The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-11-24
The TipTrust

5000 ayear cleE1eal:pqsinon Win ene
United States government to accept,a
sis a week job as barber in the
toasorial parlors Of a downtown hotel,
tie wonder OF his friends amounted to.
q strong suspicion Of Marwick's sanity.
It was a great. cotnedown, not only in
bis salary, but in his social status as
we'll.
An intimate friend approached him
one noon in regard to the matter and
informed him that q reasonable ex:
PLANTATION for the change would not
only satisfy a growing curiosity, but
would save his act from reaching the
ears of the fooi.klller,
Marwick's answer was to offer his
friend a cigar and inquire If he
thought it was going 10 shower.
Come, comet" demonstrated the
friend. This isn't the way to put
yourself straight. You were under
civil service, $50 1T can't be because
yOa'ye taken exceptions to the politics.
OF the administration. You haven't
been removed. either, as you have
always been a 100 per cent man.
Come-tell a friend-what Is 1t? Per-
haps the boys can ADJUST it."
Warwick lit a cigar and thoughtfully
studied the first few pufts OF smoke.
".I4l tell you,"' he finally yielded.
eYou see.sI want to get into business
for myself, and the barber trade isn't
a bad business after all. A few years
experience in a. %1rstclass shop and
in be ready to open my own pariors."
Cant believe a word of IT." blurt-
ed the friend. "Thete's some deeper
purpose in your act, and, besides. how
the deuce and when the deuce did you
learn to shave and cut halr?"
= might school, Of course! Best
night school in the city. Cut hair for
nothing, but the last beggar gave me
a 10 cent tip. Said It was the finest
haircut he yer had"
We'll. l wish you luck" sighed the
friend, who was confident now that
Marwfck's mentality had received a
wrench; and that the man was more
to be pitied than censured. I'll drop
around whenever I'm in your locality
and let you try your hand on me-"
But when he had reached the street
again this friend shook his head.
mo, sir! he shan't ever get me under
his razor. l prefer crazy men as poets,
not BARRIERS"
The advice of his many friends did
not turn Warwick from his new
course, and before long those friends
had to admit that while he had been
unwise in giving up a well paid gov
eminent position to follow the trade
Of tonsorial artist, lie certainly had
not been mistaken In his ability to
shave and cut hair.
His handling OF both scissors and
razor was fauitless. and soon he was
the most popular man in the shop.
Within four months the proprietor
Of the parlors voluntarily doubled
his salary, which, with the liberal tips
he was known to receive, was not
bad pay. Then he saved more, too,
than in his former position, and a
couple of years after he had taken
to the tonsorial field it was learned
that he acquired full title to a valu.
able piece Of Forty.second street real
estate.
His friends laid their heads to-
gether-heads that Warwick had late
ly shaved and sheared to perfection
and tried to figure out how he had
accomplished this financial maEVel.
He gets pointers on the market
from some of those Wall street
brokers'" was the most satisfactory
Of these c%oniectures.
This explanation held for a while,
then a violent quarrel between Mar.
wick and his employer ended with the
former suddenly disappearing from
sight and the latter publishing his late
employees secret. .
It. seems Warwick had found that
by a peculiar manipulation OF the head
be could excite the stingiest man to
the extreme pitch Of generosity, con-
s~equently every patron he had shaved,
or whose hair he had cut. had tipped
him most literally, and the total Of
these tips lad reached a fortune In
a very short time.
He had located the nerve Of gener.
osity, or tip-nerye, and only the
quarrel with his employer, perhaps
over the sharing OF his liberal fees,
had upset his well.laid plans. How.
ever, the loss was not long his, for q
short time thereafter a number Of
tonsorial parlors were opened stimuli.
taneously throughout the city, and
although none OF bis former friends
could locate Charles Warwick, it was
soon evident that he had intrusted his
secret knowledge to a select class OF
barber confederates and that he was
at the head Of a tonsorial tip-trust, as
profitable as any other favored trust
Ola Victoria Gould.
A friend was visiting Oscar Wilde