presence of the person ep greeted unarmeeL - -. - -*-<•'- - , - What of the. oldest "of old customs — the kiss ? _ To kiss -is to adore, and the word adore- signifies simply to carry the hand -to the mouth. Kissing the hand to the statue' of a god. was a Roman form of adoration, -and as a mode of salutation expressed reverence a.nd worship.^ To kiss the .Book when taking an oath is a public'acknowledgement Chat you adore -the Deity whose book you kiss. To kiss the lips is to adore the living breath of the person saluted, In Scripture allusion is made to kissing the hem of garments, which signifies an adoration of anything .belonging to or' touching the ; £W.earer ;