Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-22
Tousorial Evolution.

This process of tonsorial evolution has done
great deal to alter the appearance Of Con-
gressmen. SO that composite photograph Of
the members of the present House would con-
trast strikingly with a similar typical present.
ment of the same legislative body twenty years
ago. The men who now have mops of hair
would then have been all slick with their locks
plastered close to their heads. Vice President
Wheeler was one Of the last to follow the old
fashion of wearing the hair oiled and long. The
barber here quoted has probably bestowed at
tention upon the heads Of more distinguished
men than any other living artist in his line. Ac-
cordlng to his account Secretary of the Treas
ury Carlisle likes little bay rum on his hair,
but nothing else. The late Samuel J. Randall.
who was clean shaved like Mr.. Carlisle, was OF
the same mind in this regard. So also In Gov.
Mckinley, whose likeness to Napoleon In the
closer because he wears no hair on his face.
Uncle Jerry Rusk wears his hair long and
rolled under after the old style, but be uses no
Oil on 1t. The curl is given by dampening the
hair and working it around with a brush in
manner which BARRIERS understand. Mr.. Fos-
ter, recently Secretary of State, has long and
nearly white sidewhiskers. He has his hair cut
with the utmost regularity every two weeks,
with squirt Of cologne through an atomizer
for finishing touch. Ex-Secretary Noble
wears his curling gray hair in a mop and always
has it cut plain" with no grease or perfume
added. Vice President Stevenson has but little
hair and is particular to have that little very
neatly trimmed. Just little water is all he
could never get his beard cut short enough to
suit him before the clipping machine was in
vented. He wore his hair short also.
This barber at the Capitol declares that Con-
gressmen are more particular about the cut Of
their hair nowadays than formerly. 1t takes
twice the time it used to require to cut the
locks and wbiskers Of the average Representa-
tive or Senator. However. the minutes saved
on oiling, perfuming &C., make it even. There
are ever SO many more styles OF dressing men Q
hair than their used to be. Probably the most
difficult Of them all is the ''pompadour." This
since Mr. James Corbett vanquished Mr.. John
L. Sullivan by superior prowess with his ''maw-
lev" To execute the ''pompadour" properly
requires an hours work. In some barber shops
81 is charged for it. The expert quoted asserts
that men did not shave SO close in old times ~
they do at present, but that razors were better
then than now, because the blades all came
from England, where the finest knives Of all
sorts are manufactured. He confessed that two
or three Congressman have their noses shaved
regularly. but professional discretion forbade
him to give away their names.
In the last century, during the early hours Of
Congress, not few members Of the national
legislature had their hair done up in pigtails.
Others wore their locks very long and elabor-
ately curled. Some powdered their tresses so
profusely as to conceal their natural shade. So
short time as fifty years ago no gentleman
was unshaven. To wear any hair on the face
then would have been considered barbarous.
The custom Of shaving is supposed to have first
arisen from the fact that in battle the beard
afforded too good hold for an enemy. Among
the Romans the habit was originated by Scipio
Africanus. Boards were not worn under the
empire until the time Of Hadrisu, who grew
one for the purpose Of hiding scars. The
Greeks shaved themselves up to the time Of
Justinian, in whose reign boards became fash
ionable, remaining so until Constantinople was
taken by the Turks The ancient Germans
shaved their boards, but wore mustaches. Their
young men were not permitted to shave or cut
their hair until they had slain foe in battle
The ancient Goths, Franks and Gauls, as we'll
as the Britons, also wore mustaches only. The
Saxons grew long boards, but after the Norman
conquest shaving became fashionable in Eng
land. The Normans regarded it as q sign Of
misery and distress to permit hair to grow on
the face. RENE BAcHE.