The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-03-22
The Whiskers and the Man.


from Boeton," said drummer. "He is
about 35, and with capacity for raising
hair on his face beyond that of any per-
son ever met. He has fun with it, too,
and he hes his whiskers in different
shaps every time meet him. Now and
then I don't know him, but be always
comes up smiling, and I catch on
to the new man without much Difficult
ty.
"'It's queer about whiskers,' said he
The last time I saw him. Don't you
know they change the character Of
man?'
didn't know it, and said no.
"'They do, however, he continued
whether you know it or not. Now, l
have been hairy for twenty years nearly,
and in that time I have been all sorts
| of men. For instance, when I wear large
flowing side whiskers with q moustacbe
grow gradually IS they do and become
quite diguiied and self important. can't
help it, you know. It's whiskers oblige
as we say in French, and when catch
look at myself in glass as Iwalk along
I uncon,ciously swell out and strut. Pm
bound to do it to match those wbiskers.
Then when / cut off the moustacbe and
run the side whiskers alone I never see
that mouth and chin back there but that
it makes me feel pious. and begin to as
sumo the demeauor of the minister of the
Gospel. Cau't help it, either, to save my
life. Sometimes I 60 smooth-taced, and
my character oscillates between priest
and actor, according to the one of crowd
Pm in. even get boyish sometimes
and frisky when see my smooth, round
face.
"Once, for the fun of it, I cut my mug
tacbe la prize fighter, short and stubby,
and, do you know, before week I was
veritable tough, with my hat cooked over
one eye and my general manner provok-
ing sluggiug match at every turn. l
was anxious for fight all the time, and
only saved myself by shaving. When l
wear full, neatly trimmed beard | feel
exactly like banker or succeesful pro-
fessional man, and my manners after
little while fall into that rut. look it,
they tell me, and can't help but be it.
If I wear a moustache alone, long and
silky, 1 feel like gay Lotharlo, and
want to smile atand ogle every woman
I see. I want to be one Of the boys, too,
and whoop it up all along the line. When
I add an imperial to the moustache l
throw my shoulders back, brace my mus
cles, and assume military air. In one
or two of my towns I am known as COL
onel, for have always worn my imperial
while there.
eff I run my beard down TO a point in
the French style, I feel quite diplomatic,
and can be as slick as the politest of
them. I feel my shoulders shrug on the
slightest provocation, and to all intents
and purposes am foreigner. fl part
my whiskers in the middle and brush
them out to either side, I am a German
nobleman or British land owner, ac-
cording to my surroundings. 1t gives
me hale and hearty middle aged feel
ing that shows at once IN my manner. If
the whiskers are let grow very long, I
feel like a patriarchial farmer, and be-
come quite elderly and innocent in my
department. And go it goes throug b all
the phases.
81 fancy that the style of mans
whiskers is in consonance with the mans
character, and that as man is 80 will
whiskers be. In my case have revers-
ed the operation, but I feel as grow
older and become more settled, that
shall adopt one style of whiskers and
keep to that. Even now am getting
around to it, and have been wearing this
close-cnt full beard for almost six months
and I don't feel like changing it,"