The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1881-04-07
Cutting a Boys Hair.


Detroit Free HfcS5.
There is no use in fooling around
about it. When q boys hair has be-
come long, and bleached and scraggy,
and full of burrs and feathers, it is
time'tO cut it and the inevitable must
be faced.
The boy doesn't want it cut, of course.
No one ever had a speaking acquain-
tanCe with boy who thought the time
had arrived when he could part with
enough hair to stuff q sofa pillow.
They must be coerced, and kind and
broad promises are thrown away. Co
erciOn is the only method.
let my boy run about so long, and
then when get a spare half day l play
barber. There is no appeal from my
decision. When I come out iat-fOOted
I carry my point or die trying.
Young man, you can get ready to
have your hair cut.
Next week?n
''NO, sir,-noWr'
''With buzz-saw?"
eyes, if the shears won't do it"
''WOn't you draw blood?"
81 may have to"
eff you won't cut my hair I'll bring
in 'nuff wood and coal to last all winter,
and won't ask for light when 1 go
TO bed"
Come out here and make ready"
Inever take any chances on q boy. 1
have an old chair bolted on the floor,
and then I bolt the boy to the chair. l
fix him so that he can move neither
hand nor foot, put a soft gag in his
mouth to prevent a aneighborhood alarm,
and begin work. The first step toward
cutting a boys hair is to put in ten
minutes hard work with a curry comb.
If he hasn't been running around loose
over two or three years this tool will be
sufficient to take out the snarls, buttons,
and articles previously mentioned. A
basket is placed behind the chair for
them to drop into, and they can be dec
grated with fancy pictures and made to
serve as parlOr ornaments.
When the boys head is ready for the
shears, brace your feet and shear away
Shear front, back, top and sides with
out reference to lines and angles. The
object is to remove hair. There is no
use of any conversation, not even when
the shears find a piece of wire and re-
fuse to cut it. The boy wouldn't know
how it got there if you asked him. He
has had his head in closets, cellars, gar
rets, barns, fence corners, barrels, box
es, and all sorts of hooks, and such ex-
ira attachments are no surprise to him.
No one should be less than half an
hour rObbing an average boy Of his
capillary substance. Any attempt to
hurry the Job win result in overlook
ing a lot of shingle nails, the missing
screw-driver, or something which may
damage his Sunday hat. My average
is thirty-five minutes, and 1 have only
two minutes left after being able to see
that he has q scalp. 1t then takes an
additional ten minutes to look him over
and identify him as the same boy I be-
gan on. His neck has grown longer,
the size of his ears increased, and the
whole shape Of his head altered When
I feel sure that it is my boy, and not the
son Of some neighbor who has skulkedin
onme, I brush him ofHsith an old broom,
crack his head three or four times, draw
the bolts and remove the gag, and then
hold the door open for him to shoot in
to the back yard. am loving faith
er in all else, but when I cut boy's
hair am a stern old Roman of the first
water.