The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-12-11
Leads all North Carolina Dailies i'm Circulation

thusiasm of a beardless man and it
were easy to construct a book with
ones left hand as an humble ONT
mept for the beard, / had hoped
| to discuss the artistic possibilities OF
facial hair adornment With illustra-
| tons from life, to touch upon It's
iabuse as a means of losing identifica
| tlon and hiding crime, on the psy-
Geological index to character which
! the different styles disclose. But Il
newspaper writer cannot hope to be
an author and continue to do his
work. He has not the time and
must hurry on TO the injunction to
those Of you who have boards TO
/ guard them we'll and to recognize that
as in weakness there is strength. so
also danger turks ever as a corOilarN
| to the greatest blessings. This is a
rude age that fights for place and
| power regardless of the amenities Of
| life. 1t is Indifferent to aught save
success. 1t takes advantage brutally.
lunehtically. unpoetically of any and
all things-even of a suit of beard
that covers the breast like a door
mat
Raleigh people are familiar with
| the story of marital woe which is now
pending before a local magistrate; of
| NOW the diIecllOiS Oh Il Idllnlul vile
waVered from the husband of her
choice at the sight of a waving flag
of red beard hung to the iovial visage
| of a care-free Lothario. It will be
| distinctly recalled how, when endur-
lance had run it's limit, the husband
sought to Wreak his vengeance ana
how, in the moment of conflict, he
took a mean if justihablc advantage
by locking his left hand in the red
WhjSlxprS nf his I'm doing while
pummelled his enemy in the face with
his right. And how, when IOthario
nerved mself to the effort and broke
away from that vengeful grip he left
behind him in the husbands grasp
sufficient whskers TO make a wash rag,
which now repoSe in an envelope in
a lawyers desk, red exhibit in the
cause
And anyone who has since seen LO-
thario. transformed by the barber.
painfully evident of his mouth, with
chin from which the beard has been
plucked for all time by the roots. Will
! have a ready object lesson that except
for Queensbury rules it is unWise to
fight without first buttoning up ones
bprd.
There was q bar-keeper, too. whom
lI once knew at a summer resort Who
was blessed with an iron grey beard
that hung below his waist line and
with Il wife of a dark and passionate
Grecian caste of face and an Amazon
ian build. Of the beard he was proud
land of the wife proud, also-and
afraid. And on conVivial night my
friend the bar-keep came to that hour
when il was necessary to go to his
room with a fear and trembling that
was pitiable in the extreme. A light
lin the window failed to .reassure him
rand, when his companions left. ne
stood in tipsy and uncertain medita-
tion before the door. That was at
a. m AT six the next morning q
waiter found i'm the hotel grounds what
II believe was unique sight. Under
the low limb of a giant oak stood a
man on tiptoe. making gutteral
sounds and waving weak signals with
his hands. His head was turned up
until he gazed straight into the SKY
and from his chin to the limb, a dis
tance of some three feet, extended
what looked like a thick rope of black
cloth The waiter investigated and
found that the bar-keeper was tied
by his whskers to the springy limb,
where he had been for three hours.
His courage failing of the interview
with his wife and his liquor urging
him to desperate deeds, he had con-
cluded when his friends had left him
in the lurch to end his days. Lacking
a rope he conceived his whiskers as
substitute and drawing down lafg"
limb he had walked along it towards
the trunk of the tree, tied himself
securely, turned loosc-and sobered
up OH his tiptoes.
All of which merely goes to prove
the obligation on the Whiskered TO
live up 70 their ideals and TO appre-
ciate their responsibilities. Whiskers
are a trust from nature. Let you
who are blessed see to it that you
guard them well.
y. B.-It is held by some that II
was the ointment and not the beard
that went down even to the skirts OF
Aaron's garments. Go to! ! think /
know a beard when I see it. However,
either clerical or lay communications
are desired. the question having been
raised.