Show Story of tbt IDaY Day jj T THE MURDERERS MURDERER'S THUMB Tho The man from Indiana discovers many habits and customs In the effete East which baffle and put tint hl his understanding to th the rout One of ot these Is the usage of the smart set Iet In wearing dogskin gloves Glove when traveling Nobody ever wears ears tho the thinnest sort of ot gloves glove In the house so o wh why the thickest ones on a train It might b be thought that the tho silken sons ons of dalliance nursed In pleasures pleasure's s 's flowery I lap feared to soil Joll their hands were ver It not that sleeping and anti the called so-called parlor cars are arc provided pro with wash basins a a- good quality of oC soap and plenty of good towels The wearing wearing- then of thick warm gloves when aboard a n. train appears to the hoosier as ag heln being a ver very vert ridiculous fad When Journeying from Boston Boton to New e York lately latch on the Shore Line express I found myself seated next to a 3 fine hulk of ot a n man whom I knew by hy his collar to be a Catholic priest priest- t. t He lie like the thc others In the car wore dogskin gloves buttoned buttoned buttoned but but- toned tightly about the wrists had I had Just seen Hall Calne's Caines play The Eternal City and I was vas anxious to learn from this dominie dominic the position of or the Catholic Catho Catho- lic bi church on the matter of the Introduction of ot the Pope on the stage In this stirring drama An As I was the only person in the car without gloves I hit lilt upon unon I this coincidence a as Oi an excuse to enter Into a a. conversation with the handsome and evidently cultured padre I ITo To my m surprise this th s ecclesiastic had no notion of ot discussing Hall Caine Calne or his play h beyond ond expressing the opinion that It If the pontiff In the drama was as presented pre- pre In a It reverend manner as had been stated no complaint was likely to be heard But on the question of ot wearing dogskin gloves when traveling he was prolific of ot Ideal Idea It was wa his rather singular notion that this habit was waR ll coe with ith the appearance appearance appear appear- ance of oc the palmist In this country This wizard of oC the palm according to the member of the cloth had succeeded In convincing man many people that never was there a a. hand that did not exact exactly reflect the brain that directs It It and to know ones one's friends all that was necessary I la b that wf we see sec their fingers and thumbs Could there be anything J more simple and nail rational than that well bred people pc-ople did not enjoy the idea of or having havin mere strangers ers read their minds and atud study their inmost thoughts while the they y are arc comfortably seated 1 In a a. railroad train Hence doeskin dogskin glove gloves and the mind a a. blank to prying and inquisitive travelers Althou Although h I 1 had h given some Ome little att attention to this reason for the wearing of or when on a n. train had never occurred to me inc When I came to think It over o It seemed quite reasonable and likely Indeed I 1 acknowledged to this delightful priest riest that for two or three years I had never ne failed to observe the form tonn of or a a. friend or strangers stranger's hand and that I had been at particular pains to dl discover er co a man with Is c called by hy the the murderers murderer's thumb It was only late lately I explained after a Ion long I search that I had seen Nn one of this character My I fellow fello traveler was desirous of learning the Incident of oC this discovery dis dis- C covery and what a 3 murderers murderer's thumb was really like I explained that the clubbed or murderers murderer's thumb differs from an ordinary one In this that the first phalange is short very YEr wide Ide thick and stubby with a narrow coarse nail nail naU-n. a very blunt and brutish formation I pulled out of or my nn satchel Benhams Benham's n new and truly great crent work on the science of or the hand and showed him a a. photograph of ot such a thumb and the thc text which among other things said This ThiN clubbed thumb shows terrific obstinacy and on a a. bad hand handa a common grade rade of ot It which pro produces a n coarse degree of a good quality and Is coupled with Hh a violent lol nt temp temper r. r Whether lether these CORr coarse e and dl disagreeable agreeable qualities have been heen or will b bo he brought braught out Is another question If Ie the they have not if it the environments are arp good a clubbed thumb will never display Its rou rough h and brutal side We e ma may not however Ignore the fact that a mine lies underneath and It will wilt only onh take a match proper applied to explode It Of the person who possessed such a member that Is another story ston It was m my business lately to call upon a n. gentleman In a city not man many miles milE's from New Nett- York I found him a very ery agreeable per person on and to all appearances of or a a. mild mUd and gentle g disposition Having formed this Idea of him Jud Judge e of my surprise when I 1 looked at nt his hand and discovered that he had a a. called so-called mur murr derer's dc thumb As a means of ot ascertaining the gentleman's real disposition and temper I asked Do you ou feel sometimes that If IC you ou did not put yourself our elf under severe severer restraint r you ou would do the person bodily harm who angers you The gentleman gentle gentle- man num reflected a moment and then replied Exactly Exact When hen I feel that somebody some ome- I body has done me a wrong I 1 fly th Into such a n. rage that I tear rear sometimes that I will commit some horrible act Lately however I have hae been een compelled to curb my temper for the reason that when I get t very angry I have p an exceedingly BC severe severe se- se vere pain across my forehead the same lasting for days You may not believe it It but I have u a. L frightful tr I was quite convinced of or the fact tact that tho the telltale thumbs were outward Indicators Indi- Indi of the Inner Inner- characteristics of the man If this person had told me that tha his temper was mild and antI his hl heart forgiving my faith in the theories of the fa famous famous tn- tn mom French t would have been severely shaken This I Is all vcr very singular remarked remark d m my ecclesiastical friend 1 I had when a n. younger man Just such uch a violent temper as that of ot the gentleman whom you yoi OU i have hac Just described hut but h by the continued practice of self-restraint self and severe eele eelem m mental chastisement have ha managed to subdue and soften an otherwise violent I disposition With these remarks the priest removed the left-hand left glove e and hold holding Ins Ins- up I Ihl hl his thumb said L Look ok here my friend A more deadly first phalange I had never seen Feen pictured or looked booked upon I for tor one said the priest shall never when aboard a n. train wear a n. glove agaIn Here stood re revealed i led an honest and a n fearless man n m Baltimore Herald |