Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-06-27
The Vagrant Whisker.

Inc mutations OF time ana the
changes of custom have affected moth
ing more than the hirsute appurtenance
of the manly face. And il may.with
safety be asserted that the fashion of
the beard has not been without its in
huence on the destinies OF not only
men but nations. Indeed, the question
of hair has been at all times so inter-
esting, often of such vital moment, that
il has become twisted into the politics
of governments, carved into the thrones
of monarchies, and threaded through
the chronicles of time from Deuteron-
omy TO the Dude. What the beard
should be or should not be has not al
ways been a matter of choice with the
individual seized of the productive pro-
priety in the beard, for not until a COM
paratively recent date has there been
anything like free exercise of taste in
this direction.
Sometimes the restrictions were arbi-
trary, sometimes the result of wise pre-
caution, or "a necessary regulation; but
at all times the authoritative fiat has
been regarded as an infringement of
natural privilege, inasmuch as the bar
barian idea that an unshorn beard was
the surest badge of liberty was hard to
crowd from the civilized mind. The
amplitude of sprouting virility has in it
the very soul of dignity, as any profane
Mohammedan who swears by the beard
of the Prophet will assure you. 1t is a
wonder with speculative minds, there
fore, that there are now fewer full
boards worn than there were at time
when it was hazardous to appear with
other than the close warrior cut or the
T-shaped affair of imperial preference.
1t but shows that where liberty is I'M
trammeled principles often fall into
decay, and the man who would defend
with life the fecund profit of his chin
were it attacked will, master of his acts,
yield to the shears of fashion what he
withholds from the razor of decree.
To over-nice social devotces the I'M
trimmed flowing beard, the vagrant
whisker, is a thing not well TO be en-
dured. A Belgian Colonel, cognizant
of the fact that primal choice runs still
that way, cxkort5 his soldiers to have a
care of these lawlcss hairs, since il
compromises the dignity of the uni
form to wear beard like the fringe of
an orang-outang's muzzle." Ii is this
reflection, no doubt, that limits the
quantity of facial observation in these
days when, since the abandonment of
arms as the noblcst pursuit, boudoir
puppets are left to set the cut that grave
men follow. Some men, IL is true, find
as much qualification of personal vanity
in their sesquipedalian boards rs women
do in the luxuriant tresscs that flow
from their crowns a sufficient raiment
for chastity. But there are few men
able to cultivate such n crop of hair,
and it is very proper that authority of
some sort step int mediator between
their example and the easier require
ment Of style. 1t is unfortunate, how
ever, that classification is ignored in
the fashion of boards.
There was time when mustache
would have thrown an English court
into paroxysms, and upset the decorum
of a bench of big wigs. Now they are
commonly worn by English barristers,
though there are some clder-day
brethren who regard the habit as a con-
temptuous fling at the sanctity of JUS
tice. These fogics, who are preserva-
tives of protoplasm, must turn for con-
ISOLATION to the tavern-kecper of Berlin,
who has cnjoined the mustache from
appearing among the walters and male
servants of the hotel. And what would
become of Partisan cafe wherein
q garcon bobbcd mustache over
his tray of ediblcs Mustache
and garcon are n contradiction in
terms, and there are the French clergy
and the French walters alike. The
moral distinction does not appear in the
aspect of tho face. Priests of that coun-
try are, indeed, allowed to follow the
fashion set by Richelieu, and the natty
royale is not uncommon. The amount
of envy and discomfort resident in the
heart of one who is of necessity tribu-
tary of the razor can hardly be imagined
by the citizens of this free-bearded coun-
try.
Next to the French the English have
smarted under tho blade and lather of
compulsion. Each monarch had his
own idea of how the beard should be
worn, and where he did no more than
set the example yet controlled the prac-
tice of the million. The advent of good
Queen Victoria, with no especial devel-
opment in that direction, was an unwrit-
ten act of emancipation, and relegated
the hairy slavery to the army. Now
nine in ten of the bold Britons of civil
life do not shave at all, or, II they do,
it is at the instance of their own sweet
wills. Yet for all that there still exists
a prejudice against the ilippancy of the
mustache even in this country. A COM
Portable old fellow of Berks County, Pa,
gave up the ghost but recently and left
u will. In it he disinhcritcd such of his
male descendants as persist in wearing
mustachcs. IL remains to be seen
whether his heirs will be as Spartan in
devotion to the fringe of their upper lip
as was the young Russian who not long
ago died in defense of his. He had been
directed by the Gar to obey regulations
and shave off his mustache. He obeyed,
sending the carefully preserved hairs to
his royal master. The next day his body
was fished out of the river. He had
been unable to endure his shame. Chi
cdgo Inter- Ocean.
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