The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-09-22
6arbering Done on
SCIENTIFIC Lines
From the Providence Journal.

a barbers shop operated on strictly
scientific principles is to be opened in
Baltimore. In every tirst-class establish
ment of the scrt the greatest care is
taken, of course, to secure cleanliness. But
the Baltimore venture is the pioneer, if
we are not mistaken, in observing every
possible precautiOn against the transmits
sion of disease. 1t is well known that
germs and bacllli are particularly active
in these days, and that the simple rules
of our fathers Will not answer for us at
all. Mere washing and scrubbing Will not
eradicate our infiinitesimal enemies; they
may lurk in the whitest towels or The
brightest of raZors. The "asceptic barber
shop of Baltimore disregards none of the
appliances of modern science. Everything
is to be in duplicate, so that one set may
be boiled in a steriGZing apparatus, while
the other set is in use. The barber will
use as much care in shaving a customer
as the surgeon would use in performing
Il delicate operation on patient. He
will be bare-armed to the elbow, and be-
side him will stand a bowl OF antiseptic
fluid into which, after careful washing,
he will plunge his hands before he calls
Next" Sterilized soap, cup, razor and
towel Will be used. "Then," we are told,
instead of dusing on powder with a puff
in the 1leecy depths of which millions of
germs may be breeding, sterili2ed nap
kin or the end of a sterllized towel is to
"
clean-shaVen face"
There is an historical as well as a scien-
titlc appropriateness in all this. Few of us
realize, perhaps, how ancient and honor
able the BARRIERS profession is. Its origin
is lost in the msts of antiquity. The
prophet Ezekiel mentions it, and in all
Oriental countries it is held in honor. In
the days of the Sultan Schahriah, 1t will
be remembered, BARRIERS We're held in high
repute not only for their professional
Skill but also for their ability as racon-
teurs; a distinction which many of them
retain even at the present day. Often
they We're of importance in affairs of
| state, as was the case with Oliver Balm,
| the trusted associate of Louis XI of
| France. In the times of the Georges in
| England, persons resorted to the barber
shops TO learn the news and some musical
| instrument, n flute or Viol, for example,
was kept for their entertainment. From
earliest times, too the BARRIERS were also
surgeons, and frequently performed, on
| a more extensive scale than at present,
| the operation of blood-letting. 1t is be-
| lieved that the pole which still disting-
uishes the barber shop originally symbol
! lied the winding of a bandage around the
| arm. What more appropriate, then, than
| that the modern barber should take an
| interest in and utilize all the inventions
| and discoveries of modern science? The
| asceptc shop restores to a noble pro-
fessiou some of the dignity 1t has lost.
| o
And yet is the barbers shop in any
guise a true adjunct of civilization, and
| does not it's very existence impair that
| dignity? The barber in old times rather
| sought his customers at their homes, and
| thus was brought into confidential rela-
| tions with them, impossible under the in
| tiuence Of row of chairs with recumbent
| occupants. IL not the shop a disagree
able necessity at best? Why should a
| gentleman perform any part of his toilet
in public? 1t is better to be shaved in a
shop than to have ones shoes polished
| in the public highway, as is the unpardon-
| able custom with some hereabouts. But
| nothing Is more obvious than that men
are bound, both from ethical and aes-
| thetic considerations, to shave them
selves whenever 1t is possible. Shaving
is as much a part of the morning toilet
as the bath. There are those, it is true,
no object to shaving themselves, or who
cannot do so: but their remedy is easy;
| they should engage a valet. A man with
| out a valet is poorly provided at best,
| and II is to be regretted that so many
| otherwise respectable citizens shut their
| eyes to this fact, The asceptic BARRIERS
| shop may remove some objections to
promiscuous 81 avlng; but at the same
time 1t will make the operation so formid-
able that its private performance will be
deemed more essential than ever. Thus
science goes on making the world a bet
ter place to live in. If many BARRIERS are
sacrificed In the process, let them take
an altruistic pleasure in the good they
are working for humanity, as well as in
the thought that their surviving brethren,
with their antiseptlc bowls and sterilized
| towkels, can follow a profession OF IN
| creased beneficence and nobility.