The Art of Hand-Shaking

Southland Times, Issue 13284, 10 August 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Art of Hand-Shaking

(Casiell’a Family Magazine). “And here’s a hand, my trusty frien’, And gie’s a hand o’ thine ! ’ —Auld Lang Syne. Nothing is more common than the prao ties of hand-ibaking, and yet very few persona ever consider bow much art there is, or there should be, in the custom. 80 prevalent, indeed, is this mode of acknowledgment of greeting between friend and friend, that probably not one person io ten thousand pauses for a moment to thinkof ita significance. Nevertheless, there are not a few interesting characteristics in hand-shaking which it is the pnrpcse of this paper to enumerate and describe. The following are some of the more important of these :—

First : the firm, full-banded grasp, indicative of sincerity, heartiness, and true friendabip. One can generally tell by the hand-shake the quality of the friendship. Burns has well apprehended this in the lines quoted at the beginning of the paper. A ‘trusty friend' is the friend most desired of all, and it is not possible to imagine tbe grip of tbe hand ef snch a friend to be aught but sympathetic, hearty, and sincere. There is an eloquence io this fullhanded grasp far more thrilling than language ; it is, so to apeak, a kind of unspoken speech of tbe heart compressed into a graceful voluotary act, designed by Nature to be easy and simple, approved by tbe custom of many centuries, and adopted by all sterling men and women in greeting those whom they regard and esteem as friends.

Bjcoud : the demooitrative hand-shake, which must not by any means bo regarded ai next in interest and worthiness to that just diicribed. One hasilwayato beware of this kind of band-shake, which may eithir grip like a vice, as expressive of gr at cordiality on the part of the ‘ gripper,’ of which there may be some doubt, or it may bo hold-fast and swing about that one feels for tho moment ea if one's arm were converted into a pump-hantile for the benefit of the effusive friend—anxious, perhaps, to draw something. It is significant of much of ,the pretentiousness of present-day social life that this form of hand-shaking is, perhaps, that most in vogue. Thirdly : lhe lackadaisical band-shake, suggistive not only of feebleness of physique, but also 'of friendship. This form of band-shaking is altogether devoid of art. It baa not even the robuatnesa of number two to Recommend it. Its chief characteristic is want of character. And yet, how common is this form I Who hasn't experienced it somewhere within tbe circle of acquaintanceship ? Fourthly : the lingering, .trifling handshake: Beware of such a band-shake. There is cunning and craft in it, and it generally belongs to an enemy. The effusive, demonstrative hand-shake may be sinister, but this is positively wicked; Avoid it as you would avoid the* fawning publican’ smile of a Sbylock 1 Happily this form is very rare, but it may be met > itb. Tbe writer remembers (with a shudder) once ‘shaking bands’ with an individual who brought apparently good introductory credentials with him. The hand shake of this class—a soft velvety touch that somehow held tbe band by a kind of fascination ; a lingering,loth to let ftou off sort of shake that wa« as novel as t wasn’t nice. After some talk—likewise of a loitering description—tbe stranger, rising to go, and again extending the ob-

noxious palm, ventured, while fascinating with his band abake, to elicit tbe loan of money which had been the object of bis visit, and which object he tried literally to accomplish by the art of a species of psalmistry. Fifthly : the finger shake. Who is not familiar with this form of insult ? One. two, three, four fingers may be offered, but still they are only fingers! Many people (ladies are largely exempt) have adopted this pernicious, impertinent form of band shaking, and that often without knowing it. There is only one effective waj? of curing the habit: decline the fingers and without thanks.

Liatly : the band that never shakes a band at all. Surely an inhuman hand this 1 It is only natural to suppose so, but as a matter of fact, there are many otherwise excellent persons who never shake hands with any whom they may meet. Various idiosyncrasies have influenced them to withhold their hands, i.e., vanity and self-conceit, moroseness and misanthropy; but each persons are for tbe most part what Professor Lombroso designates mattoids, or eemi-lunatica, whose ‘idea’ with respect to tbe matter of band-shak-ing sometimes takes the most grotesque forms.