The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-05
 THE LATEST IN TRADE SCHOOLS,

4 h IS iSiA LlSi IIN lh<tCfS 0CH oUilSs The Philadelphia Barbers' College a New
 Innovation-Forty Chairs in Use-wan-
 dering Willies Fall Into Luck and
 Young Men are Given Opportunities oJ
 Becoming First-Class Nineteenth Cen
 tury Barbers.
 tFrom the Philadelphia Times.)
 The nineteenth century has been one of innovations and surprises So reads the legend at the head of the cir cular issued by the Philadelphia Bar bers' college, whose headquarters are on Cherry street, near Ninth. This is the latest wrinkle in trade schools, a novelty generated in the brain of an enterprising knight of the shears and razor In consideration of twenty-two dollars cash, or twenty-five dollars, payable in weekly instalments of five dollars, the proprietor of the establish ment guarantees to transform the greenest novice into an adept chin scraper within the space of eight weeks.
 As a rule, man who enters barber shop does not care to expose his jugu lar vein to the tender mercies of a raw apprentice; the chances being that he will betray the trust imposed, and leave souvenirs of the occasion in the shape of sundry razor slashes. But the genius at the head of this establish ment has overcome this difficulty by of fering to shave, cut the hair and sham poo all corners free of charge. All the ''hoboes' in town have caught on'' to the notion, and if the stock of frowsy heads of hair and bristly boards holds out the students" at work in the school will suffer no lack of subjects upon whom to practice.
 The idea was so unconventional and refreshingly new that the Times man drifted into the place for the purpose of taking look around The entry and stairways were plentifuHy decorated with signs announcing that lounging and loud talking and disorder of every description were strictly prohibited also with a number of very seedy indi- viduals who could not summon up suf.. ficient courage to enter. The operating room was veritable beehive of indus try. A room fully one hundred feet in length held two long rows of barber chairs, in every one of which was a re- clining form. The clicking of shears, stropping of razors and rattle of shaw ing mugs filled the air, the embryo bar bers driving straight ahead, pausing only to receive instructions of the tu- tors who patroled the room.
 At the farther end of the room was a waiting room for those persons desir- ing a gratis shave or hair cut, which was simply damned with more mot ley gathering of Wandering Willies" than could be found in any other one spot in the Union. A young woman was seated at a desk behind a railing near the door, whose duty seemed to consist Of directing all new corners to
 the waiting room.
 When the Times man inquired for the proprietor she regarded him attentive ly, seeming to be revolving in her mind whether he was desirous of obtaining a free shave or not. However, after a somewhat protracted survey, she con- cluded not to risk the question and forthwith summoned the proprietor Yes, said the latter, "I flatter my self that the idea of a college for bar bers Is an entirely new one. The con- cern was organized just two years ago and has been eminently successful At the present moment we have forty chairs in full blast and each scholar is progressing finely. When young man first enters he is taught the care of razors, etc, and how to tell a good tool from a bad one. Then he is given a chair and is initiated into the myster-
 ies of the tonsorial art. All the differ
 ent styles of trimming hair, hair singe- ing, arrangement of boards and vari- ous shampoos is explained A fairly quick young man can become, under our system, a competent barber within | two months.
 T consider this great advancement over the usual method of apprentice ship. A young man in an ordinary l shop spends two or three years smear | ing father on the faces of customers and helping them on with their coats. | Here the student of the trade jumps in l immediately and learns the main fea- lures of the craft right off the reel so | to speak.
 The scribe was then permitted to pass into the operating department. | One of the scholars was interrogated in regard to his opinion of the system. T think it is all right, said he. "I was learning the trade in down town shop, but never got chance to show what I could do. The boss trade said 1 they didn't want any kids foolins around them with a razor. I had lots of shoe-shining, window cleaning and coat brushing to do, though. Indeed, had so much of it that I grew disgust ed. When I heard of the new wrinkle | up here I raised the money and en- | tered. But there's one drawback The proprietors of shops in town have a