The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1911-11-03
$500.
BEST 0FALL BARRIERS
TO BE SHAVED. ~ AMERICAN Me-
GRO WAS A. DELIGHT.
Entertaining, SkiIful and Humorous,
he Has Been suppIanted by the
: " More BusIness-L Like II Modern +:
Tonsorial Artist.

The tear of regret may glisten for
moment in the corner OF the eye OF
some elderly man when he revisits In
imagination the barber shop of long
ago That was In the day when in
tho middle west popular prejudice
held fast to the opinion that the negro
was a natural barber, the American
negro the best barber in the world.
He knows more about family trees
than any college OF heraldry-it there
is such an institution-could possibly
know and how long and interesting
he would talk of your folks folks In
Lexington. KY!
Let me rest yo' hat, and yo' coat,
sab. Yes, sir, Judge G. was heah this
mornin' and Col. B. got out OF the
cheer only few minutes ago"
With sigh OF anticipated comfort
you sank into the chair and stretched
out your legs. Yes. sab. yo' really do
need shave, sab. It's pleasure TO
me to shave you. Yo' beard Is just
as it should be. Now and then get a
rough neck with squirrel 'whiskers
that upsets me TO- a whole day."
Perhaps you may recall a story In
an old text book about a very differ
ent kind of barber, that began after
this fashion.
"A prating barber who waited upon
a certain king, came one day to trim
his hair and asked him: Sire, how
will you have 1t done? SILENTLY said
the king.
1t is not necessary to continue that
story, the Indianapolis News remarks
One may know at once that the bar
Der of this churlish king was not q
negro. He was probably a mere ton
serial artist, wholly devoid OF the de-
lightful charm OF entertaining that Is
possessed in so high degree by the
black knight of the razor-one might
now, alas, call him the disinherited
knight, as so many have come in tc
crowd him from his place.
Only one supert1uous question woulC
he ask, and that was from long estab
lished habit: Does she pull, sah?'
Yet he we'll knew that in his skillfu
hand the keen h!ade was as light az
gossamer, for as he afterward ad
mitted he had "honed and stropped bel
down finer'n gnat's heel" How
deftly he would spread the cool lathe1
over the rough and razorable cheel
and chin! With what tender care HI
avoided the wart that nestled on you
upper lip, close to your nose, ant
never say a word about this blemisl
on a very handsome face!
But you did not get out of the chail
in any such brief time as this tall
has required in its telling. By NJ
means. How he would daily abou
you, comb and shears In hand, clip
ping here and there an infinitesima
bit OF hair which, In his critical jude
ment. .spoilt the symmetry of hi
work. And, at last, as though loatl
perfection of his work had been salts
fed in every artistic detail, he woul,
still detain you for last lingering. re
gretful inspection, following you t.
the door and watching your shadow a
1t heightened In the afternoon sun.
What genial humor he had, wha
a knowledge of human nature, whit
and black? The newspaper, even ther
was we'll enough In its way. but no
to be compared as a news teller t
him who gave the gossip of the dea
old town with racy flavor and pie
turesque beauty that proclaimed tn
master. The new barber has a fine
shop and sometimes foreign accen
is more matter of fact and business
like. but-candidly. you know he 1
not-well, he's not the old barber.