New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-07-03
For tbs Sunday Republican,
CLEAN SHAVE

For tbs Sunday Republican,
AClEAN Oh
Al New Orleans barber SheP-De.
scsiptive sketch Of the Innatea-
Freaks of the Eraternlty-Barber's
Apprentlees-CosGo of Inquiry.
Somewhere or other, if our memory serves
Us right, We think we have r~ead-aye, it
was in the days when we figured in the ranks
at q school examination or amongst the fore
most In a truant fishing excursion-that a
great many years ago the profession of bar:
Der was more honorable thar it is at pres
ent. the Office being in the gift OF a king,
and the recipient was not eligible unless he
had graduated as surgeon. In those days of
" basbarism -" the tonsorial professors we're
preceded by their pole-bearer on important
occasions, the pole being somewhat similar
in device and coloring to that which is now
so universally adopted by their successors
in the craft-or in polite phraseology, in the
Art" Now, having the misfortune or
otherwise, of being born in one of
The poorest sections of Europe, and
as nature is pretty catholic 10 her tendency,
the genus homo of that locality were liber-
ally supplied with hirsuite crops, il not
abundantly with anything else. Hence the
profession of barber was a social necessity,
scanty. The interior OF a BARRIERS shop
there was as far removed from the Injurious
taste and trappings of a like establishment
here as one could possibly imagine. In fact,
the shaving saloon, like the PEASANTS cabin,
contained, each, only two very important
and indispensable articles of furniture-the
former a solitary razor and a bar of soap,
the latter the traditional pot and basket.
The pot cooked the meals, served as trough
for the pig, and answered multafarious pur.
poses with the exception of being used for
washing the %crockery, and that for a pretty
cOgent reason-because there was no
crockery to wash. The saloon in the
rural districts of such a country was neces-
EARLY a very humble structure. Indeed, it
was so, and if our memory be a motive of
juding correctly. it was tine kitchen and suit
of apartments of the humble knight of the
blades family and their 'pets." The
rickety old bench served the hardy con of
toll to a nicely. and if he could have seen
one of our American dandies under the
hand Of Professor Strop, with the heels of
his subject exalted in air, and his head en-
cased IL a vice, he would, like the hero in
the mead:
"ObstNpui Stete,untque com@," etc.
His establishment would not be modified
either were he told that only ten pence ster-
ling or one shilling was the BARRIERS fee for
minutes work with a blade, when he
would be paid in the Old Country Just a half.
penny tor q similar operation. Glass dis
locates the barber there rather low.
in the straits of society-so inferior, indeed,
that gentleman refuses to visit the shop,
preferriug TO pay him ten cents for walking
to his own residence. and there putting |
him through" the mysteries of Soap and
steel. All, me! how strange this appears to
Us now. Eet, land Of our nativity. with |
all thy faults, we love thee still" Nothing
strikes an emigrant SO forcibly as the
beauty Of a republican form of government, |
and it shows itself in the straugest guises. |
BY way of illustration, we might remark
that on the occasion We first Dreakfasted
side the Atlantic, there sat at the table
with us a medical gentleman, a lawyer and
q barber, and We were convinced that the
named individual assumed more |
than the remaining trio. But let US |
hot fly Oft at a tangent from the subject of
our article. A few days since We were ne
cessitated to patroniZe one of those modern !
artists, and, as fate would have it, we en- !
tered one Of the most fashionable tonsorial |
astabli ,hments in the city, not a great dis.
lance from the St. Charles Hotel. Before
our entrance, we had an idea that an invest.
OF ten. or fifteen cents 1t the most, |
would be all hat was necessary to defray
he expenses of our visit. Time, however, |
.prks wonders, and how our calculations
erroneous. the sequel will show. The
apartment in which three professors were
busiiy plying their vocation was perfumed
TO the gratlication of the most avaricious
0ltactOry.
It was redolent with such an sdmixture
)t odors that to analyZe for any one in par.
was a feat OF impossibility. The
The floor was g0rgeousIy carpeted like the
Turkish divans we have seen described in
he LOndon Times, when Russell was hob
with the Grand WARS. To desc
the delicate fabric with saliva ap-
)eared to be h sacrilege, but this was rem
Tered unnecessary by the Justsposition OF a
of spittoons, whose elaborate and
design and costly material augured
hat they cost more than what would have
an ''oid country barberin bust
less. The walls were ornameuted with mir
ors, two of which were so located that those
heavy swells" who take more pains with
he parting Of their back hair than the sal.
alton of their souls, might, with little effort,
ee themselves before and behind simul.a-
eously. To them this achievement has
lOre charms than the discovery of per-
motion would have had to Sir
saac N~wton. We had a practical illustra-
on Of it while observing an effeminate
outh vino dispenses ribbons in an up town
tore, and who carries a gold-headed cane
a six-shoOter, was ComplaCently wax
lg the points on his mouctache between
le mirrors alluded to. He appeared as
Apply as 8 kitten, and looked as complacent
$ a donkey. Arranged Oh a capacious shelf,
e observed what appeared to be a pretty
'ell stocked apothecaries' store. Washes
soaps, and cosmetiques, and powders,
nd dyes were there, We found on closer in
After mOralizing on the degener-
cy of the age, and becoming somewhat du-
of the assertion that the fair sex alone
re to blame for artificial adjournment, we
west ourselves OF our Chdpedu, and sank
ito a chair to wait our turn. But what was
ur establishment when we lad Just imag.
ed the seat was of ordinary construction,
find that the weight of our person drove
le back of the chair into a reclining posi-
drawing us along with it, and at the
time, by a strange mechanical con-
ivance exalting our understanding"
loft in space. The picture, though
.,diculous in the extreme, was win
sumptous," and after we
ad recovered from our embarrassment, we |
.certained it was no easy matter for one !
initiated in the mystery 10 release HIM |
from such a recumbent predicament.
ere we were compelled to r~ecline, then,
.ther than display any ungraceful move s
ents. While thus entrapped, one of the 5
apprentices, who receives fees rs a |
All Lluni- uras rhraurd onnnnh fAn,nl- |