The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-01-14

shave or haircut II II is done by pret-
ty girl. No, II isn't an unpleasant
trade for woman unless she makes
IL SO for herself.
'How do we start beginner? Just
by giving man a set Of instruments
and somebody to practise on and set
ting him to work. He cant learn TO
be barber by looking on and being
told about It, any more than he could
learn to ride a bicycle by watching
somebody else. When a beginner Is
ready for work make him put In the
first day learning how to hone and
strop his razor. Then assign him to
chair and let him look on while l
shave a man. The next man he lath-
ers in and I give the first shave, let
ting the student finish him. In shaw
ing you always go twice over mans
face, once with the grain and then
against IL. The third man the student |
takes alone, while look on and cor
rect him when he goes wrong. After
| that he needs only occasional super
vision, unless he gets hold of an es- |
| pedally tough subject.
after four days Of steady shaving |
we let the student try his hand at |
hair cutting. That's harder than the |
shaving, but all | can do Is to give
him a pair OF scissors and show him
how to hold them, and let him go
ahead while I stand by and tell him
where he is wrong. He has to get the
knack of It himself, and the whole
secret of good barbering lies in that
knack. II is easy to get II man has
light hand, loose wrist and steady
nerves to start with, but anybody can
get it with time and practice. 1t all
lies in practice, and the value OF a
place like this Is that the student Is
practising every moment of the work.
ing hours. We shave and cut the hair
of over thousand men every day,
and we average about so students to
do the work. so they haven't much
time to stand around and talk about
how It ought to be done or to watch
somebody else.
Before any training schools for bar
bers we're established-and they only
date from the Worlds fair-a man
could not learn the trade anywhere
but in small shop. The big shops
won't bother with green hands. When
a man wanted to be barber he had
to go to some little shop and start in
as porter. He might put in six or
eight months sweeping and dusting
and running errands before he was al
lowed to touch razor. Then he was
put at honing and stropping the ra-
zors, cleaning combs and brushes, and
finally at lathering in, combing hair
! after 1t was cut, and putting on the
. bay rum. For real work he had to
wait his chance until some extra good
natured man came in who didn't mind
; being shaved by a raw hand, and such
, men are not so plenty as they might
be. Hair cutting was out of the ques-
tion unless there was big rush on
, or a boy came in. Boys don't mind
, how their hair looks, but most men
are fussier about a haircut than any
, thing else. OF course a bright young
: fellow with his wits about him could
get the knack in time. but It was slow
, work because he couldn't get real prac-
|. tice enough to keep his hand in.
!, Here, after seven weeks of steady
practice in shaving and hair cutting
), the student is ready to go into the
!, finishing room. There he is taught
: hair dressing, how to SINCE and sham.
poo, how to use tonics and dyes, and
finally how to trim the mustache and
beard. That takes another week. ant
a then the man is ready for his diploma
= and is fit for any shop in the city. Oh
II yes; there are positions enough fol
. them. We have more applications fol
- trained workmen than we can FILL
THE older men here? Most of then
y are learning the trade, not to work a
I, 1t themselves, but to open shops ant
- employ men to do the work. The!
8 have to know how 1t ought to be done
- for It is bad policy for the owner o
= a shop to discover bad workman onl,
70 through the complaints of his custom
y ers. Yes, this is the only barber schoo
:, in existence. We have branches II
"a all the principal cities OF the Unite,
Nv States. but they are all under on
70 management. So far the enterpris
,v has been very successful. New Yorl
"A Post.