Handshaking Condemned.

New York Times 100 years ago today, January 28, 1913:
To the Editor of The New York Times:
    Where and how the senseless method of salutation by handshaking originated I am not informed, but in my judgment it should be relegated to its proper place among customs which are gone and rightly forgotten. Apart from its lack of grace. It is also insanitary if the bacteriologists are to be believed, for I understand that the fingers are the favorite roosting-place for germs. No such custom prevails among the Orientals, who are far ahead of us in this particular, as in many others. President-elect Wilson has already entered some protest against this pump-handle nuisance at public receptions, and it is to be hoped that he will take a prohibitive stand against it.
            HARLAN MOORE.
            New York, Jan. 25, 1913.