Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-04-15
A Curious Congress.

/ less Than IS congress OF IlthpC ~ bar
bers, who dressed hair liz ten y ii-lept
ausuage- and -eyen dialects. sven.
tu.l Young ladies, with lomy hlr, and
with IN animated supply of "s"l'nnes,n
"rats,' and Other Varieties Of or'icial
hair, were seated in public he'll, and
a. givsa signal, catl !c..iale H. was
sciz"l by competing b!rhr and
dressed in his host style. Ei"!. barber
Was required to finish bis work within
thirty minutes, and when tia. time
mad expired Jury had examined the
seventeen heads, and n prize Was ad-
ipdsed to the most skilful barber, who
hAppeued to be Il Belgian. Such in
Substance Was the proceedings Of the
international BARRIERS congress, and it
i. to be hoped that the results achieved
satisfied the orr ;inatora Of the affair
Certainly no results were achieved
which ought to produce any great salts.
! faction in the mind If tle public. The
object of the congress WAS avowediy to
develop the genus of blrkera and to
improve and elevate tho profession.
Tins was an excellent object, !ut how
was it sought to be attained? The bar.
ber5 were confined to only one branch
of their profession, that OF dressing
ladies heads, branch IL which there
il no particular demand for any i'm.
provemont, and in which the worst
vices Of BARRIERS are seldom displayed.
Not IA barber was required to show his
skill il shaving, hair-cutting, shanpoo-
Ing. or dyeiug. 1t is IL mere mOckery
to call al exhibition of hair dressing
congress of BARRIERS, and II Wouid be
the nlerest folly to hope thnt any real
good could be accomplished by such an
exhibition.
\ BARRIERS congress wurthy Of the
nacIe would require rs members TO dis
play their skill i'll all tho branches of
their profession. For example, it
would hold grand shaving tourna.
mrIt, with prH9s for BARRIERS who
should exec! IN shaving prepared men
| furnished 10y tnr congress. Each bar.
h"r should be n'lo%ci, say, t'irtY min.
u.es in whicn - iather, shave aud brush
/ lis tuhjeo;. No blrb"r who should
cause urpp Of blood to be sized, who
should insert particle Of soap in his
Subjects eye, q! who should la,i 10 pro-
! duce l. smooth ,ui soft arrfac' i'll place
Of tho Gnrcapoi stnbb!r. should be
/ eligible for - prlAe, and, above all. it
/ HuDdid b. pruvi,i.d tdgt the hlthcr who
| enHNil open his Iipa t. speak to any
! buly--tycn to himself -uijer ticking
tIa naphlA acoupa the subjects neck,
~hpild no, only lose ali C!4it1 tn any
pr;2', Lut aGUuiI le heavily Hl": and
;u:h,t;>ly expelled. Such ! coates.
would have an excellent i@Il"glce On
the professions. II wouN l,:n! larbers
- cultivate the art OF easy shaving,
.a,:rti Of Givins ali the!r energies to
he at ii conversation, aud would do
mNch toward creating ~ public hcnti-
mcut 3mOn8 the BARRIERS themselves in
favor 81 silence and attention t. bust
mass.
Prizes should also be fiycn for hair
cutting, and contestants should be
warmed against urginG their subjects to
he shampooel, or that grave crane OF
forcibly ShampoOlng them, aud then
cilimiDG thnt 1t WAS only ~ Aniatshe.
Tho Chief prize should be given to the
barber who should cut q given head OF
hair in the shortest time and the most
artistic wa, and without making o
single remark or asking d single
Question. This would encourage
all that is good in BARRIERS and discour-
age all that Is bad, and there is no
doubt that shaving and hair cutting
competitions thus conducted would,
sooner or later, lead to n complete re-
focul,tlnn ~ tho minor abuses of bar
bGrH' shops
a. To ,onic. an evil which in .magni-
III 20 uud turpitude far surpasses any
others to which BARRIERS nre prone,
Oh .,n 10. IA
II BARRIERS are to be Thoroughly reformed
tonic must be permanently divorced
FROM the BARRIERS business. Tho first
step in this direction could be taken by
"a BARRIERS congress, Which should adj
mi: to membership only such BARRIERS
AS would solemniy promise never to
have bottle OF tonic i'll their shops;
never 10 mention the subject to their
cUatomers, and never TO have any inter,
est, direct or indirect, il The manufac.
tura or sale Of that dcMorIiaing fluid.
As 1t would be u matter of pride among
BARRIERS to take part in the t0nsorial
tournaments OF the congress, tie more
cutcipri=ing and highmip'I Nambers
Of the profession would r.MNy with
dis ruie. Tie congrca' dDuld then
publish Is " Golden l4isl OF BARRIERS
who had Abandoned tonic, az the pub
IL Wu''li ruy; to lie shops @. these it,
t9.., >al and upright Wen. Tie
ampU!.t If cH "Dm tp4i they NuilI sc.
euro would bc cGocuoub. 8ul their
rly.l5 would s2ou perceive tho neces-
silly OF giving up tonic "A Of ineeribing
themselves on tue golden list. Thus.
il very short iinA. toui; would be.
i.,F,, M, ..i 1 t,lr