Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-03
NITSKI! NO PAY
SHOUTS RUSSIAN
ESCAPES TONSORIALIST IN
WILD FLIGHT
SHADES OF cZARsKY!
Foreigner Seeks Service In East Fifth
Street Shop and ls Routed
by Size Of the
Bill

Three dollars and sixty-five cents for
a shave, dash of cocoanut oil and o.
hair cut that resembled field of tall
alfalfa which some one had tried to cut
with lawn mower, is what Pete Bud
man, Savonian with no knowledge OF
the English language was requested to
pay when a barber on East Fifth street
got through with him yesterday
morning.
Budman produced 65 cents, which was
all he had, gave 1t to the barber, broke
through the door and ran down the
street with the proprietor at his heels.
For four blocks they ran. till the Siav
turned in at the Market place restau-
rant, on the corner of Alameda and
Third streets, and sought the protec-
ton of his employer. The barber was
thrown out of the place by Robert
Burns, commission merchant.
Budman came here short time ago
from one of the Slavic states of south
eastern Europe. His true name, which
contains most of the letters of the latter
half of the alphabet, proved so unpro-
nounceable that his friends gave him
new one. Budman had not been In
Los Angeles long enough to know of the
rapacious and predatory practices of
many of the barber shops in the vicin-
ity of the Arcade station, who look
upon the emigrant with his small
knowledge of English and his weeks
growth of whiskers their legitimate
prey.
Walks Into Shop
Yesterday morning about 10 o'clock
he walked into a shop and pointed TO
lfc xyhiolkarG Tho harhpr I1n6Rrgf0n1
at once and smiled. Pete Budman
smiled too, and thought how easy it
was to get along in this glorious coun-
try without any knowledge of the IAN
guage. He reclined his angular form
in the plush envelope of the chair, pre-
pared to enjoy every moment of this
American luxury of the working man.
'Witchhaze, seafoam, bay rum er
lavender?' said the tonsorial sketch
artist.
"Umsk." said the slavonian.. A gem
tie spray of perfumed water fell upon
bis tanned face like an April rain on
the sun-beaten desert
Have an electric massage?" asked
the sketch artist.
"Nitski," said Budman.
You need a hair cut insisted the
barber, as he produced baby lawn
r..sss.ippenoff." said Budman. ...+a.a-
When Budman had received the hair
cut his friends did not know him. One
of them told a Herald reporter that the
back of his head looked like a moth
eaten bath robe.
Hairs getting thin ON top" said the
barber.
"Wunnix" replied the Sav, getting
out of the chair He felt he had enough
luxury for one day.
Charge Is $3.65
Three dollars and sixty-five cents"
said the barber,
Budman looked in the mirror and
tried TO check off the various things
that had been done TO his face. The
shave must have cost 66 cents and the
hair cut SO, he thought. Placing 65
cents on the counter he grabbed his
hat and ran The barber, who appeared
to suspect this sort of denouement. was
after him like a tin can tied to a dogs
tail. Down Fifth to Alameda and down
Alameda toward Third street they ran.
On Alameda street an overhead trolley
wire had fallen to the street and lay
there sputtering. A crowd of people
stood about 1t at a respectable distance
while the repair wagon was sent for.
At this moment the frightened Slavon-
ion, with his tonsorial nemesis at his
heels, burst through the ring about the
live wire. He did not falter, but leaped
over. the squirming steel snake. while
the barber ran around 1t. This gave
the Slavonian lead which enabled him
to reach his place of employment first
and explain by signs what had hap
pened When the barber reached the
Market Place restaurant Robert Burns,
who had heard about the impositions
on foreigners practiced at the Fifth
street shop, took the matter in his own
hands and repulsed the tonsorialist.