El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-21
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN

causes the BARRIERS to be more mss lenI
and radical in their lnelnous o. CO-t-
pellir patron 10 UP. = DaLDSt "a
New York hotel made this comes
I've BARRIERS here have to work
system to be sure Of our tips men
1 always ask him where ne IS from
If he says Boston or Cnlcago Know
it is all right that ne IS wise, ana j
VIII get my tip, but II ne says ne y
from Memphis or New orleans, then
know IL is up to me to wise MIN up
He is probably used to niger DarDers
and he even may be in the habit OF
tipping them, but he is AFRAID 10 UP
a white man for fear the white man
will resent it. SO I play our system
Of education I have TO let the south
erner know that / not only VIII &C
cept a tip, but that i am looking LOI
1t I tell him that I have wife and
five children and that j get no wages
here at all, that i depend altogether on
the tips 1 get Tor my Avlns ana -. ~
it is pretty poor picking at that. " men
he gets out of my chair If he don
come across with a tip he better not
come back to this shop again
And yet that very barber would re-
sent being called a crook. he would re-
sent being classed as a confidence man
and be would assert that he IS an non
est American working man In the
ment by which every cent he earns
goes to the proprietor Of the barber
shop. absolutely compel MIN 10 seek
the tips. In the second place, long
years Of tip seeking and tip taking have
blunted his moral sensibilities and It
may be said of him with truth that he
knows not what he does
Cutting Out the TIPS.
Some barber shops have tried the
no tipping rule Wherever 1t has been
rigidly enforced and wherever the
proprietor has given his workman
living wage. so that they could refuse
the occasional dime offered surreptltl-
ously, the experiment has proved
huge success. In one large eastern
city a no tipping barber shop has been
conducted for several years and II mas
been so successful that the proprietor
has made more money out OF IL an
nually than he did under the old tip
ping system. the WOrkmen are all sat
isfied and stay on the job year after
year, the customers are so well pleased
that the shop is supported entirely
by regulars, and the shop itself mas
become an institution. At the request
OF his customers the proprietor Of this
barber shop now takes down the no
tipping signs during Christmas week
During that week customers are free
to make Christmas presents either Of
money or something else to the bar
bers.
The, reason why the example Of this
success is not emulated is to be found
in the fact that for the first year or
two the proprietor, on account OF IN
creasing the wages Of his BARRIERS. Euf-
now il is one shop that Is proof against
the Establishments OF the safety razor
advertisement and IL does not feel the
financial stringeucy that is being eX-
perienced by the barber trade gener-
ally.
No Excuse for Tips.
There is no excuse whatever for the
barber shop tip except the greed OF
the proprietor. If Is cents Is not
enough to charge for a shave now that
the cost Of living has increased. the
BARRIERS could increase the price Of a
shave from Is TO 20 cents and the pub
lie would not complain. just as il did
not complain when the standard price
went Up from 10 cents to 10 cents But
only Is cents and then Of collecting p
( cents, with the threat Of physical pain
behind the uneNpressed demand for the
additional dime. that causes every red
blOOded man to cherish the ambition
to murder a barber before he dies
The curious thing is that so few
/ BARRIERS seem to have even the slight
with their business. The barber trade
! is one Of the Oldest Institutions of the
/ human race Long before the dawn Of
history the male members Of the
I human family began to interfere with
+ the hirsute arrangements made by
I their creator Savages in the heart OF
Africa and saVageS in the heart Of
Z have known the uses Of the barber
When our own modern civilization
I had its beginning In northern Europe
Z the barber was the surgeon as we'll
I In China today the barber is recog-
niZed in every village as an indispen-
sable person. and now that he is no
/ longer needed to dress the queues, the