Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-04-08
a CLOSE SHAVE.
Boston Sportsmen Fall Into the
Hands of Back Woods Barber.
win Live in SecIusion Till Mother Nature
REPLACES Lost Skin.

A party of Bostonians who had been
doing little fishing and prospecting
up north in Maine's great wilderness.
came down on the train the other day.
After warming up over good dinner
at Bangor. they lighted up their cigars
and told some pretty good stories.
Some were true and some were -.
well, never mind: even the truth should
not be spoken at all times. The grand
muck "a muck of the party, a leader
in Boston's social -Four Hundred"
who can talk like pet parrot and
is 4 close second to Chauncy Derew
as a story teller. gave some reminis-
cences Of the trip and to the Journal
scribe he unburdened himself in the
following manner:
lie said he had been up in lumber
camp for the past 10 days and had
been having more fun than a barrel
of monkeys" with plenty of the good
things of this earth and some to spare.
But one can't have picnic all the
time, so we reluctantly turned our
backs on the log cabin and it's general
occupants and struck out on the tote
path for civilization, where we arriv-
ed in due season. We had not seen a
bs-i Dcf siiICc lcdNlIIS lOIiIc. anu w siCII
we got out to the little settlement the
first man we looked for was hair eX-
tractor to present him with our 10 days
growth of wool. After some diligent
inquiries among the natives, we learn
ed that the settlement boasted of one
whisker manipulation, who was an art
ist in his line. He was also coroner
justice of the peace. game warden.
harness maker and drove the town
hcarse. The last I'm not sure of. but
at any rate he was the biggest man
by all odds in the settlement.
after getting his street address, To-
cation and telephone number. we start
ed out to find the tonsorial wonder.
Way over back of the station we saw
signs of barberism in the shape of a
shanty with what looked to us like a
stick of sassafras candy over the door,
toward which we wended our way. In
answer TO Our inquiry. this newer of
wood within the coop said: Yes. gen
tlemen, the barber is in. l am the man
you're looking for We behed husky
looking trapper with a blue flannel
shirt, corduroy pants. feet incased in
mOccasins. He had hand like a sugar
cured ham and 4 grip like pair Of gas
pincers.
.'One chair which evidently came
from the wreck of Noah's ark which
he struck on Mt. Ararat. cracked
mirror. an heirloom handed down for
generations, pattern much priced by
antiquarian societies. bottle with a
sprinkler top that looked like pe2Der
sauce and a towel that Benedict Ar
mold left in his hasty flight toward
Quebec. A few papers of the vintage of
1S40 on rickerty table and couple
of nail kegs with q plank across COM
pleted the outfit.
We lined up along the wall and
awaited our turn. l. unfortunately. was
the first victim offered up on the altar
of pride. / crawled into the chair while
the barber danced double shuttle
keeping time with an old horn handled
razor on q suspender hung from the
wall. Next he lathered me. mostly ur
in the roof of my mouth. After at
tending TO all the details that are SC
essential to a good shave. he clutched
me by the ear with one hand and with
the other drew the razor down over my
cheek. 1t sounded like ripping the sell
wage off from a piece of overall cloth
Talk about FoXs Book of Martyrs and
the atrocities practiced on the Chris
tians by the Boxers! 1t was nothing
compared with that shave. Why, he
would herd the hair up in punches and
extract it by the roots like transplant
ing strawberry plants. He chased 1owr
one side of my face and up the Other
with the razor. removing all warts
molcs and birth marks in its travels.
AT last after a few slaps with the
towel scented with bergamont and tur-
rentine. he pronounced the job fin
ished. and / slid out of the chair 9
marked man. With a loud call fol
next number two took my place, hui
before doing so he asked me in a stage
whisper: How is he. Tom I an
swered 50 childlikc and bland: I never
had such a shave in my life. He's Il:
tender as a woman So he wadct
through that party one at a time, unit
his floor looked like mattress factory
and we poor relies looked like the rel
les of a dynamite explosion. We es
caped from that shop with our live
and that's all. We are now going bacl
to Boston to wrap some quilts arOunt