The National tribune., 1888-05-17
CHAPTER ON Boards.
How Men Have Cultivated and Worn
Them.
Cincinnati Enquirer.J
HIRSITE HISTORICAL. HINTS.

only to the man who asks it. yet it was all the |
difference at one time between ostracism and |
being in the style, and at another of coming |
within the bounds of Mother Church and be- |
ing a schsmatic. No M0hammedan dares |
shave to-day unless he belongs to q certain |
sect, for it is a sufficient mark of contempt to
call man no. beard, - and an insult not to |
be borne to threaten to tear it out, while you !
can wish the Moslem no better fortune than
that his beard may grow. When Selm J. in |
the 10Th century. dared to shave off his beard
he shocked the Faithful more than if he had
cut off the whole population of conquered
town. 1t was bold act for him to smile at the
Multi's remonstrance.
1t is sign of the complexity Of the differ
entiatiOn of modern civilization. Herbert
Spencer might say that every man wears his
hair as he pleases or none at all, II he so
choose. That the full beard is a mark of
sayagery was the opinion of almost all an
cient civilized peoples. Consequently the
young Roman shaved when he assumed the
Yirile tOga, and denOminated all saYages by
term from which we derive the word barba-
rian," meaning bearded. The Romans who
played that scurvy trick on the Sabine women
were probably hairy fellows, but their refined
descendants shaved off the hair of all the body
except of the scalp. When the first barber
landed in Rome from Sicily, about three CEN
turtles before Christ, the new practice of shay
ing no doubt was vigorously denounced by
the old graybeards. stanch conservatives al
ways, but like all imported luxuries, it grew
into favor. Those who shave closely have at
least illustriOus examples to point to.
They would hardly 90 so far as the ancient
Egyptians, who shaved so far that even the
hair of the head was not spared. This clearly
people abhorred hair-that is, natural hair;
yet they wore wigs constantly, and artificial
boards at times When their artists depict
man with a beard Of several days growth they
mean this fellow was slOyen or Of low de-
gree 1t was a mark of distinction on the
face Of the warrior returning from a campaign,
for it meant he had had no chance to cut it of.
Though they wore no boards and despised the
Ong-haired and bearded Greeks, yet they had
respect for this natural excrescence as a mark
of manhood, and they wore at times an artif-
cial beard tied TO the head. A smooth-faced,
bald-headed man can claim the Egyptian
sculptures as his fashion plate.
He who clings to his beard may comb it daily
with assiduOus care, and even encircle it with
a ring if proud Of its length of flament; but
he would hardly follow the Assyrian fashion
and plat it in many rolls and bind it with
ribbons, nor would he put it in a case, as
the ancient jewellers by the Nile did their false
boards. The Israeites who gathered at Jerusa-
lem would be his exemplaTs for they were
proud of their unadorned boards, and retained
them even in captivity among the clean pated
! pyramid builders. Joseph shaved himself be-
I lore answering JHe summons OF IudfaOu, lDdb
he might not be offensive to the mighty ruler,
/ which is only an early instance Of that capacity
| of accommodating themselves to circumstances
| which makes the Jew so powerful to-day
The beardless face is the fashion Of the
| gladiator and the prize-fghter for the same
! reason that AleXandeT's valiant soldiers shaved
| their chins by royal command, in order that
| they might no longer carry about with them
! handle whereby the enemy could seize them.
! The reason was good, or there might have been
| hostile inquiries for the youthful cOnqueror on
/ the part of his own army.
But men who grow boards are as proud of
them as of their own children. Are they not
their own product and full of individual
| idiosyncrasy? Every crinkle means some
| thing, if it represents nothing more than a
dime saved from the barber. Peter the Great
knew human nature and used his knowledge
to extort money from his subjects. lie laid q
! tax on boards, and at first raised more commo-
ton than copecks. But the Government bar
bers began shaving off the boards of delin-
quents, and that tax was paid with expedition.
The mustache has been an object much solic-
tied. The young man upon whose upper lip a
constant shadow hangs is the one finds 1T most
necessary to stroke it. 1t must be nursed and
coaxed. Manhood has advanced its sign, and
the boys thoughts are always on 1T. With how
much envy he looks on the next young man
whose upper lips crop has a years growth
It's half-inch-long filaments he endeaYors to
twist to point He wakes it to make it lie
down. The young man has done this III every
age and cline where hair was not despised. To
return to the ancient dwellers by old Nile
the young Egyptian was spared one Of the most
anxious periods of his life, for his father had
shaved him constantly since he was five years
old, leaving only couple of locks to hold him
by should he prove to be renegade. Yet the
mustache has been as much preached at as any
sin man can commit. Englishmen Of a century
or so ago looked on it-that is, the mustache
solus-as a French friyolity. The cOurtly
Frenchman of the time Of Louis trained this
| appcndage of his face to unnatural length
Until recently the English prejudice still
showed itself in regulations which prevented
its display in the army and among the clergy
Just now, and among Americans, the mustach6
is the fayorite form of hair upon the face. In
its place it sets off the face and doctors declare
it is Of great use in straining the air which
goes into the lungs. Neither dust nor ordi
nary smoke will 90 through with it. Wher
: cultivated to excess it is valuable as coffee
/ strainer The man who, when he takes a spoon
full of SOUP lifts his mustache with his left hand
| aud carefully depositing the side Of the spoor
/ on the edge Of the cavern displayed beneath
tits it over until the contents are split, is No
r a graceful object at dinner. IN the name 0
all that is cleanly, the inyeterate tobacc
g chewer should eschew either the long mustach
{. or his favorite qud.
! Englshmen and Irishmen to some exten
4 affect side whiskers. Anglomaniac American
0 do the same Josh Billings, close observer 0
S human nature, says that nine-tenths of all Tia
t men who wear side Whiskers are members 0
= some church. Let the reader look around hin
j this morning and judge if Josh is not abou
S right Side whiskers become some faces, blu
Y even Oscar Wilde would not defend a red fac
d framed in pale gold whisllers as an object 0
S beauty There are two varieties Of these species
One is the rather elegant affair which is lon
Q and slightly scanty Of hair. The other yariet
: is shorter, bushy, and has curl forward. Thi
0 is worn By eads
d The imperial was first cultivated in France
c When it is full and has elegant curl, it ma
: be graceful and is always rather becoming.
n The goatee-popularly supposed to be name
z for the od0riferous animal which wears it-ha
@ a smack of humor in it. 1t gives one the i'm
IS preston that its owner is jester, or, at leas
d a man full of quaint conceits On a full face
l. otherwise shaven, it sometimes has q eomica
air
Is How severe is the man who has his whisliei
It and beard clipped of square! He is square ais
e in all his dealings, and measures other folk
N morals by rule and plumb. He would reduC
ir life to geometrical figures, and lay out the roa
/ to Heaven by a species of theological trigC
II nometry. His is the beard of formal cuts,
Of which the melancholy Jacques describes man
Le wearing in the sixth or magistera age. I'll
&c pointed beard is an affectation of the past an