Shaking Hands With 60,000 People

In an article describing "The Social Aíe of the president," in the April Mdies' Home Journal, ex-President larrisou tells of the fatigues of h andhaking, and, also, of the benefits of eing brought in contact with the good, ïonest-hearted people of the country. 'In the flrst tvvo weeks of an adminisration," he says, "the President shakes ïands with froni forty to sixty thousand )ersons. The physical drain of this is ery great, and if the President is not n instrueted liandshaker a lame arm nd a swollen hand soon result. This nay be largely, or entirely, avoided by ising President Hayes' inetliol - take he hand extended to yon and grip it efore your hand is gripped. It is the passive hand that gets hurt. It has )een suggested that a nod ov bow hould be substituted for the handhake, but it would be quite as admisible to suggest a revisión of the Declaation of Independence. The interest vhich multitudes attach to a handshaie vith the president is so great that peole will endure tjie grpatost discomfort ind not a little peril to life or liinb to ittain it. These are not the officeseekers. but the good, honest-hearted, patriótic people whose 'God bless you' is a prayer and a benedictíou. They come to Washington for the nauguration, and later with excursions, but they are inostly to be fouiid near their own homes. They come out to meet the President when he takes a jouxney, and his contact with them and their unselfish and even affectionate interes! in him revive his courage and elévate his purposes. Mr. Lincoln is said to have called these popular receptions his 'public-opinion baths.' "