The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-12-11

Ian infinitely rarer specimen than the
| gutter of the smooth en- n and the
powdered cheek. The eye revoltS and
| the heart sickens at whiskers in 4
| panic. Nothing more completely tears
down the ideal OF manhood. And that
| this is true. points the value of 1he
! whiskers in the moral plan. There
| is 81 basic reason lying somewhere next
| to the warm heart of the mysterious
| first causes that is responsible for the
| intuitive trust that is put in time OF
| need in the man who has hair on his
face--a woman, in a moment when
| she needs protection. will seek the
man with a beard as naturally rs a
| rabbit will take to the cover of the
branch. And, if she has been mis-
taken in her man. she is not in the
beard which, coward though he be. he
will risk life Itself TO keep from com
promising The world has ever loved {,
Man; and the most dlStinctiVe--alas
10 longer the most representative
popularity of the breed is the beard
Let us hold on TO our whiskers
Brethren-that is if we have 'em--be-
fore we lose entirely and for all time
the secret of their culture!
The old fathers who wrote the Bible
and, having a new field which included
the world and the fulness thereof
it's end, developed of necessity a tersg
ndsvivid style which has been for CEN
turtles the despair of literary workers
not excepting the God-like Shakes
peare himself, had a philosophy about
the beard and an admiration for its
luxuriance that might well be emulat-
&C in ths effete and dainty time
Even in those days SO far gone into
the mists of ages that only their geni-
uses survive. when no man could be
elected to office or position of trust
unless he was bearded like the pard
aud WhiskerS were as common as
babies. extreme length of hair or beard
was considered to be an index Of
power and of dignity The patriarchS,
To a man. "stroked their boards; the
people became emphatic not through
blasphemy but by oaths which called
thc beard of the prophet to witness.
" hisl<ers were found to be an aid to
re Election and TO wisdom. They pre-
vailed against and prevented Mysteries
either of thought or action. They
made for decorum. \ man felt that
he Was elevated by his beard; and
when ne spoke it was with deliber-
alton and self-respect which was
2u1gcd by a conscious regard for the
endowment put upon him by his fore
fathers. Say What one will. beard -
hair d sage; and the obligation of wis
dom is half-fulfilled when one must
| live up to a set of WhIskers which
! he may tuck away under his vest
Take the 133rd Psalm. for instance,
| the shortest of all. Stripped of the
words which the oyer-Zealous editors
of the Hebrew translation put into the
the text of the King James version the
second verse is a purest poem OF the
I glory Of the beard:
Like the precious ointment upon
! the head, that ran down upon the
beard. even Aaron'S beard: that Went
| down to the skirts of his garments.
All. my masters, that was a beard
and that was literature! What other
description of Aaron does one need
We know that he was a big man with
ia port. The ointment ran slowly be-
cause it had to pass a buiging chest
and Il stomach of dimensions. We can
see the trickling drops, half absorbed,
cleaning in the raven meshes of the
curling hair. We know his sWart feat
ures and the flashing eye burning from
the wilderness that grew about his
face: from the beard that grew until
il was pendent at length at the skirts
OF his garment. Aaron was man who
spoke fearless things and as an orator
OF effect he has not been equalled in
the ages. He was the chosen mouth
piece of race defiance and direfnl
worlds mightiest king. And yet ~
does not appear that Aaron was .
man of great intellect. His presence
was his forte. The whiskers made
the man. In imagination we can sec
him standing before Pharoah. straienT
and awesome. with a dignity that vas
us vast as his beard was long. IL hf'
was afraid his beard did not betraF
the fact and he stood because he
1nf lNlf
gift of hair. For a moment or so ne
stood in the Kir~'s presence. one hand
caressing that, sweeping name: anG
then the whiskered lips moved ana
from the caVernouS recesses OF MS
mouth. as it were the Earth GOD
speaking from the cave of his hollow
rock. came the meHow cadCnceS of ms
voice deep-toned and bass as became
his beard It is not recorded that
Aaron spoke aught except as he was
prompted If he was ever original. II
is not set down in the Book. Yet II
was he who was chosen to speak
And Pharoah trcmbled at his word'
What would have been the effect OF his
lagcllation of the King had he been
oarbcred thrice a week
Suppose toO> that the Angelo statue
# Moses had been craven with Wi
lam Jennings Bryan chin. How lily
l '
ire SO vivid of strength and OF mai
aSty. In what perfect sympathy are
he mighty muscles OF the nlcens anu
| he legs and the swelling veins of The
| 'ore-arm with the flowing beard nan@-
| ng oNer the hairy chest that Is hdji
,eVeaied Seamy with sineWs, with Us
| lard and prominent breasts! Wnal
| ase could the great law givcf the tat'
IF nations and the destiny of time
oreatllless behind the slow utterances
| IF that mouth with the stern sadness
| # its responsibilities only half con-
| ,eaIed by the tangle OF his beard, have
| oeen doing with the hand that was free
| rom the book than twisting thought
| FULLY the knotted cords falling Crane
| Y TO his knees.
| There has been in the above mucf
| Of sentiment and. l trust sometime
Of a true philosophy. AS for me, my
admiration for whiskers is of tina