The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-05-10
TIL g Sill P,S Der,
he IN IMPORTANT FUNcTloNARY,5
ON AN OCEAN LINER,

t-t!S AN w -'->AS
HIS TiS@ Mt TTrles Are Princeiy, and
he poe~ ThriSsnS business In
Sou~enirS-Isc Has Many Ways for
Turning III, Honest Dollar
One of the important functionarles
in modern Sea travel is the ships bar
Der The old days of the sailing ship.
where every man was his own haaf-
dresser, where razors grew DUH long
before the end of the voyage, and, eN-
cept for faithful few. bushy boards
soon made all look like Esnu of the
Scriptures. are in sharp contrast to
the conditions on the moGcFh inner
Among the hundreds of first class pas
sengers on the present day Atiahuc
dfers the amenities of the toilet hoid
full sway. and the man who should
come to dinner with L two or three
days growth of stubble on his chnn
would be looked upon with dlstrust or
at the worst politely asked where ms
ranch was or how many cattle he had:
hence the ships barber.
His duties are no Slnecure' put ne
has the JOY of knowing that there is
no rival shop over the way, anu though
MS charges are AiAotSA'''S" 1872
are somewhat in excess of what he
may hope to receive in the ordinary
course of trade ashore. His tips are
FREQUENT ana oftcntilnes quite prince
", for the men he SLAVES are the IA
vorcd ones Of the great ccnters OF
business and social prominence.
The ships barber does not 1--we bS
shayin. alone. however. He has SIDE
lines which are profitable. On many
ships he carries a stock of supplies Tor
the toilet. ca!rios and I variety OF small
wares which are tempting to the pas
seu-er and Which add to his income
Moreover, if he is Ingenious ne may DC
the starter of f;,ds Which cost the pas
senger an easy dollar or two ana 'itto
to the ro,undity of his pockctpook.
Sometimes lie has photographs OF the
ship for sale. and il he hndS these are
going slow he suggests to some INFO
cent pa Ssengcr that bc should get tie
cnutain and chief officers to sign them
and thus secure an additional and Salu-
able souvenir. The passenger srniles
and takes the hint. But he values his
souvenir too highly to keep 1t hidden
in his stateroon1. Not he. LIE SHOWS II
with glee to his fellow passengers ana
then begins a procession to the barber
shop and thence to the ships othccrS.2
at the end Of the voyage the photo-
graphs of the ship are all gone, ana so
is the patience of the captain, who has
other things to do besides holding re
ceptions with adrliring passengers and
signing his name by the hundred that
the ships barber may reap a.harVest
of Yankee dollars. What the captain
thinks of the transaction is not said
aloud in the saloon. but the barber does
not care. How should he be blamed
if the passengers so admire the cap
tain and the ship as to wish souvenirs
Of both?
On the transatlantic voyage the BAR
ber's harvest time is short Iie must
make what hay he can in the sunshine
of a five or six day trip, but on other
voyages he has much greater oPpof-
tunity. For instance, the ships OF the
White Star line, branch OF the inter
national Mercantile Marine, clrcum-
navigate the globe They sail from
England to Australia, thence to China
and home by way Of San FRANCISCO.
This is round the world trip which Is
growing in favor with ocean travellers
who have the leisure to take 1t. ana on
such trips the ships BARRIERS room be
comes IN important headquarters for
the passengers. OFTEN the DaFOei Oh
one Of these long voyage steamers
keeps sort Of general store and Is
costumer and wigmaker as Well
On the Australian voyages it Is quite
customary to hold severn! fancy dress
balls during the passage, and here the
barber gets in his fine work. he mas
a stock Of costumes that would 90 Tor
a small tbeater, and he let's these ut
good prices to the people who have no'
the patience or the ingenuity to get up
such things for themselves. You go
to the ships barber with the requisite
shillings in your purse and come bach
prince or a lady Of the royal co"rt
4 clown or a tramp, a devil or an " n
gel. as your fancy dcta tes. You pres
the button of Your purse, and the bar
Der does the rest.
\ berth AS 4 ships barber is rot
therefore an easy one to obtain. 'l!c
is signed on as a steward at a nom'n"i
wage of a shilling month or some
thing like that, but that does not Mas-
ter An able man can make the posi-
ton 4 stepping stone to lucratlt"
and legitimate trade and the oppor-
tunities to i4l the berth are watched
and applied for far in adVallcc.-NeW
York Times.