The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-06

company IL not liable for whiskers injured
in transitu, without negligence Of the de-
PENDANT; and that. anyway, the whiskers
In question were not worth nearly as much
as the plaintiff pretended. The Judge de-
cided that the company had fulfilled oil the
legal obligation which rested upon 1t in the
transportation of Mr.. GLIcKMAN, and gave
Judgment for the defendant. We are far
from wishing to throw any doubt upon
that decision, but as the law of whiskers
ia still in the rattle and coral stage, 30 to
sneak, and as the word "whiskers" has
been enlarged from its meaning of mus
tache" to It's present more comprehensive
sense in very modern times, we may be per-
mittcd to make n remark or two about a
bipartisan issue OF much interest.
Contrary to the impression which one
might derive from the comic stage and the
comic weeklies, there is nothing intrinsi-
cally humorous about whiskers. The man
to whom they are sincerely attached and
who is sincerely attached to them re-
CARDS them as the immediate jewel Of
his soul. They are as serious and solemn
as a Goo.Goo club. They are r%everently
cherished by their gardener. Whatever
uldJ Dt Ills private utltCIdJlOu III InGIu, n6
seems to regard them as being in some
sort what DIR. GROVER CLEVELAND and
III ,9s7 men before him nave called pub
lie Office. No attentive spectator who has
seen a man with a genuine and fertile gift
Of whiskers fondle the latter in public will
doubt this. Whiskers are serious growths.
1t Is q serious matter IL there Is no adequate
legal screen to protect them from mutila-
ton or malicious mischief.
1t seems to US that when O transportation
company enters into n contract with a pas
senger to carry him from one point to an-
other IL agrees to carry his face as we'll as
the rest Of him and II face, then whiskers.
For these, In the case of tried and true
whiskerandoes, are no nero casual ex-
crescence and exfoliation; they are q con-
stituent and necessary part Of the face
itself. Take the great NJ. DE BLowrrz Of the
London Times and all Europe and a part Of
Asia, for example. How large a percentage
Of the impressive physiognomy Of NJ. DE
BLowITz consists of whiskersl They are
part of his face, part of the man; and no
railroad company that cannot carry them
%uninjured can carry him u%ninjured. In
cases Of more intimate and mystical union
between the capillary exterior and the
whole temperament, the whiskers are not
Joined to the face. but the face to the whis-
kers. This Is the case with the Captain Of
the West Thirtieth street police station In
this town. II what happened to Mr.. CLICK
MAN had happened to Capt. CHAPMAN, the
latter would probably be in a very serious
condition; for his are vital whiskers. and
to pluck them out would be to pluck out
the heart. A court ought to take judicial
notice that In certain cases whiskers are a
part Of a mans face or even a substitute
for 1t. If they were baggage, their value
could be recovered, and yet when they are
the man or an important part of him, he
cannot recover for them.
AS to the value of Mr.. GLICKMAN's whis-
kers, that was a subject for expert testl-
mony, and the leading expert is in Paris
at present. Clearly, however. a sentimental,
aesthetic, poetical value may be proved in
whiskers, and should be considered as we'll
as the average cash value by a jury. 1t is
most unlikely that any fraud would arise
from collision In cases Of damage to whisk-
ers, for persons who really pride themselves
upon the possession of a full set would
never consent to lose any members. Still,
Legislatures might fix the maximum sum
to be recovered. 1t is the misfortune of Mr..
GLICKMAN to live in times in which the
humanity Of ~lawgivers has not been fully
directed to such losses as he now mourns.
However ragged his whiskers may be, he
may console himself by looking at the
malaperts Of the Citizens Union, who
didn't know enough to tnrry in Jericho
until their boards were grown.