Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-29
SIGNS USED BY BARRIERS
HOW THEY CARRY INFORMATION TO
EACH OTHER.
Weaknesses of Their Regular Victims
signaled to New Men in the
Shop With Ease.
From the New York Evening Post.

| From the New York Evening Post.
"It was my fortune" said an uptown
| physician today, ION a recent visit to the
BARRIERS, to fall into the hands of the pro-
| prietor OF the shop, the artist whom l usu-
ally select to give my face its daily scrape
| being engaged with another customer at the
tine. Noting that the boss barber paused
In his labor occasionally, each time step
ping back of my chair. l became curious
to know why he should waste so much time.
and watching closely in the mirror in front
| Of us, 1 discovered him in the act of max
ing motions at one Of his workmen in a far
| corner Of the shop. He raised his hand on
a level with his head. and opened his index
and middle finger in the form Of v. at
the same time shaking his head vigorously.
Having ridden the goat. watered the camel
and gone through three years warfare. 1
possess some knowledge of signs and pass
| words. and therefore watched the glass
| closely to note if the man at the other end
| Of the line made answer by some mystic
| sign wherewith l was acquainted. But he
! simply nodded his head and engaged his
customer in pleasant conversation. After
| finishing clipping the genteman's hair, he
| produced from shelf bottle of patent
preparation. and, after gentle urging, in
| dGced his victim to allow portion of this
| soothing JUNCTION to be rubbed into his
taip
1.-The proprietor soon finished the right
| side of my face and proceeded to strop his
| razor preparatory to attacking the other
! AS it seemed to take him an unusually long
| time to complete this operation. / fell to
Watching him narrowly again. and dscov-
| cred that he was trying to attract the at
tention of my favorite barber. two chairs
| away Having secured his eye, the boss
| Wrinkled up his brow Questioningly, and I
turned my head just in time to catch my
| friend cutting circles in the air with his
forefinger. His chief evidently understo ID
what this meant, for he proceeded to finish
! me off in fine style.
Knew Just What He Wanted.
when it came time for him to clean my
hair, however, he seemed to know just what
kind Of shampoo compound l wanted. and,
furthermore. insisted in the gentle, ccaxing
way BARRIERS have Until l yielded up my
head to his tender mercies But when he
had finished this task and was putting the
finishing touches on my toilet. l con-
t1ived to extract from him the meaning Of
the mysterious signs and their connections
with the wizard-like ease with which the
workmen seemed to anticipate each GUS
ton ers wants
Men, he said have more different no.
t1rns as to what Is necessary to secure
good growth Of hair than women have in
the way Of complexion washes or cosmetics.
See that cabinet there? indicating a large
affair at the end of the shop There are
| almost as many different brands of hair
oil, cold cream, and dandruff cure in 1t as
we have regular customers. They all think
the one they use is he only one that is
worth having, and that all others are
frauds But as each seems willing to back
his opinion with the necessary cash to pay
for his favOrite preparation, 1t is not for
US to explain that all hair tonics are COM
posed of brandy and quinine: all cold
creams OF scented Spina and
poo pomade Of vaseline and borax. And 1t
would not make the slightest difference If
we did; our customers would still stick to
what they believe is best OF course, we
don't handle all those things for the mere
pleasure we get from looking at the fancy
labels, but expect to make something on
each bottle
What has all this to do with the SLY
signs and motions you make at each other?
I interrupted.
well. each man that works here has his
own set of customers, who shave with him
whenever possible. OF course, he knows
their little likes and dislikes; in fact, he is
expected to learn them-his value as
workman Is In exact proportion to the tact
with which he coaxes knowledge of their
favnrite hair preparation from them. This
knowledge secured, it becomes easy for him
to suggest that he be allowed to procure a
bottle Of 1t and keep 1t on hand, to be APP
pied at each visit the customer makes to
the shop.
An Easy Mark.
If his patron comes in at a time when
he Is engaged however and goes to an
other chair, of course it becomes his duty
to let the barber who shaves his quondam
client know what to offer. 1t would be very
embarrassing to all concerned to have him
shout out: THAT gent wants dose of
Smiths dandruff cure" he cannot leave the
man he is working over. and interrupt the
labors of his fellow employe, thus irritating
both customers Yet his regular in
the other chair may be little touchy as to
the subject of dandruff, and resent any in
quiry from the man serving him. But If
the right preparation is forthcoming with
out comment he will meeky submit to its
application and pay the bill without
murmur. So we post each other by means
of those signs
"'What does that mean?' I asked, imitat-
ing that first signal that attracted my at
tention
That stands for IS hair oil. and If
you spread your fingers like you have them
1t means to be careful as the customer is
hard one to handle. If I gave the sign
with the fingers close together. it would
mean that he was easy to manage
What does this one mean?' I asked.
making motions similar to those my favor
lite had made when he signaled the propri-
etor
"'He meant for to try you for sham
poo.
Does every shop have its own system
"'Well. not exactly. We all use much
the same signs to indicate shampoo. bay
rum rub. tonic and those staple articles.
but each place has its special way Of des-
ignating the high-priced fancy prepara-
tons
HE worked away in silence to complete
my toilet. while I pondered over another
question that troubled me somewhat As
he drew the towel away from my chin.
asked: How do you class me? Am easy
to work?'
''He coughed alphabetically as climbed
down from the chair. and, looking at me
sideways, as he rang up Is cents on the
cash register remarked:
YOU'RE easy; dead easy. Next gent"
The Skin and the Lungs.
From Aipslee's Magazine.
That the skin is intimately connected
with the lungs Is proved by the fact that
OUT minor Ills of the respiratory tract
colds. for instance-are almost always