The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
A BARRIERS WISDOM.
\ Tonsorial Artist UnlockS
His knowledge Box.
How Hairs Turn Gray and Why Men Get
Baldheaded-AdEce to Women

NVo"
e
A barber who dressed % Brooklyn
Union reporters hair recently had the
usual conversational ability of the ''pro-
fession,n but it ran in a different vein.
He didn't remark about the weather, talk
indefinitely of politics, Or even suggest
the proper kind of hair restorer the Gus
toner should use, to be had, perforce, of
him.
"You have an excellent head of hair"
said he.
Eyes" was the gratiied response of
the customer.
"But it is growing gray" was the next
remark.
"Um," grunted the customer, guessing
what would next be said; but he was
mistaken. There was no suggestion of
hair dye.
"The reason l say so is, because if you
are careful in five years you will have one
of the finest heads of gray hair a man
would wish, and l think nothing is finer
than a thick growth of gray hair. 1t is
not the sign of weakness that many think
Some of the healthiest men in the city
grew gray young. You mustn't cut it too
often, though"
"Why not?"
Because that will make you bald. 1t
is often wondered why men grow bald
and women do not. Some claim it is be-
cause the men keep their hats on con-
stantly and so overhead their heads, while
women wear light hats. This is incor-
rect. Men keep their hats on very little
more than women. The trouble is the
men generally have their hair cut con-
stantly and short, It's just like keeping
a lawn-mower going frequently over the
grass. The roots burn themselves out
and the plant dies. Hair is nothing more
than a plant so far as that is concerned.
81 beg your pardon, does that hurt you?"
and the barber dexterously removed a
number of hairs which had gotten be-
tween the customers collar and his neck.
do you know that those little hairs
might obtain growth there if you left
them alone2 They would. I've had
strange hairs grow in ON my arm or hand
and it was just as if l had been inoculat-
ed with virus. There was irritation and
Inflammation. This wouldn't be the case
with ones own hair, of course"
II guess you didn't get all that hair
out" said the customer. "There seems
to be somacrawling around there yet"
You're right about the crawling.
Hairs are covered with scales faced one
way. They're like fiat, round, or three
cornered files, and the teeth fasten them
selves in the skin so that they can almost
crawl. can easily tell which end of this
hair the root is on" said the barber as he
rubbed a hair between his thumb and
forefinger, and it began to move out of
his hand. THAT is how hairs get tam
gled. These teeth fasten in each other.
The people who pull at them only hurt
themselves and tighten the grip worse.
If they rubbed the tangled spots between
their fingers they'd loosen it without
hurt"
"You think women are wise in not cut
ting their hair?" asked the reporter.
tNo. l don't. They should have
their hair trimmed occasionally, because
that would aid its growth. When hair
grows to a certain length it splits, and
that weakens it. I'm often surprised,
though, that many women have
any hair at all. They draw it up so
tightly it ought, to strain it out by the
roots. i believe they give themselves
their nervous headaches by straining the
nerves at the base of the brain in doing
their hair up. They certainly expose the
tenderest part of the head"
After this information, given without
interfering with his work, the barber pro-
ceeded with q chronological examination
of his customers head, detailing the vari-
GUS excellencies of character shown in his
bumps, until he was pulled up with pride
and paid the extra 5 cents demanded for
bay rum without a murmu