Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-11-18
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THE ETHICS OF WHISPERS

:
Character Indicated by the Beard-Amer
lean Liberality.
The question of boards has always
been one in which men have taken
the greatest interest. By turns ii
has been popular or unpopular for
men to adorn their faces with hair,
but greater significance has always
attached to it than to the mere
changing of any other fashions. In
ancient times beard was a mark of
honor and dignity. In oriental
countries it is still regarded with
reverence, and to pluck a man by
his beard is the deadliest of insults.
The willy Turk who sells the Amerl-
can made Turkish rug of commerce
always swears by his beard and the
beard of his prophet when he makes
an affidavit to it's being, genuine
oriental prayer mat. He is talking
through his whiskers and is not to
be believed. After the period when
every man was bearded like pard
there came time when any hair Oh
a mans face was considered rowdy.
ish and mustache indicated dash.
ing soldier, just as chrysanthemum
hair labels the football enthusiast.
With characteristic liberality,
America has always conceded to
every man the right to wear a beard
or not, as he pleased, and the result
has been that in no other country
can SO many varieties of architec-
ture in whiskers be seen. In Kansas
a good windproof set of whiskers is
considered one of the prime qualiti-
cations for a political candidate. In
many rural communities beard is
still worn as satisfactory substi-
tute for a necktie.
Among swell young men there is
a great variety of opinion in regard
to the subject. Those who desire
to look French and wicked wear Il
sharply pointed beard trimmed
down to a hair line, Others who in
cline to the Charles Dana Gibson
school of looks are clearly shaved
and wear tired and faraway look.
There are still other men who, APP
preciating how little opportunity
their sex have for adjoining them
selves, give variety to what would
often be an expressionless counte-
nance by wearing their boards in
queer little patches, which suggests
that they have had their faces laid
out by landscape gardener.
1t is the Importance of the beard
that makes a lawsuit recently tried
in New Jersey of general interest ,
all men. A respectable citizen of
that state, the happy possessor Of a
beard to which he was tenderly at
tached, undertook short railway
journey. Upon the trip he was set
upon by gang of roughs who cru
ely misused him and especially
vented their tiendish malignity upon
his beard, which they tore out and
disfgured, making it totally useless
and valueless as. a means of adorn-
ment. The man brought suit against
the railroad company, putting the
injuries to his beard at the modest
sum OF S2oO-a sum entirely made
quate to pay for the time and labor
and thought he had bestowed upon
it, as every boy who has ever gone
through the tribulation of raising
his first mustache will agree. The
railroad people set up the plea that
they were not engaged in the bust
ness of carrying whiskers; that the
complainant could produce no bill OF
lading to show that their company
received the beard in good order
and condition, and finally that they
were not responsible for any bag
gage over the value of $500. The
case was tried by a jury of six clean
shaven men and six bearded ones,
and they finally decided in favor of
the heartless corporation. This will
doubtless constitute a precedent,
and 1t is just as well for men to be
warned in time that when they tray
ell they take their boards in their
hands.-New Orleans Picayune.
| After 40 years of hard, dangerous
and expensive missionary work
there are in Japan today about no.
600 native Christians in popula-