The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-13
TIE DAY OF THE SHAYEN FACE.
GOV. DO(kERI SACRIFICES !,
LiNDN TO custom.
Missouri Statesman's Historic Whiskers
Only One Of Many sets That Have
Welded to the Insisteni RaZOr-Y Outh
of 1908 Not q Hair-PrOmOte r

HE despatch from n'sSOlTl recording
the fact that Gov. Alexander Monroe
Dockery has Invested his count enance of a
celebrated and almost immem oral set of
whskers records another notable effect of
general tendency Of the new century,
namely the tendency to clip, prune or
discard the tendrils Of the face to shorten
sail or run under bare polls
Unfortunately, the news from Missouri
lacks detail II does not state whether
the Governor has parted with the entire
crop or still retains a fringe and memento
upon lis upper lip. The report does say
that the reducing process was gradual,
beginning in the summer. when the heard
of thirty years growth, which spread
like napkin over the Gubernatoria shirt
front. was curtailed and narrowed to
pointed covering for the chin, a mere ghost
or skeleton of it's former self
Ia their most luxuriant state the Cover
nurs ind-Compellers were of that va
rietv not uncommon in the paper collar
period Of the last generation, which enabled
their fortunate possessors to dispense alto
grther with neckties and disregard to a
considerable extent the condition Of their
linen Indeed, il was a secret, known
only to the bearded ones themselves and
to a few discreet washerwomen, whether
such persons wore white linen upon their
manly fronts or not. If they did. it was a
mere concession to custom, the gratitiCa-
ZION of an aesthetic sense which found no
visible expression
Gov Dockery's determination to reef his
whisker spread was due in the beginning
toa perception that it belonged. like horse
hair furniture and Sunday broadcloth, to a
bygone period When the pruning had
been accomplished and the Governors
friends detected in him resemblance to
Bill Phelps. the lobbyist. there was still a
choice open-he might have permitted
a second growth, AZ so many other timber
raisers have done in the lumber country.
but instead of that he cleared the field and
exposed 1t after long concealment to the
direct action of the elements,
In adopting this course Gov. Dockery
has followed the example OF some of the
best and most beloved Of his contempo-
raries. Who does not recall the day when
Thomas B. Reed honed his trlsty razor and
disclosed to public view one of the stiffest
Of upper Ii PSF
friend Bourke Cochran put away the mus
tache and the diminutive tuft which framed
the outlet of his matchless eloquence.
Many New Workers. remember wildly
the sunny morning when Russell Sage left
his ample whiskers in the waste basket and.
appearing In Wall Street naked from the
COLLAR up, threw the market into a tremor
Of doubt and apprehension. THE Sun at
tSat time had the honor OF giving wide
publicity to the appearance Of the unmasked
dean Of the financial district and OF taking
a prompt part in the restoration Of public
confidence.
Mr.. Sage was preceded in this revolution
airy measure by another financial statesman,
the Hon. Levi P. Morton, who, shedding
pair of prodigious sideboards. achieved
fine distinction as diplomatist, Vice-Presi
dent and Governor, and proved conclusively
that it is not the hair that makes the man,
though it may at some remote period have
been the badge of masculinity
The latest of the great men Of finance
to run the mower over his countenance is
DOM u. Rockefeller. He babe farewell
to MS Dundrearys many years ago, and
recently the mustache that long survived
was never what you would call great
mustache, such as that of the Hon. Ashley
w. Cole, for example, but always remained
subordinate, the ornament but not the
chief feature Of the facial assemblage
President Roosevelt is the most con-
splcuous representative Of the many famous
men of the present era who have grown
less opulent of whskers as their states
manshlp has expanded His cheek is now
unruffled, though the mustache remains.
These are only a few examples of the
fashion which lately overcame Gov. Dockery
they are selection, not catalogue. They
indicate pretty clearly the extent of the
reaction from the days of ls61-85. The
riotous beard has gone the way Of the top
boot.
The twentieth century is beginning some
what as the nineteenth began, though, of
course, not so strictly and universally
smooth, but 1t is doubtful If il will run par
aIlel through all its quarters with its pre-
decessor There were no mustaches, no
boards, when the nineteenth century
uawned.
Side whiskers began to curl and sprout
before it had run far in its course, and
they grew holder after time and encircled
the throat and chin, leaving bare the upper
lip. The lip was submerged about 1880,
and in the later years of destruction was
las TO yield to the assaults of the barber.
The human countenance began to ex-
hibit itself again not long after The war, and
from that time down to the very recent
past the unsupported mustache was the
prevailing mode Now fas hion is chang
ing again, so that the young men are com
monty completely shaved and their fathers
have covered lips.
The youth of to-day have the weight OF
civilized precedent with them. An ex-
animation of the family albums OF the last
four centuries will demonstrate that the
'nwhiskered have had by far the better
81 it, For nearly two hundred years OF
that time the beard was not permitted to
sprout.
great deal of encouragement for the
shaven but ambitious young man may be
found in the Pres idency of the nited States.
From the beginning with Washington down
10 1nCon'r time whiskers found Judgment
in the White House only three times, and
II every care they were of the remote
garia:y known a. sideboards, wnich -Sered
no considerable obstruction to the Obser-
walton of the faces 10 which they were linked.
John Quincy Adams presented stub
born pair, Martin Van B,ren's were amiabIe
in their moods, and Zachary Tayiors were
evidently the unObtrUsiye expression of
a fancy for trimmings.
Lincoln inaugurated IN" bearded era,