The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-24
SUCCESSFUL ITALIAN BARRIERS.
They Seem Destined to DispIace Amer
 jeans in Some Cities.

From the Philadelphia Record.
 There appears to be some prospect that the bulk of the barber business will soon pass into the hands of Italian barbers, if a safe judgment is to be formed by some of the palatial new ''tonsoriar' establish ments in this city, owned and manned by natives of Sunny Italy" These are among the largest and best equipped of their kind, and are conducted on the syn dicate plan, the company that owns one
 in some cases owning a number situated in widely separated cities and resorts.
 The same capacity for organization and management which has been so effective
 y displayed in the matter of bootblacks has made It's entry into the barber busi- ness. Some astonishment was expressed few years ago when the fact was made public in New York that an Italian pro- prietor was paying rentals amounting to many thousands of dollars per year for the privilege of conducting the bootblack- Ing business in each of several large of- flee buildings Never was the saying that many a mickle makes a muckle' more effectively illustrated. In one instance the rental amounted to $50,000 per year nearly 5000 week, to be regained and more than regained from shines at or 10 cents, the sale of shoe laces. the brush- ing of hats and the other usually uncon- sidered trifies of life. How many shines at 10 cents were represented in that rent al alone? Five hundred thousand, and then there Is to be added the wages of the men or boys, which, though probably small, nevertheless mean something; the cost of the backing and brushes and other outlays. Yet the business Is suc- cess
 In certain lines of industry such as
 the sale of fruit, the work of the bar Der, the Italian is by nature endowed with especial capabilities, which, added
 to his frugality, make him formidable competitor in any business in which he chooses to engage. The simplicity of diet for one thing has two effects of great value. First. there is its economy, which permits the Italian to have more money with which to pay high rentals than has his American competitor. Sec ond. the simplicity of his diet means high health, and a corresponding ability to work without fatigue for a greater proportion of hours in every twenty-four. Most Italian barbers are unable to speak English and as a result their employ CTS are untroubled of unions. strikes or other labor complications For the first few years in this country they con- l tent to work for what an American bar ber would consider absurd wages But as they can, generally speaking, do the
 work equally well, all this adds to the other advantages which the Italian em- ployer finds he has at his command
 While New York has for many years had a large number of Italian barber shops, the growth of these establish ments in Philadelphia has been more re- 1 cent and Is rather slower. In this city the Italians have. until lately, been con fined to the foreign sections of the town, or the localities where poverty Is rife
 and here their scale of prices has been 1 that of cents for a shave and 10 cents
 for hair cut In those localities this scale continues to prevail; but where they have now opened more pretentious places, many in the very heart of the business
 district, their charges are the same as those of their American competitors, and their trade fully as brisk.