San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-12-16
THE FRENCH BARRIER.
He Dis courses Of High Fortune
Awaiting Him Within the
Lines IF His Artistic

! VI his
Profession.
From the New York Sun.
The learned French barber was in
brown study when the reporter en-.
tered his shop the other day.
81 have been thinking" he said,
''Of ways in which fortunes can be
made. You know 1 have always
lODged for fortune, so that / might
go back to my beloved Paris and live
in comfort for the rest of my days.
Living is so costly in New York that
one cannot save much out of an Ordi-
binary income, and l have therefore
abandoned the idea of growing rich
from any savings might accumulate
through economy. One can not be
stingy, you know, at least not q
Frenchman who for many years lived
| in the aristocratic atmosphere of the
Paris Jockey Club. Frogs legs, rab-
bits and snails in their season, and q
little claret or Burgundy are actual
necessaries, you know, but they are
expensive III this country. So have
been trying to devise some scheme
by which riches my be- acquired in q
short time"
Won, hnNo you sucCoeuou. dsheu
the reporter.
Not quite, but 1 think I am on the
right track. OF course, my success,
| if 1t comes. must be due In one way
or another to my knowledge to the
profession of which have devoted
myself and which, adore. would
scorn to acquire wealth by any ordi
nary means. An artist, you must
understand, Monsieur, must not be
untrue to his mistress even for a
moment. Therefore 1 will be rich
through some great professional
stroke, of not at all. Let the German
or Itslian BARRIERS do as they please,
but all my art is of itferent char
acter."
"Would you object to giving an
idea OF your plan ?' asked the re-
porter.
"No, l do not, for / am convinced
that no other barber in this country
could profit by it. 1t requires a stu
dent of the barber's art, one who has
studied and experimental for years,
to appreciate my purpose. Itoccurrec
to me short time ago that a fortune
awaits the man who will discover q
means for taking the kinks out of q
negro 6 hair. Monsieur, you are q
man of the world, aud therefore know
that all human beings are vain, but |
assure you that negroes are the vain
est of all mOrtals. Their love of loud
cOlors and all sorts OF vulgar display
are too well known to need any ar
gument | have recently devoted
some time to studying their charac-
ter and the bent of their minds, and
I am convinced. that they all suffer
great humiliation because of the
coarseness and kinkiness of their
hair. am positive that this affects
them more than their color. believe
that II preparation could be Invent
ed which would make their hair
straight and like that of white men
the inventor could sell all he could
turn out at 81 q box. Now, as there
millions of negroes in this country
alone, and as the preparation ought
not to cost more than 25c box. You
can readily compute the colossal for
tune that awaits the lucky man,
Furthermore, Monsieur, am GER
tain that he would be held in greater
esteem by them than even the great
A Abraham himself. 1 believe too, that
such q preparation would do much to-
ward solving the negro problem. The
removal of their greatest cause for
envy would enable them to see mat
tiers in clearer light, and they would
no longer be so easily managl by
unscrupulous politicians. They would
recognize their real friends, and the
fear OF force bill and of negro domin-
alton would pass forever from the land,
because the negroes would no longer
be opposed TO the best white element,
but would seek its favor and
friendship. Perhaps you think this
idea somewhat strained, but l assure
YOU IL is not. Does not all history
teach us that envy and jealousy are
at the root of all evils? 80 they are in
the way of the rational solution OF th e
negro problem. Remove them, and
all other obstacles will vanish. The
mere question of color is not to be
considered. That is nothing. 1t is
his hair which makes the negro en-
vious of the white man and unwil-
ling to heed his best counsel.
LAS have said, Monsieur, 1 have
not fully completed my work, but L
see the goal in. the distance. This
will be the Just reward of my years
of study, during which L have learned
the sc crets of all the great cosme-
tiques, powders ana perfumes that
have rejoiced mankind. do not re-
fer TO the modern affairs, but to those
which were invented by the masters
of their art in former centuries, when
BARRIERS were men of education and
ability, and were often the confidants
of kings"
/. rIt,.,rc,L,n |, mood yrriti