The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-20

matter in the shop or with the barber.
/ simply did not know when was well off.
Europe. and / now believe l will never
again find fault with a barber In this
country. MY first experience was on the
steamer going over That experience was
not so very peculiar, except that / was
charged quarter for a very poor shave
In Amsterdam. however needed
shave badly, and ! could not find barber
shop. for there Is not barber pole nor
colored barber IN Holland. Belgium, Ger
many, Switzerland, Italy, France, Eng
land, Scotland or Ireland-at least, did
not see one. As / speak no language but
English, / would have had difficulty In
finding barber in Amsterdam had / not
also needed a hat. So ] went into hat
store, and there found an attendant VINO
spoke English slightly. and who, after
my purchase, took me to barber shop q
short distance away.
AS the only sign on the shop was Par
fumerie," / might have passed 1t dozen
times and not known IL was barbery
On going I'm ] was directed 10 seat IN
chair l was an ordinary arm chair, with.
out head rest or foot rest. II was In front
OF a washstand, the lower portion or
which was cut away so the patient could
place his feet under the washstand ana
still rest them on the floor. The barber
then placed a black cloth over my chest q
have not yet found out what foD, ana
tucked a white towel about my neck ana
over the black cloth.
He then lathered my face and shaved me
i'm a manner that gave me the impression
the young man was only an apprentice
After he had shaved me he told me by
words and gestures (and / never would
have comprehended either had L not no
ticed how a customer had been nnlshed
off in the adjoining chair, TO get up ana
wash my face. i obeyed, ana was tneh
handed a towel to dry my face. When
through that operation, and Whlle sim
standing, the barber sprayed some cologne
on my face. He then gave me COMB ana
brush and told me to comb my nalr ana
mustache, which operations / also per-
formed for him.
And this is the general practice, with
some slight variations, among parberS
through most of the countries / have
named. In Italy the barber, after shaving
him, generally hands his customer pa
sin, with water and a sponge TO WASH
his face the basin having portion cut at
one side so as to fit about the neck
In most cities the BARRIERS would, with
an interrogative expression, generally
make some remarks toward the close or the
operations AS ! could not, as l have al
ready said, understand their languages l
usually replied by shaking my head, sup
posing they were asking me II would
not have oil on my hair, perfume FOR my
mustache or something o. that nature;
lust shaved me asked me something that
sounded like ''fritchie." / thought l would
give him a chance, so l nodded my head
acquiescently. To my surprise, he took
a pair of hot curling tongs-they are al
ways kept ready heated in the shop-an0
curled my mustache. / then knew whai
Nowhere. except In London and Paris
ala see a barber shop with more than
two chairs, and no shop that saw could
approach for neatness and comfortable
furnishings any Of a dozen barber shops
in this city. Nowhere did l see a reclin-
ing chair, nor one that turned on pivot
Neither did / find a barber anywhere IN
Europe, and / always went 70 the best
shops who shaved one so easily and 50
well as the average Washington barber.
In fact, the European shaves often re-
minded me of an old friends joke. During
the smallpox scare some years ago he
was getting vaccinated While the doc
tor was scarifying his arm he was asked
how il felt "Oh," said he, mot so aW-
fully bad-just felt like my face feels when
that barber around the corner is shaving
me-"
II would be well for our BARRIERS TO adopt
in the interest of their customers, who
have no Guns brushes and razOrs of their
own at the shops. 1t is this: After each
customer has been shaved the barber
washes his own hands. the cup and the
brush before beginning on another Gus
toner.
The prices charged in Europe by BARRIERS
average as high as ours, and In England,
Scotland and ireland l paid six pence az
cents of our money! for a shave. In Lon
don I noticed on barber-shOps signs of
cheaper shaves, but did not like the ap-
pearances Of such shops.
In Dublin was shaved by a barber, who
had a long full beard and a large mus
tache. He evidently did not know that he
was discouraging his own business.