The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-30
WOMEN CAN'T CUT Boards
A Learned Barber Of New York Says
So EmphaticaIly.
They Lack That Knaok, He Says,
Which is Genius to the Artist-But
He Has to Admit That One of Them
Succeeded Where He Could Not.
From the New York sun.

From the New York sun.
"A customer of mine has Just come back
| from Europe" said the learned French
barber, land he has been telling me about
a woman barber he met in Italy.
| Monsieur he said to me, L shall
never forget her believe you are good
barber and have the right idea of your
mission but, really, you cannot hold a
candle TO her; tell you, she is divine
when she put the lather on my face
| had my beard off then, you know-it was
as though my face had been bathed in
nectar When she drew the razor across
my cheek l was thrilled with delight
And when she put on the bay rum and
ran her fingers through my hair, an, then,
monsieur, | realized what it is to be
caressed by an angel!
Unfortunately she had a big brother,
who watched her carefully, so | had little
chance to talk to her.
"'She was light and graceful as a
gazelle and absolutely beautiful Her
clear olive complexion, dark hair and per-
feet features won me at glance. |
haven't got over her fascination vet. If
l could have her for a barber always I'd
have my hair dressed every other hour
II looked at him in pity
Monsieur | said to him, i can easily
understand your devotion to this beauty,
but do not mistake your love for your
devotion to the artistic. If I were her
rival for your affections | would strongly
| urge you TO continue to patrOniZe her
barber chair. There would be no surer
way of Disseminating you and making you
learn to hate her
What do you mean?' he asked me.
q mean, monsieur l replied, that,
with all due respect for your divinity,
there never was n good woman barber,
and it is my firm conviction there never
will be. Whyl Monsieur, there are some
things which we cannot explain. They
are the mysteries of life, far beyond all
our philosophers.
''Why is one man bright and another
dulll Why are there optimists and pessi-
mists? Why do some love to linger over
their Burgundy while others rush through
their dinners in fifteen minutesl Why
are some women pretty and others uglyl
Are not these some of the unsolvable rid
dies of our strange existence
"'Ah, monsieur, / would like to tell YOU
why woman, gentle, lovely, sweet woman,
cannot make a good barber, but it is be-
yond me, although l have studied the
question much.
"What 1 told him is true There are
women who can shave fairly well, but
there is none that can trim board or cut
hair properly.
"You may say they are few men who
can do so. 1t is true. | will not deny
what is self-evident But, monsieur,
there are some men who rise to the oc-
casion, while there are no women.
''They have not the lxnacl1 which is
genius in the barber, the painter, the
sculptor. They cannot do that indefnable
something which gives style, force and
character to hair and beard.
Even the women themselves, slow to
acknowledge their inability to do any
thing that man can do, recognize this
Else, why do the best ladies hairdressng
shops have men to cut the bangs and
dress the hair of the customersl And
what a difference there is between the
appearance of the woman whose hair is
dressed by the men BARRIERS and that of
the women who give themselves over to
women barbers9
Let US not dwell upon this unpleasant
subject
Il have seen many women BARRIERS in
the villages of France. They were the
wives and daughters of deceased men
BARRIERS. They are good enough for the
peasants--the farmers and laborers-who
patrOnize them out of charity frequently.
"You see, when the country barber dies
he leaves nothing to his family, and his old
customers transfer their patronage to the
wife or daughter, so that the family may
not starve. Really, it makes little differ
ence with them, for their skins are so
tough and leathery that the razor chances
off of them, and never having known
what proper haircutting or beard trimming
is, they never notice the lack of it.
Il remember well twenty years ago,
shortly after | came to New York from
Paris, how two women BARRIERS opened a
shop in this city. Their sign read
| Women do the business here
Zone was German girl, who had been
a ballet dancer, and knew no more about
the BARRIERS art than-you will pardon
me, monsieur-you do. The other was a
French girl; knew her and her family
in Paris. Her father kept a shop in one
of the busy avenues, and on Saturday
nights his place was crowded
Ellis assistants were his wife and two
daughters His wife Taxed the customers
hair, one daughter kept the curling irons
hot, the other daughter lathered the Gus
toners faces and he did the shaving, 60
ing from one chair to another. You see
it was common kind of shop, patronized
by the bourgeoise only.
''Well, this girl who had set up in bust
ness in New York, was the girl who had
done the lathering in Paris. She had
come here to earn her living, had met the
ex-ballet dancer, and the two had con-
cluded that they might make hit as
"New York wasn't as big then as it is
now, and the citizens were greatly aston
ished at the idea Of women BARRIERS. A
good many men went TO them for fun, and
the newspapers made fun of them
OF course they knew nothing of barber
ing. The French girl came to me and
asked me to teach her how to cut hair and
trim boards, but when / told her it would
cost her francs for lesson she changed
her mind"
The learned barber paused, lost in
thought for moment Then he sighed
deeply.
My! my but she was pretty girl and
have sometimes regretted / did not
teach her for nothing. Yes, she was very
pretty, but as for being barber"
Monsieur shrugged his shoulders.
what became of herr" said the other
"Ah, yes, you are interested in her,
monsieur2 Wen, will tell you. 1t was
romantic. | saw no more of her after her
visit to my shop until one night some
time afterward I was at the opera
During an intermission looked around
and saw her. She was dressed beauti-
fully and wore much jewelry. Beside her
sat one of my customers, very wealthy
gentleman.
Naturally | was surprised. The next
day the gentleman came to my shop.
''Ah! ] SAID to him, you know the lady