| Show T T v vyv f t MOULD THE PRESIDENT REFRAIN FROM HANDSHAKING a PUBLIC RECEPTIONS RECEP k j IONS fF fact that President McKinley I TilE THE T was shot during a n public recep when any person In any sta aloe station lion tion of life Mas tas at ot liberty to fall foil fallIn fallin In line anti and am shake hands with the tho president dent has hag given glen rise to the question as ns asto asto to whether th the lie chief magistrate should shake hands at lit all with the public at nt these receptions says the New York Herald the consensus of opinion seems seema to be b that this custom demo crl no as It may lie be Is fraught with so much danger the head bead of the republic lic lI that It ought to at nt once be abolished AsIde from the safety to the president th physical must also be lie taken taken tak taken en Into consideration Every New Years Tears day at the White House HOUN recep there are seven even or eight thousand T people Nople In line sometimes even more moreena ena expecting to 10 personally grasp tine the hand of the president Of course many man arc arc disappointed during the three o or four tour hours set apart for this purpose but buta a number of people da do d Im Impose Impose pose paso upon the president hent to make tho the prolonged task tuk an exceedingly ex painful one onh to him In the long line IIno of Nand hand I 1 shakers are diplomats congressmen judges JU army and navy nn amONs but also men from the lower walks of oC lire life rough uncouth and In some Instances s dangerous erous There Is everything ever thing to be bo said In favor fa or 01 of abolishing lire eless and i custom while there Is lit little littie littie tie tle can be lie said Indorsing It ItIn ItIn ItIn In refusing ref to shako lands hands the dont dent would not only follow tho the exam example example pie of ot tho the heads of practically every eary i other civilized government but also the example of oC o George Washington the first president of ot the tho United states who IO never shook hands panda with the people nt at the public receptions abolished public levees altogether awhile Monroe oh on the other hand shook hands with a II all that approached At a n recent in Washington President dent and ant Mrs Irs McKinley greeted the representatives of half halt a n dozen moo lileS 22 legations and hundreds of oC private sate vate a te Individuals for nearly three hours As tar far back as 1670 a 0 writer In Char Charlea Charlea Charlea lea s All 11 the Year Round Hound com corn tho the extent to which hand shaking was carried on In America Inthis In Inthis Inthis this way wa The Tire nations of continental Europe nc scarcely reely so much to handshaking hand handshaking shaking as all the English while the Eng lieu In this respect are lire far less I s demon and apparently cordial tor lal than the Americans who shake hands with lIh one ono another Mother from morning to night oven oen It If tho the slightest IIII excuse e cuse or opportunity pity TIlt arises One of ot the greatest creates cr petal penal ties ile attached to the by b no means en enviable viable office of o president is the stupendous dous dour amount of at handshaking which that functionary hiss han to 10 undergo Th The l late te good gaud natured President Lincoln was wa a IL cartons arlous sufferer though It must be confessed l l h often orten took look his revenge reve e am and gave some too Importunate hand hlll shakers such of oC his hie powerful grasp grup as made them remember him with pain for tor a taw fI hours after the In Infliction Inv of his hla III I It Doth Both he hi mid and anI other occupants of Ills Ida uneasy and thankless office have Ilave on New Years day especially and on ninny many other 01 her oc oe to undergo an amount of ot handshaking hand handshaking shaking sufficient to wrench the arm or at least to make It ache for a fortnight fortnight I 1 l I Five or six thousand people p of all ranks ronk and classes of men from the po pa llio European and diplo diplomatic matte matic agents at nt Washington and Md the tho locator tr m lawyers newspaper new paper editors and reporters tho the military and naval down to the i common soldiers and anti sailors and lower still down don to tit Q the very roughs of tho the streets str ti who are all admitted without the he Intervention of a gold slick stick or any other kind kin of stick or a white while rod or orny orn any ny n of usher or Introduction than tion and In any costume they please oven ovon In that of tho iho hi with his hie heavy heay boots boot b ot and his hie working jacket or orthe ort tit the t e sweep with the soot still on his hili face though It must be admitted as a arule arule arule rule that the rowdies the and anti the put on their beet clothes on n such uch great occasions rose pass through the reception hall each of or them expectIng expect expectIng expectInG Ing to shake hands hond l with the chief magIstrate mag illig magistrate istrate Why Wh should the tho people under such circumstance Insist upon shaking hoking u hands With the tho president It la Is after 1 all nIl n a relic of barbarous ages just like the custom among certain Africans of ot rubbing their thumbs together together or of the Polynesians lanH Malays Malaya Burmese B and other of rubbing or sniping or of the tho French Trench of oC embracing embracIng embracing ing and kissing or of certain eastern nations of or kneeling or prostrating themselves as a token of greeting or orr respect r peat Most authorities agree that hand handshaking handshaking shaking Is a n custom of great antiquity e Its origin Is even een today shrouded In mystery The encyclopedias s Ba say y that grasping hands Is a 1 nature H g turn ture which makes UH lIa appearance In tn a antiquity as alegs a alegRI legs legal act symbolical of the Ike pontes parties Joining the compact peace ant and friend friendship ship awing airing the flue right hand hind of oC fellow fellowship fellowship fellowship ship passed naturally Into a saluta salutation Iuta tion throughout Christendom and ind spread doubtless from over oyer the Moslem world The emphatic form torm ot of the original gesture In striking hands Is still used to mike make the greet greeting greetIng ing InK more hearty Shaking Slinking hinds h nde nd only appears to have hae become u 1 in to the UA j middle ages It Is la not only la In vogue ogue throughout the civilized world but among tho the Eskimos l Hottentots and vv where here It ht has hn been Introduced by traders and missionaries One writer on the subject said laid How did the people first get gel Into the tha habit of shaking hands The Tile answer an Is not tar far to seek In early barbarous times when wilen every stage savage or s was wall his hla own on lawgiver judge soldier and policeman and had to watch over hie bl o own n safety safely In default of all nil other friends or acquaintances when whon they chanced to meet offered each to the HIB th other the right hand tha hand alike of offense or defense the Ute hand that wields the sword the dagger doner the club the he or other wea wear weapon weapon pon pun of war Will Koch Each did thus thUR show that the he hand was empty and that neither war far nor treachery was Intended An lit 11 eminent writer on medical medica topics has hal added adderl his hl testimony to the fact that handshaking Is not only absurd but Jut dangerous by showing shoving that Various such Is tuberculosis scarlet fever and smallpox are ore thus spread an additional argument against th lh custom of Indiscriminate Imposed upon our presidents W |
