The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-09-28

European practice Is reversed, tn
! shampoo" preceding instead of fol
lowing the application of the razor.
, submitted to the operation in Pek
, ing as an experiment, and have to thi
|; day lively recollection of the perfor
nance. Stretched at full length on
bamboo seat or easy-chair, l was pun
meled all over the body, but more par
, ticularly on the chest, legs, and arms
by stout, brawny attendant with hi.
partially closed fists, after the style once
: 50 popular at the "Hsmmam." till
was fain to cry pecari. Sometimes the
"douche" is administered, but only
rarely.
The barbers's outfit is simple, consist.
ing of a good razor. which costs about
threepence, a strop, which usually is
nothing more than strip of stoutish
calico cloth, costing a penny more.
The chief items of expense in this
elaborate "kit" are the accessories. The
metal basin and the bamboo pail under
meath, and the pole surmounting all,
| "bICtI SCI Scs uS lIC CHlUlcul VI Ills Clail
are. however, scarcely more expensive
than the razor and strop; so that, on
the whole, it does not cost very much
to furnish barber's shop in China
The TARIFF of charges Of those engaged
in this branch Of industry is correspond
ingIy low. Three cash." equal to
about half a farthing of British money,
is the sum ordinarily asked for simply
shaving the head. If the queue is plai.
ted and Interviewer with fresh silk, the
scale Of charge correspondingly rises.
Shaving and braiding the queue, re-
failing a workout stump, and sham
pooling, constitute all the arts required
Of the barber. False mustaches and
boards of a rude kind, such as are worn
by actors in the public shows, are not
made by his hands; and of making
among the civilized nations of Europe,
he is altogether ignorant. In fact, the
Chinese gen ntleman is far from being so
particular about his head as the English
gentleman is about his beard: where
the latter shaves at all, he usually
shaves daily; if he dimes out, he will
often repeat the operation during the
twenty-four hours. On the other hand,
the majority of even the better classes
ia China shave but twice a week, aud
the laboring classes but once.
In the case Of mourning, the law-or,
rather, recognized custom, more power.
full than LAWS to permit the head to
go unshaven for months, the precise
time being regulated by the measure of
relationship p to the deceased. But as the
thirteen mouths exemption from shaw
ing prescribed for the loss Of either of
ones parents, if rigidly enforced, would
produce a crop of hair too exuberant for
even Chinese society to endure, where
strict regard for etiquette forbids the
clean polish of the razor blade, other
expedients are brought into requisition
to keep the stumps of the hair within
due bounds.
Since the incoming of the Mantchou
power, BARRIERS shops, primitive and
simple as they are now, must have un-
dergone more marked change than
those we are accustomed to see nearer
home, for the native Chinese, till they
received this badge Of foreign yoke,
did not allow either knife or scissors to |
pass upon their head, but were the |
"long haired race which the Taeping |
insurgents are wishing to become. Pre-.
vious to their subsection by the Tartars
the fashion was to bind the long hair in |
a knot on the top of the head, and there
to fastsn it with a wooden or metal pin,
as is often represented In the old pic
lures of the Mug dynssty. The art OF
hair cutting as practiced in the West is
as yet unknown to the Chinese barber.
1t is but rarely, therefore, that for
eiene calls in the aid Of native skill.
Only, indeed, when he assumes the .
garb OF the country, and goes into the |
interior, does he find it necessary. This,
indeed, forms the coup dc grace to the
metamorphosis. The "tail'
fastened on to the back hair deceives
even the practiced eye of the native,
and, as Mr.. Fortune has dryly observed,
"even the dogs cease to notice him."
In China no tonsorial art is required
for the women's hair. They are invari
ably their own hair.dressers. and with
their own nimble fingers give shape
and substance to the butterfly wings
and 'tea pot' embellishments which
form to European eyes 80 striking fea-
turs OF the famale couture in China.
My sketch of the barber and the pecu.
liarities of his professional career would
hardly be complete without some men,
ton of his humble co-worker, "the col.
lsctor of refuse hair" who represents
very numerous class in China, who oc-
cupy about the same round of the social
ladder as the chitonniers of Paris and
the rag and bone pickers of Padding
ton, only much more numerous, and, if
the truth could be ascertained, much
more miserable than they. Yet even
the poor, abject picker up of refuse
hair is not without interest to his fellow
mortals. Indeed, to many he is possess
ed Of very considerable interest. He,
too. "has his friend at COURT though
dressed in uncoutb garb, as BELTS his
rank and station as court head dresser.
Even he may aspire to the dignity OF
hair collector to the chief barber and tail
maker extraordinary to his Eftulgent
Majesty Ho-Ki- Po-K XII Win-Ki- Wum,
Emperor of all the Chinas. Through
the instrumentality of the hair worker
and the maker of mustaches the con-
tents of the ample wicker basket which