Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-09-26
THE GERMAN HERR LIEUTENANT.
His Wonderful Mustache-His Parade on
Unter ten Linden--HI, Social Success.

ne herman lleNieLdNL Is the Ter
man dude. He has few Characters
tics, however, in common with the
American dude. He is intelligent and
manly. lie wears no ultra-fashiona-
bic attire. and talks no ultra-foreign
iargon. He has no yellow top coats,
nor wide trousers, nor pot hats. nor
patent leather shoes, nor big-headed
canes. But there is a red stripe on
each Of his trousers legs, "A big imper-
ial eagle on his helmet. red straps on
his heavy ulster; spurs on his boots,
and at bis side a sword in a massive
scabbard, which strikes tie pavement
at every step. He often wears a mon
ocle and always a mustache.
A lieutenaut's mustaehe is probably
the most carefully trained bit of
whskers in the world. Its proper de-
Yelopment involves more labor than
the combined mustaches of any three
dudes in the whole United States.
Three times every week the lieuten-
ants barber devotes half an hour or
longer to oiling il, twisting it, patting
it, and burning it into shape with hot
irons. When the lieutenant is shaved
the ends of his mustache are done up
in tissue paper, so that the lather
brush and the BARRIERS fingers can not
muss it. A very fastidious lieutenant
pnts a little Hat wooden clamp on each
end of his mustache every night when
he goes to bed to keep the hairs straight
and even. The result of all this train
ing is a mustache which all German
girls dream about and all German
men. outside of the army, ridicule.
The hairs are stiff, crinkled and spread
away from the corners of the mouth in
a fan shape. They shine with oil aud
are odorous of perfume. The leuten-
ant has his hair oiled daily, curled in
front frequently and rubbed down with
German eixirs of all colors, odors and
effects.
After the lieutenant has been re-
freshed by his barber from the fatigue
of early morning drill, he goes to the
most popular cafe to show the poor
humdrum chaps without swords or
spurs or trained mustaches or cured
front hair what mighty tine fellow
lieutenant of the guards is. As soon
as he enters the cafe his fayOrite waiter
begins all sorts of feats of acrObatic
pOlteuess. He bows himself double
whenever the lieutenant turns a hair.
He scurres around like mad after the
military periodicals, and shouts HIM
self hOarse in ordering for the herr
lieutenant the very best caviar, the
freshest rolls and the strongest coffee
which the cafe affords. lie never adj
dresses the lieutenant directly as
"you.n That would be too disrespect-
ful to a real lieutenant, though it is
good enough for men in bobtail coats
and trousers without stripes. No, the
waiter always asks: 'Wlll the herr
lieutenant kindly have sugar in his
cOfTeeP" "Will the herr lieutenant
have a 2-ceut beer or 23-cent beer?n
"Will the herr lieutenant have fine
domestic cigar for 3 cents or q super
fine cigar for cents?' All this SER
Witty costs the lieutenant "A cent. 1t
would cost an American double that
amount. A German civilian would
have hard work to get it at any price.
A Frenchman could not get ii at all.
After coffee the lieutenant takes two
little brushes from case in his pocket
and brushes his mustache. Then he
goes out to give the girls a treat. In
Berlin he exhibits himself on Inter
den Linden; in Leipsic, on the Prom
enade; in Dresden, on the Bruhl ter
race. He marches along in the mid
die of the walk, as erect and conscious
rs if he were on dress parade. He
turns neither to the right nor left, save
for an officer of higher rank. Civil
ians make way for him, for he is bad
man to bump against. He IS keen to
resent any iucivility, and the man who
shoves him rudely or gets on his toes
is apt to bring up opposite him with
swords or pistols the next morning in
the Grunuwald of Rosenthal. The
lieutenant on this street parade, how
ever. is not so busy admirng himself
that he has no time TO admire all the
girls. who admire him. He ogles every
pretty woman through his monocle.
His admiration of a handsome young
wife on her husbands arm is just as
open ms his admiration of tue coquet-
fish shop girl who walks alone. This
does not bother the young wife very
much, because most German women
like to be looked at by ieutenants, but
it frequently gets the husband into
one of those scrapes with swords and
pistols.
AT dinner in restaurant the lieu
tenant always gets the pretiieSt wal
tress, her incest smiles, the fattest bit
of roast goose and the biggest piece Of
cheese He is admitted to the theater
for almost nothing, aud attracts more
attention there than the rich banker
who has a proscenium box all to him.
self. Between the acts he brushes his
mustache before the whole house and
flrts with the prettiest girl whose frau
mamma isn't looking or whose herr
papa has gone out to see man. lie
knows all soubr,ttes. His card is at
tached almost every evening 10 bou-
quet that is handed over the footlights.
After the play he is to be found IN a
quiet cafe near the theater with an &C
tress aud bottle of wine. He leads
at all the dances. His red and blue
coat attracts more fayors than dozen
Ia. a. .sft f.Al "a