, 1877-12-27
A NEW YORK BARBER.
1Its Dealings wifi, ;Iamss oortinn 1sen-
nett. Henry j. Raymond, and T. T. Uar.
mum.


nu,no OF "Gental Tom ~ ttan was Thomns F.
HlgQ,nson, who for more than twenty ycars
managed popular barber'a shop under the
Pafk Hotel, and, after brief illncss,-lcss thnr
= wcck,-licd yesterday Of pneumonia IN hts
homo III BROOKLYN. In 1867. when he began bis
toi,sortal business IN Dcoku,an street, his little
shop, with mirrors, md pictures, and great arm
chairs, was revelation Of luxury to tho mon
and brethren OF that regfon. tbs ready Wit and
sayor faire Of the proprietor made him popular
in very short time, and his place became widely
known.
The cldor Bennett, Henry J. Raymond, Horace
Greeley, Frederic Hudson, James n. spauldlna,
William Horny 11urlbut, Charles g. Iin1pinc,
John Chincy, 1satah ls5ndcrs, Fernando Wood,
John Wood, Marcus Cicero Stanley, nil tho
Vanity Fair set, and Bolicmians generally, made
frequent use Of Tom Iligglnson'a barber-shop,
and many who preferred to share at homo
avatled themselves Of his skill III hair-cuttinr,
and Of his wcll-mnnaged bathing facilities. On
ono occasion Tom rendered Henry ]. Raymond
a most important service In obtaining, by cun-
Ming stratagen, possession Of a Paeket0f letters
thut wero heIng used to tic lntter's Ictrlment,
and subsequently, when t. was aseeItapcd thai
copies Wero In tho hands Of third person,
Tom proved bis iitnces for diplomacy by sccur-
ever thereafter friend to Tom, and On his re-
turn from Europe made him very costly and
discussion Of affairs frequently ran high Ia the
1iigginsonian cllnIrs, and when there wis hon1v
dn,lbt In tlo public mfni a. to which flag
Union or Confederate-waA TO- bo hung from
isar,,si u Of p1ot t,s execution Of which would
hive eausel Embarrassment and personal In
convenience, to say tue least, to tho veteran
editor q that journal. 4to lo.t no time IN see-
Ing st,d warning MI. Bennett Of the project,
Bonnett. never forgot hta friend, the "euriy-
headed bntbur.n
4 noted divine, who nss aecn preaching hcrc-
abouts ncarly thirty yeaI:, went into Toms ono
morning to be shaved. lie NRs not 80 generally
known then as he Ia now, and tbs foren,as, as-
signed green l,aId to l,t1n. After bunalnx
latherig, tho fellow began to scrape and tug at
his customers face, which chanred to bc in d
most ten|er copsllt!ou. Ths sufferer bore y for
II no longer. Pulling thu towel ilnpattently from
his neck, ho roarcd out: "TAis Ia pur9atory,
sir; toorse than purRatory.h Tom hasl Just
como tn; ~ oi'cc 10 pushed hls .ubor,lnate
and softly rubbed tho latl1rr In. Then with
delicate touch ho passc1 tho st:arpest Of razor1
Acro4s tho growing beard. liow Is this stra"
"Thia,,m' tho satt:acd preacher repl!el; "wly,
preacher and barber wore warm fricttds, and
Tom used to tell the groom hands story With
In s.Ca!lfosnta timcs," when tho rural lle-
tricts wero nearly depopulatel, and the lote9s
of Neckman, Nassau. and Cort'antlt streets
wers tic favored resorts 0f ttla returned mfnars,
Tom geapcd gofden harytBIs. MRny q man las
spent 10 fof On outfit III TOMS shop ilo en-
tered rough dirty, aud miner, and went out
smooth, clean, and gentleman. bucsskin on
rntrn.ce, broatieloth at exit. sotnctlulcs twenty
or tbirty 0f these returncd Caiiforutans, having
rcgts stercl theIr names in Fscnch's, 1togc1oy's.
nr the Park flotel, would tnkc Ht,ssessioil OF
lIlgginsun's "t,air ranch u and run II tDr aey-
oral hours to the utter exclusion Of other etis-
tuners The rrgalur routine waA ta1r-cuttInE,
shaving, bathing, new socks, new sl!Tt, new
uulelcothes, aud full suit of now clothes,
brought from ono Of tho reatlY-hado wafc-
houses near by. from whotn Tou' t'ad, Ut courso,
royalty or commission. Tho quantity Of Lair
cheap tewe1rY, cuff-buttons, ehlrtStutfk, and
fancy cancs lo used to dispose OF, at = pro
!iglous profit, 10 men OF tAs class was astonist-
inE. They wcro ltku children on spree. They
had an abundance Of money, aud wsntcd to buy
cyuFy pretty Thing tAoy saW,
Ono Of T1ln IligEtuson' . earliest and stat,cll-
est friends WIS T. I. Darnum, who, when his
M,,seuu, stood on ths corner Of 'nroadwas and
Ann street, .usela to bo shaved daily in 1om's.
Every chale was full. 'Il!are apprasul no JIM
mediate prospcct tor 4 shave. barnun lookcu
appeared to be dra5nati. " ~ ttleiMi," saitl
Kindly allow Mr. lllsQlason 10 shave nc ii ynur
turn, I'll pay Tor .ou IA Wi! ~ nsselk" Tho
mail aAsenlel. UarhuM was shaved md won't
away. Nvxt .tay tho Xrent Snowman was baud.
I'd q btll substantially as follows.
Ths lion. +. T. llAMNcN.