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

Has II occurred to you, my brethren
,hot we shave too much? The pr lG'
tice 10 my mind is reprehensiDle III
more than one respect. In the mrs.
place it is an unwarranted ana IN
pertinent interference with the plail VI
Nature--one of those liberties thal q
toe exquisite age is constantly taklnE
with the body that is got from uoe
which leave their Weakening MARKS
I'm the physical or moral stamina Oh
each succeeding generation-or de-
seneration In the next place lhe
practice itself is tinged with torture
which is the price paid for the pseudo
excellence that arises from artlhcia'
ideals. We are drifting from the
yvorld-old landmarks OF natural sim
plicity. in boards as in other Things
\ clean chin which has become 9le
mandate of society, is All aftront 10
rnanliness as il was meant TO be we
have drifted far in the matter OF
hearas WhiskerS. instead of being es-
teemed. are under the ban: in the old
they are tolerated like an Usage hedSe
on an ancient homestead, IN the young
they are ridicued as the evidence OF 4
callow ambition. short Whlie ana
the movement unless checked VIII
have made Il tradition of our whis-
kers!
No man loves TO shave or TO be
shaved and yet each follows the other
to the BARRIERS chair Ike a sheep
driven to pen and there makes ire
quent sacrifice of his hirsu1 birthrlshl
while the pneumonia death rate rises
and the talking profession of the lath-
ering brush progresses towards still
higher levels of luxurious ease. Whoa
ever lacking the mechanical ingenu-
ity necessary 10 ''Strop' razor, must
perforce endure the BARRIERS chair
needs no eiucidation of that thought
at my hands. The ordeal is one that
might have been devised by the lnuui-
stion i'm Spain. Who that has hello
uiet his ,luivering nerves while. with
Il sticky footed fly slowly promenad-
ing ON his nose and the keen edge
of Il razor flicking its way across his
juglllar vein. he has endured u pudgy
alien finger holding tightly drawn the
loose flap of skin beh,ia has ,ci. ear.
will deny the truth of the assertion !.
1t is high time that i'm this respect
the manhood OF the country should
rebel against the fashions that, too
busily AZ work themselves to devise,
they t;skc hulub!y from their smooth
faced wives 1t home. 1t is a real dan
ger that lAreatenS OIL the razor's edge
lest with his beard man lose also
the distinctive power and authority of
his sex. Does one of my readers inn
q -
of raising beard. she would cut It
off? You know not, Women are aD-
preciative of all the gifts thew get from
nature. They make the most of them
and their ingenuity eXerts Itself the
rather to enhance than TO destroy then
advantages and their beauty What
could not woman do with a set 81
curly. waist-long whskersl How
she would plat and twist and Jbe-riD-
bon them. What delight would they
not add TO the toilet table. of what
infinite variety of arrangement would
the deft fingers of women not fin
them susceptible. And yet man, un-
beautiful of feature. stern of mouth,
big fisted, fat-footed. unlovely man
pays and suffers year in and year out
that he may rob himself of his
and chiefest beauty Up and strike
oh, Brothers, for your Wh.shers
Already-and it is a pare TWO gen
erations since the razor and the bar
Der shop last began their insidious
ravages upon the faces of Americans
Inc prenatal influence Of the shaving
mug is commencing to tell upon the
youth Of the land. Larger and larger
is becoming the per cent of those who
have failed to inherit the power to
raise a beard did they wish one And
the silky growth of hair. spun Us
finely as the softest product of the
looms. once so common. is now almost
thing of the past Occasionally 1t
may be found on one of those shy
and splendid creatures of the recesses
of the mountains or the beach but not
elsewhere. Almost before a razor hds
touched his face. the beard of the av-
erage youth comes through stiff and
bristly With q tendency to curl inward
and stab the skin with thousand
needles of pain before it is long by ;he
quarter of an inch. The razor,
which threatens the very existence.
has already irretrievabIy ruined the
quality of the beard.
Now, all this is wrong i'm the es-
sence. 1t is one Of the worst of The
manifestations of an over-refined civ
iiization The antics that fashions cut
with clothes can only offend the eve:
Il manly heart may beat behind a vesI
of hunting pink" that is loud enough
10 halioo the pack a mile across couE-
try. But ] believe that the matter Of
whiskers lies deeper-that their Sacri-
moral welfare of man. Surely they
have a purpose that is commensurate
With the persisteucv with which they
come out upon the face only 20 be cut
down with a devotion 10 duty that has
about it the touch of patho6. clinSini
W any NdlufdI nlJliLeSLdtloll tldt,
running counter To the desires OF MAI.
ls thwarted or destroyed by the toolish
wisdom OF art or progress. Pncu-
lnonia, 10 which have referred aboye,
has strangely developed of late into
the most deadly of the diseases That
aifilct mankind. It's attack is sud
den. ineXplicable and Independents o,
medical treatment. Its death rate =
we'll over Fifty per- cent. whereas a
few years ago It was tess THAI fifteen
And it is largely confined to men
What has bred pneuinonia al d
strengthened its attacks? Are not the
tender cheeks and the bare throats OF
! the age. the youthful whiskers brush
ed from the flag stones of the barber
shops 10 be considered in this un.
toward tendency?
But the moral quality of the beard
Is not 10 be overlooked. There is the
attribute of courage and of power ir
a full set of whiskers appealing bott
TO him that sees and him who wears
1t is unbecoming in whiskers to run
They have a personal dignity that is
stay in time of need TO many faIt
ering heart behind a bristling frort o
hair. A timid man with beard il