Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-23
CRUSADE AGAINST THE BEARD
oOld-BlOOded Science Pluoks the whiskers
Of Dairymen.
HAIRLESS FACES BEHIND THE MlKcA
MicrObe sharps Go Further and In
sist ON Doctors being shOrn Of
the PatriarchaI Sign of
Wisdom.

NEW YORK. Feb. 21.-A crusade against
the beard has been started and. II the
l movement keeps the pace Il has already &C
CURED, II will not be long before we will
DO as whiskerless q race as In the days OF
Napoleon. For the edict has gone forth
and the man of fashion, the barber and the
doctor are concurring to give It force. The
FIRST is actuated by mere vanity, the Sec
ond by gain, the third by science. or at
least hygiene, and in this latter cause Is
found the real significance Of the move
ment, since It concerns the general health.
Heretofore the undertaking OF a nation has
always reflected it's mood. People have be-
come beardless after suffering great moral
crises-witness the time Of Cromwell In
England, the period OF the revolution in
France, Perhaps some people may think
we have passed through a great political
crisis in this country, but that. after all.
Is not the real motive for the present cru
bade. 1t is true that fashion has been
gradually reducing its devotees to the alb
soluteIy shorn condition. The day Of the
slowing moustache. for instance, was passed
years ago. In spite OF the outcry Of the
ladies, the youth of the period long age
Felegated the military twist to the me-
nhanio. the laborer and the man who wears
q made-up tie. The short cropped nous
tache has been long In vogue. But more
recently the young blood, who Is to his fell
lows what the Gibson girl is to woman
kind, has shaved his face clean to accord
with his short niched ~coattail and his peg
top trousers, all Of which might we'll take
place at any time without rhyme or rea-
son. But here come the doctors, to whom
q flowing beard has been considered es-
Bential from the standpoint Of business
declaring that the beard is, after all, bu
q vehicle for the growth Of disease germs
which may menace not only the health Of
the wearer, but which may transmit the
germs to others; that the dairyman who
wears a beard does so to the peril Of his
customers who drink the milk he contami-
mates; that doctors who wear boards report
fsreater mortality among their patients
than those who do not; that the man with
q beard who enters a railway coach car
not come away without a very paipable ad-
dition Of the bacteria which always in
fest such places, since II has been proved
that the mating Of the coaches, composed
Of many individual strands or hairs like
those Of a beard, are literally covered with
bacteria
The Bearded and the Beardless.
Now, It is a fact that doctors have lonl
I separated themselves into two classes
those who do and those who do not weaI
boards. and in the larger clinics It 4
! noticeable that the operators are as careful
Of their hirsute appendages as Lord Liste
was Of his nngernails, but the idea reall!
came to the notice Of the public when tn
New York Milk commission suggested tina
sl dairymen with whiskers dispense witt
fhis part Of their facial makeup on tn
ground that a milkman with whiskers 4
liable to i~mpregnate the milk with germs
Following the suggestion the managers o
The various milk depots In the neighbor
hood OF Binghamton have decided that on1!
pm~ooth-faeed men will be allowed hereaftet
60 have anything to do with the milking O
shipping OF milk in that part Of the state
Orders issued to that effect state that will
ordinary cleanliness the dust from the sta
Bile is liable to infect the beard and from
thence the milk. Some of the farmers VIII
have long prided themselves on the beaut
and length Of their boards are indignan
ut the implied possibility of uncleanlines
and at the enforced change in their per
Bonal appearance. One man declares tina
he would rather lose his business than hi
beard. Others express like sentiments, Blu
many. on the other hand. are heartily II
accord with the movement. The signincanc
Of the movement lies in its relation to tn
wearing Of boards in general. II there I
menace to the dairy. there is menace I
other departments Of industry.
So important has the question becom
that various health authorities have TO
some time been making reforms whereve
possible.
n OF Whiskers.
II suppose the idea came" said d,
Park OF the New York Board OF Health
from our suggestion to the milkmen Of tn
state. There is real menace to the mil
Z the dairyman is bearded. In the fra
place tho mixer may be diseased himsel
He may have tuberculosis and the drie
bputum may accumulate on his beard an
drop from 1t into the milk, which woul
then become dangerous to any consume
already predisposed to the disease. TIL
| mixer is forced to incline his head owe
the miikpail In order to get near enous
to do his work and you have no doubt nc
ticed that men with long boards haye
habit Of stroking them downward. Ths