Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-04
Queer T,cutonic Customs.

Queer TcutOnic Customs
Tbs average German, especially tho
younger masculine portion Of the COM
nunity, takes great care to have his!
oerson-that is, his hair, at least-veryi
neat. In fact, ones previously acquired
notions that the ladies have possession
of the greater part, if not all, of tho
worlds stock of vanity receive very
staggering blow when he sees how very,
careful che German young men are to.
appear at their best on all OCCASIONS.
But even this personal vanity would not
De SO bad if their toilets were not made
IN the public view. for there is some-
hing distasteful, to Americans at least,
IN seeing any one, much less a man.,
calmly take out a little pocket hair-i
crush and proceed to smooth down his
hair. Over here, however, such things,
quite the thing. No matter what the,
occasion is Or where, the hair-brush is a.
constant and much.used companion.
On entering the theatres or the music
halls every n of the young men goes
to his seat, pulls out his little brush and.
proceeds in the most matter-of-fact way
to arrange his hair, referring now and
then to the small looking-glass on tho
back of the brush to admire the general
effect. Even in the restaurant the same
thing is done over the soup. The REL
suit is that one sees the smoothest and
sleekest arranged hair among the,
younger Germans. But the effect Isl
spoiled when one has the thing forced!
upon him at all times, and on all oc-
easions finds himself in a ~gentleman's'
dressing-room everywhere he goes, JUST
as n would not think so much of q
pretty complexion, EVENT. one previous,
ly knew it were artificial, if he saw the
tairpossesor applying the cosmetic. 1t is.
strange how such little things will effect;
one, but they do; and one is often com
PEELED, in spite of himself, to form his
opinions from little things. OF course,
when n says call younger Germans"
he does not mean every single one Of
them. For there are a few, even among
the physically almost perfect Germans.
who wear their hair a la Buff,
falo Bill. However. these are few in
number and etfe1ninate in body and
mind, having great deal of the esthetic
and poetic in their natures. Their lily
white hands and pale faces offer a strik-
ing contrast to the brawny and ruddy
appearance of their more fortunate and
manly brothers. One cannot always
account for ones prejudices, and [ am
Tree to confess that [ cannot account for
my prejudice against a nan who parts
mis- hair in the middle. I have such q
prejudice. And the natural result is
that [ find myself prejudiced against a
very great majority of the young men
over here. For nine out Of every ten
part their hair in the exact, mathemati-
cal centers of their craniums; and, not;
content with this, continue the parting
clear down the back of their necks as
far as the hair reaches. carefully brush
ing the hair away to each side. y
The hat with us is used as a covering
for the head, and is not removed ex-.
cept under Observation-Disclosures,
such as saluting a lady. entering a
room, and the like. One would not
think of raising his hat to his intimate
gentlemen friends every time he meets
them on. the street. But the Germans
take it as a great breach of etiquette, If
not a decided personal insult, if you
pass them with simply Good morn.
NY, VI no" are you! " HusH
raise your hat and make a decidedly
low bow. This would be a little in
convenient, but nothing worse, if you
were only acquainted with a few gentle
men But when one walks down the
street and meets forty or fifty gentlemen
in the course of an hours stroll, and 10
compelled to go through the same hat
raising formula to each and every one
of them, the thing becomes a little mo-
notonous. .
This same efusiveness pervades all
classes of society, and one sees old men
and boys s%aluting each other in the same
manner. But one can see even more
touching sights than this if he haunts
the railroad stations and watches tho
departures and arrivals. In America
kissing of friends and acquaintances is
left to be monopolized almost entirely
by ladies; but over here the men take
their share of the good thing-if good
thing it may be cal1-and kiss and hug
each other on occasion in a way that il
truly affecting. Berlin Cor. San Fran-
cisco Chronicle.