“Barber Joe”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 785, 4 October 1929, Page 7

“Barber Joe”

MEET THE MAN WHO I SHAVED OFF JOHN L. J SULLIVAN’S MOUSTACHE j MEMORIES OF A CHAMPION

There is a little, old-fashioned barber's shop in New York which has been there for nigh on half a century. Its genial proprietor, Joe Pretrozziello, has shaved some famous idols of the sporting world in his day, but he recalls with greatest pride that on the eve of a fight, John L. Sullivan often came to him to have his moustache removed. To most people Sullivan and his walrus-like moustache are inseparable. Familiar with his appearance chiefly from photographs published from time to time, in which the fiercelooking moustache is a prominent feature. people have the idea that John L. wore the hirsute adornment when he fought in the ring, but Barber Joe says that isn’t so. “John L.”, says Joe, “was mighty proud of his moustache, but he was not so foolishly vain as to risk his chances by wearing a convenient handle on his upper lip for opponents to grab hold of in a clinch. When he permitted it to grow it spread out fearfully and was a real moustache, in every sense, one worthy of a champion. It was his trade-mark and people in the streets recognised him by it. Sports and bar-tenders tried to cultivate the same full and flowing appendage, but for the most part they were poor imitations.

“I saw John's moustache when it was a mere fresh upstart, a wiry, bristling bit of brush. I saw it when it grew to full and vigorous I maturity, and I saw it when it turned grey and John's fighting days were long since passed. “Sometimes, after a few hours spent with convivial company up at Harry Mill’s saloon. John would come tearing into my shop, plump himself into I a chair and order his moustache shaved ] off. 1 always knew then that someJ one had got- John mad and another fight was coming off. He was generous with his tips, but the only tips wo wanted John L. to give us was, a tip that l\ft had been matched so we could get our bets down on the big boy.” Back in ISS6, Joe was a boxer himself, but. as he explains the matter now. there wasn’t much to the fighting game then outside of being bruised and perhaps maimed lor life, and Joe took to barbering to eke out a livelihood. Like most barbers, Joe has a “gift of gab,” and so when a customer happens in and starts discussing the affairs of the prize-ring, Joe’s eyes light up and while dexterously wielding the razor, he will tell the whole lot of tilings about the ring and fighters of the past and present, that the customer never knew before. “John L. -Sullivan.” said Joe. “was by all odds the greatest of them all. He wasn’t afraid of any man. and in his best days he would have licked Jackson with ease. They never fought because John L. refused to go into the ring with n coloured man, and nothing could make him change his mind on this point. “My, how that man could hit! . I tell you there never was and I guess there never will be a fighter like him. He had a right that was truly devastating. His ring opponents generally lasted about four rounds: it didn't take j him long to stretch out an opponent. ’ whether in condition or not. “Often, when T had finished shaving I him and trimming his hair, he’d get up from the chair, stretch his arms, expand his great chest and then by way of a little exercise would grab hold of the gas fixture suspended from the ceiling above the chair, and twist it around till it was curled up like a snake. It always required the services of a plumber and his helper and their wrenches and pliers, to straighten out the mess.” WELLINGTONS RUGBY RECORD Wellington has achieved a fairly good | Rugby record during the past two j seasons. Last year the central pro- ! vince played 11 representative games, of which nine were won. This year the record has been 14 played and 11 won. Taking the two years together. Wellington has played 25 games and won