, 1890-02-23

HE WIPED A LARGE HOT TEAR FROM MY
HEAD.
Some was flowing and some had fed.
l thought Of this sentiment whilst he was
shaving me, and when he had finished |
wrote it in his album for him.
He had an air Of neglige and easy mai
vete and bon homme and carte blanche,
and wore linen cuffs with edgings of iron
gray. His collar also had gray whisker.
on it, and the name around the button.
OF his trousers needed reaching. He was
q man OF fine mold, and while be strained
me to his breast as he shaved under ny
| chin l discovered that he carried a LITTLE
asaf@tida in his left hand vest pocket te
keep off contagious diseases, and also thai
he had a very loud ticking watch of the
American type. with a revolutionary
movement
At times he spoke almost sadly of the
past and of those he had shaved, who
were now in q land where full boards are
worn almost exclusively. Once, as be
spoke of . statesman who had passed on
and left us, he asked me to excuse him
a. he wiped . large hot tear from the
top Of my head. I said, Never mind;
weep on, thou sad hearted man. Re-
lieve thine o~'ercharged orbs. 1t will do
thee good. l have wept in q barber shop
many q time myself. 1t does me good
to see thee do SO now"
When he had recovered himself q lit
tie. he wiped his eyes somewhat on a
towel, and. going into the clothes press
for a few moments, where l heard him
measuring out some cough medicine, he
soon returned, frightened up a good deal,
he and his breath both having gained a
great deal Of strength. 1t seemed to me.
He said that he used to shave Comma
dore Vanderbilt / asked him how the
Commodore was to shave. He said that
he always got shaved at home. II used
to 90 up every morning and shave him at
his home. He left orders that l was to
come to his room, and there l would al
ways find him in his shirt sleeves. He
rarely swore at me, fearing that / might
accidentally cut his cheek. He frequently
had soft boiled egg on the end of his nose,
but l never laid up anything agin him for
that. You eve can tell where soft
boiled egg will light. Ieven found soft
boiled egg on Mr.. Beecher's chin once.
and he said that it must have been there
all through one of his most searching SER
non You peyer know when you eat a
soft boiled egg whether the most of it
went inside on the lining of the coats of
the stomach or outside on the lining of
your overcoat, or in your ear or down the
back of your neck.
"One time, however, the commodore
swore at me quite a good deal, l remem.
Der. | had shaved him a little too close,
and so his face bled a little. or course |
had to rub alum on it to stop the bleed
ing, and 1t made the old man quite smart
for one of his time of life. He got kind
Of hot and told me l could 20 away and
never come back any more. | told him l
had a wife and family and | would like
very much to stay.
No said he. you cannots shave for
a billed OWL" or for sour apples" or
the ace of spades" or some such thing
he said, l know. Bat said he. L do
not want to see -FOUR family suffer. You
have cut my face so often now, you -
mullet head, and then puckered it up
with alum, that my mouth stays open all
the time, and pretty soon | will have to
put a gore into the back of my neck. Go
away from my house and never, never re
turn, if you please. As l said, / do not
want your family to suffer, and SO | will
give you q letter to q business man |
know down town. who will see that you
will get . job at bis place. Now 20 away
He gave me the letter and I opened
it careful so IS not to cut the check, if
there wa any into it. But there wasn't
any. 1t was Just q short letter. 1t said:
DEAR JoHS-This will introduce a barber
who has been prActicing on me for quite
a while and patiently working his way up to
a position where now / feel Ike giving him
this hearty and earnest letter tn you. He has
q family dependent OF him, and anything
celebrated slaughter house will be duly ap-
preciated BY
Yours truly, c. VANDERBILT
are rp : ,s;mLst him try it first on the cattle that
did you ever shave any other cele-
brated people beside Vanderbilt and
Yes, l used to shave Mr.. Barrett
Lawrence Barrett. the great actor. when
ne wa in q hurry. He entered the sbop
rather soft ind glidy like, As If be was
looking for Julius Caesar, with a view to
st.9p'ns him at an early date.
l would say, Good morning, Mr..
He would say, 'Sirrah, / know thee
not He would then fold his arms. and.
with growing wonder and delight, look in
the mirror at the only man for whom be
every showed \ genuine respect and ca
TEEN which nothing could shake. Then
he would take Cd his coat and fold his
arms again and throw back bis head and