Put'er There Jack...

What do political candidates talk about between themselves? Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.-Wash.) and Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp answered that question yesterday in the studios of WCVB-TV as they discussed hand-shaking techniques.

"One of the great things in 1966," Shapp began, "was that I learned how to shake hands."

"I know, you shake hands this far," Jackson said, interrupting to show Shapp how to use his finger-tips only handshake.

In the comfortable conference room where reporters were waiting to watch the program, laughter broke out. The picture on the color television set remained blank, but the voices of the candidates came through clearly on the loudspeakers.

Shapp disagreed with Jackson's hand-pumping policy. "My hands used to be painful after the first hour at the plant gate," he said.

Shapp's technique is to shake with his full hand and to bear down with his thumb on the well-wisher's muscle, and then "even a steel-worker couldn't get you."