New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-01-29

At first sight neither seems probable out let us
not he too hasty nothing is dangerous as haste
in historical inquiries: conclusions must never De
Jumped at rather they must be crept up on WIN
extreme caution, and secured in the gcntlcst pos
siblc manner Your logical conclusion Is shy
bird, not to be captured by rushing up to MS
NEST with brass band and wildly dashng salt
on his tail.
Let us examine the proposition that Columbus
mt on false whiskers before he landed That
he could have done simply " for fun Is, we
fancy. out OF the question; the great navigator
was not q humOrst nor was the discovery OF a
now world the time for practical jokes was
false beard part Of the uniform Of NpsLisf
admiral in 1892? History does not seem u
mention il. On the whole We are inciln'h I"
reject the theory that the beard was artihcia''
though we do not presume to think that we haNo
said the last word in its favor. by any means
But Let us examine the notion of rapid hirsutr
growth. To the young man who has devoted a
year to tho perfecting OF "a timid mustache TINS
seems absurd. Probably the idea that the beara
was produced wholly by unassstcd nature IL
rather improbable But we see advertised IN
many of our priced exchanges preparations Tor
producing growth of hair both on the FACE ana
on the head, which seem to be Of astonishing
efficiency We arr shown before USING anu
"aftcr using portraits which far exceed in cor
trast the two engravings of Columbus on vi"
stamps: for the navigator. even in tie hrS'' nag
an ample head Of hair, but in the before using
pictnrc the Gentleman is often 0uite bald, as VOL
as smooth Of face Bat, of course, the question
of time cannot he ignored. We do not thinK
that thr makers Of the modern beard producers
claim 10 work their wonderful transformation III
twelve hours. IA near "a we can ga''hr' 'ch
weeks seems to bc about the established 'cri'
for bringing about the great change Bat If
would be- extremely hard TO prove that soHr
marvellous compound was not known in l4o2
which would do il in ton hours. 10 the paiu-
headed man who has poured down new remedy
unon his devoted scalp each month for the laS'
twenty years. one will seem quite as probabr a.
tho other. II il unfortunate for he historians
that the files Of the Spanish newspapers Tor 'h>
LATTER mart Of the fifteenth century are moi ar
ccssiblc No doubt We should find before anu
after taking pictures which would ihi'y 'lh"i'a''
olumbus in his apparent eccentrlclty OF sro"
ing beard night Indeed II woul" nov
sutnrisr us il Columbus himself was Ncture1 III
tho advertising columns Of the contemporary press.
tooethcr with long interview under IN" mean VI
Colon Speaks ut-Tclls What the lsab'lia Iiair
Producer Did for Tim.-Truth Stranger IMAM fic
ton.-lIe Orders Twelve Dozen Bottles Ior wv
lIatloss Natives.
That this question will provoke" much discussion
soom. inevitable BAT we sincerely hope that no
bitterness will he shown. II il unfortuna'e UNIV
Columbus should have acted rs he did ABOUT HIS
board and left TO explanation. but since II appears
,ba, he did so We must make tie best OF H. we
trust ,ha. we have shown the proper spirit III our
hurried and nccr ssarily nad"quaf" examination Oh
the subject and that other Investigators VINO may
follow in our footsteps may 90 so Ill NV ''"
calm, dispas -ionate and impartial moon