VARIOUS HAND-SHAKES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LX, Issue 9344, 15 April 1909, Page 2

VARIOUS HAND-SHAKES.

I am glad to notice (writes Lady Violet Greville iv tiie London Graphic) that the absurd elbow-shake, which for so loug replaced tho sensible kindly handgrip, is passing out of fashion. Who invented it, why it was foisted upon ns, none lias ever seemed to know ;it was ugly, artificial, and devoid of all the charm and intimate meaning of the handshake. To give the hand gracefully used to be taught in the old days of deportment, the curvo of the elbow was studied, aud grace became a part of the lady aud gentleman's equipment. I have seen it stated that the angular, jerky movement of the present handshake is ilue to the period of hustle iv which we live, so that the graceful, rounded movements, which accompany leisure aud confidence,have giveu place to distrust, to a sense of opposition and conflict, which expresses itself eveu iv the form of our address. Fortunately, the true handshake is an unmistakable indication of character; the flabby palm, the limp grasp, tho nearly shake, the warm, honest, feeling grip of the hand differentiate people as much as do their faces or their appearance. Some people inspire confidence at once as soon as your hand has lain iv theirs; others convey an indefinable seuse of fear, of repulsion, of distrust.