, 1885-02-27
IRVING'S BARBER
TELLS WHAT HE PROCESSES TO
KNOW ABOUT THE NOTED ACTOR.
rhs Curse scene In 'Riehsiisu" In rmI,.,
tion OF Booth-A Very Funny EE-
pre-sion-Paintine the Town
Notwithstanding.

Chicago, the particular barber who was pay.
ing attention to my cass gave me an enter.
ainmen that was exceedingly enjoyable.
Ho Is the man that does Henry Irving'l
shaving, and is duly proud Of the fact. He
has but one eye and a timber tongue, but be
can turn the torture OF q shave Into a pleas
ure, SO sharp are his razon, 20 gentle his
touch Said he; ave just come down from
shaving Irving, and l worked him for two
razorR One Of 'em has a mate TO 1t, and !
must work him for that He has moron
nifty OF 'em. 1 tell you, he Is a daisy" said
the c~yclopean tonsorial artist. as he rounded
up the port side of my chin, and began
dredging under the los Of my mustachs,
whilo he gently elevated the point OF my
nasal protubornncs with the thumb and fore
finger Of his left hand.
Yes, I tsll you he is a daisy, and l AM just
as familiar with him as though I'd Known
him forty years. He just talks with me and
somehow he seems to try to keep me talk
ing"
l initiated Irving and tried to do the same
thing, and under my questioning, my single
ogled capillary req per informed me that Mr..
Irving will drink no American liquors and
he Is a great gormandiEsr OF fruit. He keeps
a big basket on his table OF pears and apples,
oranges, bananas, prunes, etc, and Is half
the time eating some OF them @He drinks
brandy" says the barber, "and while l was
shaving him one day, a case Of brandy and
a dozen boxes Of cigars were brought In
which had just come from England. There
amt a bit OF starch In him and
we talk together just like old eronies. Why,
I'll tell you what he did. He gave me an
imitation OF Booth one day right I'm the mid
die OF a shave. What dye think of thatl
There wasn't nobody there but me and the
dog and Irving. / asked him how he liked
Hoofh- aud ha aaf1 Hoofh xvno n n-,1f arfor
one of the greatest in the world. III give
you an imitation OF aim And he got right
up with the towels on and half his face In
lather, and the other half shaved, and he
give hal piece where he says that he puts a
ring around the girl, and stumps any OF the
whole caboodle Of chumps TO step inside Of
it."
~Was IL the curse scene In Richelieu' he
gave your / asked.
SWELL, l don't know about that l never
20 much to the theatre"
"Was 1t something like this" said 1:
Round her form l draw the awful circle of
our holy church. or something of that
sortl'
Eyes, yes was the eager reply: that's
the stuff he gave me; that's the stuff
straight, just TO me and tho dog. l tell you,
he did 1t to the queens taste. too, and when
he sat down he said; No mar can dc that
but Booth. When l attempt it l feel very
humble, and l nave concluded that the boat
thing / can do Is just to initiate Booth when
/ come to that scene.'
II asked him II he liked Barrett, and he
said: oh, yes, Barrett is q fine actor-not
Booth. Of course. BE is not an actor Of the
first rank, nor even OF the second. but he Is a
fine gentleman and my warm friend
me and Irving had n talk the other day"
the barber continued. There was a lot of
English cattle chump5 in the house, and l
told Irving about 'em that they was Eng
lish cattle men, and were coming to SOC him
at night.
"'Cattle man, said he, what is a cattle
mani That is a funny expression, a worry
funny expression
II told him they were Englishmen herding
cattle in Texas, and he said: oh. that Is
b you mean by a cattle man. I didn't
know but II was something half man and
half COW, you know. and Mr.. Irving laughed
30 he nearly fell out Of the chair. Then he
said the Englishmsn Of that class are apt To
drink and get very rude.
"'Yes,' says !, they are red-hot ROSTERS,
and after the play Ia over they'll just more'n
paint the town red
what will they dor says Mr.. Irving,
rolling up his big Dyes. Paint the town redi
Why should they do thati Red Is n beastly
~eAts a W = tAAA abc4A kAAAthAk 40
town red.
well, then / explained about It, and he
kept talking about 1t, and said, What an ex.
traordinary expression; what funny, very
funny things you Americans say-Paint the
town rcdi Well, that Is good; a splendid ex-
preston. The more l think of it the better
Il seems Then he said the Americans were
a wonderfully something or other people,
don't remember the word. 1t was some
thing like philosophical"
Wasn't It mstaphoricalf" IsugRestsd.
~Yes, l guess that was the word He told
me that he would give the world II he had
tho physique OF Booth. That's the way he
pronounced it, but l p be meant
phyaic, didn't hel These Englishmen have
funny ways OF pronounolng things-"
"Irving smokes eight cigars a day and
gives me a couple every day. He calls a
barber a shaver. must play him for four
seats tomorrow night l pipe the old man
off when he is in his best humor, when /
tackle him for passes He gives me an order
for seats In his own writing, and the d
couldn't read It II looks like an Ink blot
struck by lightning.
Shave satisfactory All right. Good
day, sir. Br-r-rush- Next gentleman
sfcrarhlep cIaa.