attitude toward canes. Perhaps nothing can more subtly convey the
psychology of a man than his feeling about a cane.

The prehistoric ape, we are justified in assuming, struggled upright
upon a cane. The cane, so to speak, with which primitive man wooed his
bride, defended his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and brought
down his food, was (like all canes which are in good taste) admirably
chosen for the occasion. The spear, the stave, the pilgrim's staff,
the sword, the sceptre--always has the cane-carrying animal borne
something in his hand. And, down the long vista of the past, the cane,
in its various manifestations, has ever been the mark of strength, and
so of dignity. Thus as a man originally became a gentleman, or a king,
by force of valour, the cane in its evolution has ever been the symbol
of a superior caste.

A man cannot do manual labour carrying a cane. And it would be a moral
impossibility for one of servile state--a butler, for instance, or a
ticket-chopper--to present himself in the role of his occupation
ornamented with a cane. One held in custody would not be permitted to
appear before a magistrate flaunting a cane. Until the stigma which
attaches to his position may be erased he would be shorn of this mark
of nobility, the cane.

Canes are now carried mostly by the very youthful and the very aged,
the powerful, the distinguished, the patrician, the self-important, and
those who fancy to exalt themselves. Some, to whom this privilege is
denied during the week by their fear of adverse public opinion, carry
canes only on Sundays and holidays. By this it is shown that on these
days they are their own masters.