The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-06-27
MI1lIIfs faglt
BARRIERS TO ROYALTY.
MEN WHO CUT THE HAIR OF THE
. CROWNED HEADS OF EUROPE.
One Knight Of the Razor Was Offered
Reward to Cut the Cars Throat-His
Descendants Are Now Honored The
German Eaiser Is ChsngeabIe.

One hulSnE OF the h1@oS vas OhcTSo z
Reward to Cut the Cars Throat-His
Descendants Are Now Honored The
German Eaiser Is ChsngeabIe.
A despot should wear full beard or
shave himself No nihilist will ever get a
chance at the car of Russia with razor,
at least in the guise of a barber. The
autocrat has his whiskers carefully trim
med, but with scissors Even this is treat
ed as responsible and important function,
and Of the four "grand masters of the
court" as they are called, one always at
tends the car when his majesty is under
the BARRIERS care; not that any doubt is
felt as to the fidelity of the tonsorial artist.
The family of Guelabovski have been
BARRIERS to the imperial house of Romanoff
from the time of the Gar Paul. The first
of the name, Michael, was employed when
youth in the palace at St. Petersburg,
and one of his occasional duties was to
shave the emperor. The mobiles who con-
spired the death of Paul offered the young
barber reward that must have seemed
dazzling to him if he would cut the en-
peror's throat. Michael pretended to
agree, but took the first opportunity to in
form the imperial chamberlain, Count
Troubetskoi.
The latter in vain, warned the weak
minded car of the conspiracy against his
life, and Paul, history tells, was murdered
in his bedchamber by the mobiles who had
plotted to destroy him. When Alexander
/ came to the throne he was reminded by
Count Troubetskoi of the fidelity of young
Michael, and in recognition of his devo-
ton to the imperial family, Alexander. by
a special decree, appointed Michael Guela-
bovski and his descendants to be BARRIERS
to the car and his household
A ToNsoRIAL SPHINX.
Alexander was in the habit of being
shaved, and during his reign of a quarter
of century he never hesitated to intrust
the task to Michael, whose grandson now
holds the place by right of descent. As
before stated, the Office is good deal of a
sinecure with the present car, so far as
shaving is concerned.
1t is the duty of the imperial barber to
attend his august master every morning
Immediately after the car has risen and
performed his additions for the purpose of
dressing his hair and beard This is done
in the presence of one of the grand masters
of the court. To the outside world the
Michael Guelabovski of the present day is
q sphinx. He has never been known to re-
veal the secrets of the Romanof toilet, or
whether he talks to his majesty or is occa-
sionally honered with remark from the
lips whose utterances are to Russia like
the laws of the Modes and Persians.
1t is safe to presume, however, that
Michael cultivates the virtue of silence in
the imperial presence as well as out of it,
and that he never asks the car whether he
wants a shampoo or would like little cos
metic on his mustache. Michael goes wher-
ever the car travels. and it is through the
occasional visits of the Russian autocrat
TO his father-in-law at Copenhagen that
the BARRIERS personality is known to the
world, there being much less ceremony
and secrecy in the Danish palace than at
St. Petersburg.
The two former kaisers of the German
empire both wore full boards In Prussia
the barber has never been an official per-
sonage, the selection being intrusted to
the marshal Of the house, at present the
Baron Won Lyncker The aged Kaiser
William had constant and faithful per-
sonal attendant in Ludwig Kanitz, the
son of Brandenburg peasant, who from
performing ordinary mental duties in the
palace grew to be the confidential servant
seperable from his master in war and
peace, and he could undoubtedly have given
memoirs to the world as interesting in
some respects as those of Bismarck.
The prolongation of the kaiser's life to a
great age was no doubt due largely to the
faithful miniStrations of this humble per-
sonage, who never shared in the honors or
fame that crowned others less intimately
associated with his master. Kanitz did
not long survive the emperor. He was dis
missed with a pension sufficient TO support
him in comfort, but he soon died and was
buried in the churchyard of his native
village in Brandenburg.
1t is said that the present kaiser is
changeable as to BARRIERS, to whom he gives
more employment than his predecessors in
the empire. AT present, strangely enough,
he is being shaved by an Alsatian, a man
whose name is not known outside the
court, but who was for some time employed
in one of the leading barber shops of Berlin.
There the Alsatian attracted the attention
of Count StOlberg, who recommended him
10 the marshal of the house. As he has at
tended to the kaiser for three months he is
supposed to give satisfaction. 1t is said,
however, that he has had at least four pre-
deceSSors, who have been relegated to
mental service in the palace.
IN THR AUSTRIAN COURT.
The kaiser has an extremely tender skin,
and rs he insists on giving audience and
orders while being shaved, it takes 4 clever
artist to escape drawing some of the /
Hohenzollern blood. This is believed to
have been the trouble with the BARRIERS
who lost power.
The Austrian court does everything /
magni6cently, and the toilet of the en-
peror is presided over by the Chevalier de 1
Hacker, descendant of the noble general /
who led the attack on the Turkish garrison 4
2t Pesth in l6S6. and whose posterity has /
figured honorably in nearly every great /
war IN which Austria has since been en-
gagged Even the barber, term by which /
be Is never known, Is Il nobleman, the /
Count du Faucon having been raised to /
that title in order 10 qualify him for his
duties at the palace; for no plebeian can lay |
hands on the Austrian emperor.
The Count du Faucon is not a native of
Austria, but 4 Saxon by birth. He was
trained by the former imperial artist, who
was also man of title and he is said to be
one of the most expert of his trade in the
world. He is, of course, of plebeian origin.
He is something Of doctor as we'll as a
hair trimmer, and the kaiser is said to
spend many an hour under the soothing
of his manipulations.
Since the death of Prince Rudolph Fran
chs Joseph has been peculiarly subject to
headaches and similar ailments, and his
BARRIERS ministrations are more effective /
than q physicians in driving away the
pains that Cypress him. The Count du
Faucon has apartments in the palaces,