Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1890-11-06
PERSONAL HABITS or NAPOLEON.
The Latest Anecdotes OF the Great Em.
peror and Famous General.

Napoleon, we are told, was dressed
every morning by the valet in attend.
ancc. He did not don single gar
ment himself; eventually. however. he
was induced to shave himself. 1t hap
pened in this wise: In 1903 the head
valet. Hambard. pleaded ill-health as
an excuse for not accompanying his
master to Boulogne. Who Is to shave
! me?" asked Napoleon. for Hambard
had regularly discharged this duty.
Hambard suggested Constant, who,
/ foreseeing this emergency, had been
| diligently taking lessons on humber
chins and had acquired proficiency.
| He had no easy task. for Napoleon,
while undergoing the operation, would
: talk, read the newspapers, and iidget in
{ his chair. sometimes sitting as stiff as a
/ statue aud declining to bend his head
an inch. Great care was necessary to
avoid cutting his face.
Another popularity was that he in.
sisted on one side being lathered and
shaved before the other was touched.
When Constant got free enough with
him to venture on the step, he urged
on Napoleon the desirability of his
learning to shave, as he himself might
be i'll or absent and Napoleon would
not like to be operated on by .
stranger. Napoleon was with some
difficulty. induced to try the expert.
ment, but, of course, he experimental
only on himself. and did not. therefore,
acquire professional proficiency. Very
clumsy at first, he gradually became
tolerably expert. On one point, how.
ever. he was obstinate--he persisted in
moving the razor downward instead OF
upward, and occasional cuts were the
consequence.
While not lifting finger to dress
himself, Napoleon dispensed with as
sistance in uudressingi but he flung his
garments all over the room-his watch
sometimes missing the table or bed at
which it was aimed and falling broken
on the floor, As to dress he despised
dandies. never wore rings, aud abomi-
mated scents. except eau de cologne.
with which he was often rubbed, and
which was his specific for bruises.
When coat-tals became shorter he
stuck to the old fashion until Constant
got the tailor to shorten them by i'm.
perceptible gradations. He disliked
tightly fitting clothes. found new hat
uncomfortable, though lined with silk
and wadding, and stuck to an old one
as long as possible. He put on every
morning clean white waistcoat, with
knee-breeches to match - he never
wore trousers, but as he habitually
wiped his pen on his breeches after
three or four washiugs they were done
with.
Constant denies, however, the com.
mon story of his keeping snuff loose in
his waistcoat pocket He always used
a snutf-box, and, though he frequently
tool: a pinch, he simply held it to bis
nose aud then dropped all or nearly al
on the floor. His snuff injured the
carpet not his waistcoat. Smoking he
never tried but once. An Oriental
Ambassador had presented him with
chibouk. 1t was filled and lit for him
but he merely opened and shut bis lips
instead of drawing. When at last he
was induced to draw the smoke went
down his throat and came out at his
nose. He felt queer for an hour. de.
claimed against the habit as tit only fol
lazy people. and never touched a pipe
again.