The suburban citizen., 1902-06-14
THE CHINESE BARBER.
Complications which Beset the Celestial
Hair Dresser.

Hair Dresser
Chinatown has now two BARRIERS,
and the monopoly once enjoyed by
Lee Yu Of Mott street is at an end,
snless he forms a syndicate with the
newcomer, who has shop on Pell
street. His trade is more complicated
than that Of his "foreign-devir' col
league, and demands q longer ap-
)renticeship He shaves with smaller
'azor, and for shavingbrush uses
what looks suspiciously like cheap
toothbrush. In lathering, he applies
small daub of soapsuds which COW
crs about one square inch. When this
Is shaved of, he daubs another little
tract of skin. shaves, and so keeps on
until the task is over. Not only the
lower face and neck, but also the tenn
ples, forehead. the space around the
ears, and the lower back Of the head,
are operated upon. The ears require
especial attention. For their treatment
be has an ear razor, no larger than
surgeons lancet. With this he shaves
the fuzz on the back Of the ear, the
down on the front, and the bristles in
the ear passage. After shaving he pol
ishes the ear with a cotton pad, and
then a hard-stone rubber, According
to the ton:orial canons Of the far East,
the model ear is pink and polished,
like a carving in rose coral.
The hairs which grow in the postrils
are removed by tweczers. This opera
ton, painful to an American, has no
terrors for John Chnaman. He be-
gins tweezering in youth, and at
twenty-five is accustomed to the prac'
tice. According to the barber, the
hair sacs grow larger and looser, so
that each hair comes out with but
little trouble or smart. After shaving
comes the dressing Of the queue. This
is not a simple strand Of hair, as 1t
appears. but a rope in which a little
hair is ingeniOusly plated with black
silk cords. The average queue is one
fourth hair and three.fourths silk.
The barber unplaits it, lays aside the
silk, shampoos, dries, and oils the hair;
rubs it with silk cloth, combs it out,
and then braids it with the silk. After
the braiding is over, he scents the
masterpiece with a very small amount
of some perfume
When the customer is in a hurry,
this ends the operation. In other
cases, he passes through a series of
massage and Swedish movements. His
head is rotated, his back and shoulders
pounded and rubbed, his arms and
hands moved vigorously at every joint,
the fingers opened and shut and each
knuckle pulled until it cracks. The
barber must examine the eyebrows,
eye-lashes and fnger-nails, and attend
TO every blemish. For this purpose he
has tiny scissors, camel's hair pencils,
and instruments very much like those
Of the manicurist For skin disorders,
he has many preparations, washes,
ointments. powders and plasters.
Young Cinnamon, especially the we'll
to-do. are eager to have nice COM
pleXions, and rely upon the barber for
the cure of all cutaneous disorders.
His compensation is very good, from
either, Western or Eastern point of
view. For a shave he charges twenty.
five cents, and for a full performance
with all the Oriental extras thrown in,
n half-dollar In one respect he may
be initiated by our own tradesmen.
He uses a towel made of soft silk,
which is a hundred-fold more grateful
to the skin than the cotton or linen
tissues of our own civilization.-Ne
York Post.