The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1889-10-09
TELL TALE WHISPERS.
HOW THEY INDICATE THE CHAR
AcTERS OF THE WEARERS.

ally BE Read by the Style of His Facial
Adornment-It Appears That the Bare
faced Man Has Little the Best of 1t.
The subject of boards furnishes an in
teresting study as indicating the dispo-
sitions of persons. There is nothing par
ticularly marked about the characters
tics of the "beardless YOUTH" as his
purposes in life and his character can
hardly be said to be fixed. However, as
he grows into manhood, and natures his
beard to his taste, the style he finally
adopts will usually indicate his ideas of
life. There is, of course, nothing par
ticularly remarkable about young mus
taches, and the little dudish side whisk-
ers, worn wedge shape just below the
ears. They may be termed simply freaks
of youth. The absence altogether of
whiskers and mustache in q man whose
character and habits of life have become
fixed and Interchangeable, indicates a
frank, open hearted disposition. with
great regard for the truth and the cour-
age to tell it, with nothing to conceal and
conscientiousness that is as clear and
apparent as his clean shaven face. He
is usually a plain, unpretentious man,
who pays more attention to the storing
of his mind with useful information and
the domestic side of life than the adorn-
ment of his person.
HE OF THE IRON WILL.
The man Of iron will and firmness of
purpose is he who wears full, thick,
stubby beard. If he is a man of brain
and has had the benefit of cultured ex-
perience, although firm in his purposes
and Interchangeable in his ideas, he will
grant you your argument IL you are rea-
sonable. But on the other hand, If he is
uncultured and inexperienced in bust
ness affairs, he will prove to be an I'M
compromising tyrant, uncouth and over
bearing in the extreme. Having only a
superficial knowledge of letters, he will
not permit YOU to give an opinion CON
trary to his own. The long, flowing,
pointed beard, worn by such church re-
formers as Wiclif and John Calvin did
not indicate any particular trait of char
acter in their day, as they were only
worn to serve as contrast to the clean
shaven faces of the Roman Catholic
priesthood. These long boards are worn
as rule by the clergy of some denomi-
nations today. There is pious stateli-
ness about them very becoming to doc
tors of divinity. The elongation of the
countenance is materially aided by such
boards, and the changes of facial express
sion are not so plainly observable. A
man with such beard has little trouble
to look pious, no matter how great
sinner he may be. Ordinarily persons
in this day and age who emulate this
style Of beard may be found active
members of some church, or lowering
about the vestibule of the house of the
Lord, borrowing religion for some SIMS
terror mercenary motive. Ifhis motives
are not pure, he is what we would COM
monty call a hypocrite. II pure, his
thoughts are Of theological turn, and
hewill pay less attention to accumulat-
ing little Of this worlds goods than to
the details Of the church. Men who wear
their boards in this style are usually
lovers of fine horses, and to distinguish
between the livery man and the deacon
you have only to contrast the quick
twinkle of the formers eye with the soft,
mild expression of that of the latter.
Perhaps the most marked index of
character is furnished by what is COM
monty called Burnsides, and the more
Of the bare chin that Is shown, and the
heavier and more pointed the whiskers.
the greater Is the measure of self con-
ceit. High living and a self conscious
ness that is utterly oblivious to the in-
portance Of his surroundings, is o char
-
sides. He is generally possessed of a
fine physique, and prides himself ON his
shape. He is usually a gourmand, whose
appetite Is easily offended at something
that Is not up to his standardof cookery.
His greed knows no bounds, and his
egotism no compromise.
A plain, rnpretentious mustache in
dictates nothing In particular, and about
the only way you can read a mans char
acter from this standpoint is by the man
ner in which he trains his mustache and
the amount Of labor he devotes to it. A
man, for instance, who will take pair
of scissors and deliberately trim off the
struggling ends of his mustache to keep
them from curling up his nose, or in the
corner Of his mouth, Is more sensible
than the general run of men who are
really able to grow a healthy mustache,
II there is any one style of whiskers in
the world thatis calculated to make a
fool of q man more than any other, it il
fine, heavy mustache, and, as before
limited. about the only thing We can say
of O man who devotes half his time to the
training Of his mustache is, he is usually
very giddy, and his urbanity and vanity
are measured by the size and curl OF
this appendage.
OF course, there are exceptions to the
foregoing rules. but the thoughtful read
er viii find much for reflection in this
brief outline of characteristic styles OF
whiskers.-G. w. Dannettell in Evans
vile Qnd.) Tribune.
A