The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-04-07
KNIGHTS OF THE RAZOR.
The Sectional Peculiarities Of the
"Tonsorial Parlor."
rhey Differ as the Beards-In Gotham
superffuous Hair Is Gently Wooed
Away and Montsr.a BAY Rum
Is Murderous.

Where do You get shaved?'
'On the face" replies the perennial
humorist.
But it is no joke. There is a marked
difference in the manner OF shaving
This leads to a preference in BARRIERS
The man who possesses a palm like a
nutmeg CRATER will never have a second
chance at tender-faced victims.
In Washington, according To the New
York Recorder. there is an extempo-
raneous colored barber That Is, he
uses labor-saving devices as they occur
To him.
One of his fads is TO jab his patients
ear full of lather. While this Is not
agreeable to his victim, ii saves him
money in stepping TO and from the shay
ing mug. When he requires little
more lather for a sandy place on the
chin he takes il out of the ear and rubs
it in. otherwise he would have TO walk
around To the cup. This little peculiar
ity Is offset by his silken fingers which
keep his custom.
In Richmond and other southern
cities, the BARRIERS still stick to the long
whislx-broom- the brush being about
three feet long and six inches wide. At
the conclusion of a shave. the barber
will throw this as knife thrower fires
his blade into a board. 1t generally
hits the customer between the shoulder
blades. and if the sensation is u new
one. he thinks he Is assaulted Then
follows rhythmic rub-a-dub played on
the back, while the barber huns tune
in accompaniment.
Before the advent of natural gas in
Pittsburgh. all the BARRIERS were won't
L.
see where the beard lay, and also the
texture of the growth The soot-laden
air rendered this necessary, but as the
neck was only washed down to the
towels inserted over the collar, the line
of demarkation was visible when the
customer regained the street.
In Chicago this washing preface Is
still indulged in more or less.
Windy city tonsorial artists boast of
another little peculiarity. Instead of
tanning or rubbing the face dry after
the bay rum, the Chicago barber takes
a napkin by one corner and whirls it
around in front of his subjects face as
if he was tagging a train.
1t is alleged that in the st. Louis
barber shops, patronized by the river
men, sand soap is used to produce the
lather. Several of the river BARRIERS.
though, use an astringent instead of
bay rum. They say that its concoction
is secret, but it dents the face and so
intimidates the growth of hair that
each individual hair curls back in
alarm, on the inside of the skin. When
il grows again IL comes out like fish
hook.
There is current rumOr that the
prevalence of goatees and imperials
among Missouri ians and steamboat men
is due To the fact that the BARRIERS are
unable To shave the capillary growth in
the dimplcs of their chins.
In Montana. however. the art of shay
ing has reached the height of culture.
The road agents beard is popular one.
This style Is the one with which the eel
ebrated desperate. Henry Plummer,
framed his mouth. II consists of mus
tache and chin " hisker. As two bits"
or twenty-five cents. is the price of
shave, the mere shaving of the cheeks
does not appear to furnish the moneys
worth. 1t Is on the chin and throat.
anyhow. that the barber earns his
money.
In order to give the worth of the
money the Montana barber INDUCES in
bay rum. Ii il bay rum which would
eat the varnish from a table or draw
knots ont of board.
II bites.
That is what a native MontaE n
wants. He desires To realize that he is
shaved, and he wants his bay rum To
take hold.
He il satisfied. but il is almost death
to the tenderfoot. whose mossy checks
are blistered an eighth of an inch deep.
The Mecca of good BARRIERS. however.
Is New York. and the shaving process
in this city has reached the pinnacle OF
art. Each hair is moved from off the face
with raZors whose edges rival the Da-
mascus blade The soap which trains
down into lather il the finest. with the
odors of spices putting to shame those
of Araby the blest.
\ Gotham shave admits a man into So
ciety if the artistic work of "A genius. or
causes divorce if maneuvered by his
own hands