National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-09-06
A VERY TouGH CHEEK.
"Reminiscences OF n st. Louis barber
Who Shaved hen Buticr-No Trim
mings or Extrns-A Plain Man.

wouldn't you like to have IL cut 2" asked
the barber, softly. Mo- the reporter
couldn't spare the time just at present.
When no came in again, perhaps. 81
thought you would like to have il trimmed
of little behind; II looks bad" continued
tho barber. No; all the reporter wanted
was shave, and he would like to have
IL rs q uick as possible, as he had Oh i'm
por tant engagement with prominent
bank er, and II only lacked five minutes
Of the time set for the meeting. PLENTY
of time" said the barber. II will FIX you
up in less time than that"
mo-" said the reporter, Il don't want
you TO shave mo too fast; I'd rather give
you ton minutes than five"
"All right" said the barber; "iust as
you say. captain. But when customer
is in a hurry j can give him rs quick
shave as anybody. l once shaved Ben
Butler in two minutes and thirty.six Sec
onds, when ! had chair in the Parker
house shop, School street, Boston,"
Whom did you say you shaved ?" asked
the reporter
"Ben Butlcr-tho workingman's csndi-
date for tho presidency, you know It
was during the war-.iust about the second
year of the rebellion, l think. Butler
had como on to Boston from tho front to
consult with Gov. Andrew about the
Massachusetts troops, and he put up at
the Parker house | had never seen him
in my life, but everybody knew his face,
for there was scarcely window in the
city that didn't have his picture in those
days. l had just put my apron ONT
was early in the morning he came
into tho shop putting and blowing, and
,uitbont , xvard tnnL INV chair I
started to mix the lather, when he
growled at me and said:
"'See here; don't want any of that
COMPOUNDED stuff on my face
Don't you want shave sirP said /.
"'What in thunder and lightning do
you suppose / came hero for? OF course
want shave he said, and want one
devilish quick, too. l never use lather.
Just go ahead and shave me as / am
Without anything on your face2' l
asked again, for 1 thought had misun-
derstood him.
ayes, without anything on my face.
How often must / tell you that ? / had
only three minutes to spare when came
in here, and now you have wasted nearly
thirty seconds. Let me get out of here in
two minutes and half aud I'll give you
dollar. Come on
well, sir, hardly knew how to begin,
for / had never shaved anybody that way
before in my life, but he fastened that
queer eye Of his on me and electrified me
with it. i went to work on his face. l
have shaved longshoremen, hodcarriers,
cowboys, book agents. life-insurance So
lcitors, lightning-rod men, lawyers, and
newspaper reporters, but / never saw or
felt, since or before, a cheek that could
euunl his in touphness
II dulled my razor the very first stroke
l gave him, but as he was in such hurry
l didn't stop to hone it. When i had
shaved about half of his right jaw
noticed that the razor lifted the stubbles
out by the roots, and said
"'Do l hurt your
"Never mind; 20 ahead; I amt q
chicken" ho answered with growl.
well, went ahead just q blowing up
the stubbles by the roots, but my con-
science wouldn't let me go on that way,
so l reached for the strop.
"Hone your DANCED razor on my chin"
he yelled. II don't want any baby BUSH
ness. That's the way do it at home"
$50 l honed the razor on his chin, and
] swear to you it beat any grindstone l
ever saw.
'Then 1 pitched in again and com.
mGuCtu vi thc iolp ChcOh. iou NouAuh v
believe me, maybe, but the grating of the
razor on his face sounded like the noise
of a buzz saw. took big pimple off
while turning around to order crowd of
newsboys and bootblacks away from the
door, and my heart almost stood still with
fright.
az beg your pardon, general said J.,
but couldn't helpit!
"'Help what?' said he starting.
az cut your face a little said l..
"'Did you? Well, never mind-hurry
up or I'll leave the chair as l am
HE was bleeding, but l stopped it with
piece of court plaster and some powder,
aud went for him again. l felt sorry
for the poor man, and when l nipped a
wart off his under lip / thought I'd sink
through the floor. But when looked at
him to see what effect it was going to
have he was fast asleep"
"AsleepW
ayes, sir, and sleeping Just as quietly
as if he were under the influence of mild
and pleasant narcotic.
when finished shaving him woke
him up"
"'Ah,' no said, 4 have been asleep. A
shave like that always soothes me. Let
me see; how long have you been at it?"
"'Two minutes and thirty-six seconds,
said |.
"'Six seconds out of the way said he.
Young man, have you no respect for your
word Do you see nothing sacred in a
contract between man and man? You
undertook to shave mo in two minutes
and half; you haven't done it-you are
six seconds behind time. Where is the
proprietor-I want to tell him what
think of barber shop that employs men
who have no regard for their honor
THE proprietor hadn't got down, so
told him SO.
"'Ah' said he, that accounts for 1t.
While your employer is away you think
yourself at liberty to dilly-dally with
customers and cause them to loose valua-
BILE time, l have half a mind to hand you
over to the police SIR
II told him that had shaved him in
less time than any barber in Boston could
do it, but he stormed around and finally
left, saying that no would never enter
the shop again, but would use his intiu-
once to keep all respectable people away
from it.
"How about the dollar he promised
you?'
swell, never heard anything more
from him until he called in again day
or two afterward. was busy. but he sat
down and said he would wait for me. i
shaved him as did the first time, but as
he said nothing about being in a hurry !
took it leisurely. When had finished,
he went to the proprietor and told him
that had given him the best shave he
had ever had when he called in the other
day, and that he wanted to make me a
small present. Then he gave me W
bill"
THAT was generous of him"
"Yes, it was, and kept that bill to this
day"
"You treasure it rs gift from tho grufl
old warrior" asked the reporter.
mo-" replied the barber. ut was one
of these wildcat bank bills, and the bank
that issued it had failed two weeks before
he gave 1t to me-"
| A Cuban DoRuty.
There is wonderous beauty at Ions
| Rranah apnnr1ino 20 aaUaral rurtfaru Hal