The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1880-11-19
NEW SERIES---NO. 1913.
Hints to BARRIERS.

Nearly Everybody has read Mark
Twain's experiences abroad in getting
shaved, and who has not laughed at
the description of his anticipations Of
enjoying the bliss of a Partisan shave
and its lamentable sequel. In recent
article in the Hartford C'ourant he
treats the subject seriously. He says:
1t is safe to say that nine out of ten
Of the men one meets OH the streets in
our cities shave, or rather are shaved.
Some shave the mustache, some shave
the chin, some the cheeks. Indeed,
one must 60 into mathematics to the
taDlos OF permutations and combina-
tions to find how many varieties Of
shaving are possible. Woman is ac-
cuscd of being the party who devotes
her time to appearances and frivolties
of the mirror, but, after all, man docs
his share of it. The reason he escapes
is that he blandly sets down his dec
orative work as being matter Of ne
cessity.
And it is true that shaving is a.
very old custom, nor have we any
thing to say against it, except that III
is unnatural, and is, and should DO.
acknowledged to be, a concession to|
the looking glass and to vanity. But
the point Is that old as is the art, it is
u singular thing how few know how
to shave. NEARLY all men shave I'M
the passive voice." This may be Ia
ken as the grammatical phrase or asI
an acknowledgement Of the voice Of
the barber which they have to en-
dure. Each Specification is true. And
while nearly all men consent to relWS|
their shaving to a few who make it n
business, only fraction of that fewl
understand their art.
There is a financial blunder at the1
bottom of it that makes trouble ALI
through. The dogma that q shave isJ
shave is mistake. One man witty
a stiff beard and q full face will choosc1
to have his whole expansive counterS
ancc clean shorn another will shavt1
on his upper lip. To each it was al
shave and each is charged alike,
One may require thirty minutes atf|
tention, the other ten minutes. Thc1
first will duh razor, the second not
affect its edge. To each it is 10 cents.
Now, a BARRIERS working day, woI
will assume, is ten hours long. If he|
is occupied three quarters Of the time,
he must be buster than usually ap-'
pears. This gives him seven hours
labor, and if he struck day of half
hour faces, his whole receipts would
be Sl.40. If his luck gave him ten
minute cases, he would take in $3.50.
Even this would not pay were it mott
for the seductive side issues-the hair
cuts and shampoos Of the trade-thst|
bring in more per hour than the fun-|
damental industry.
Now, as the price and the circum-
stances of shaving 60, it is constant
hurry to finish man, as shaving|
scarcely pays at the best, and if be isl
one of the most absorbing subjects
full shave and stiff beard-it is q loss|
to work upon him. To shave him
carefully takes too much time and
costs the edge of the razor. To skim
over his face, cutting oil sections OF
beard here and there, and leaving odd
GASES of hair along the deserts of the
cheek, saves the razor and spoils the,
person who pays for the operations,
and who should not be entirely for
gotten. The scale Of prices ought to
be regulated by what one gets, and
BARRIERS ought have the courage to-
charge for what they do.
This done, revolution in the art
would follow. Speed would not bel
the great aim. Attention could Dol
given to the removal of the beard, i
which, in old times, it was as import
tant to remove as the lather, and tho|
man who went out OF the barbers|
shop would leave satisfied, instead of
hoping that the next time it would Dol
better. We recommend these consid-
erations to the trade without charge
for the advice. Shaving is custom of
civilization; playing with soap bub-
blcs is a game of childhood. 1t isl
now a matter of luck which Of these
operations falls to the BARRIERS patron
to-day.