CHINESE BARBERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2504, 28 July 1888, Page 6 (Supplement)

CHINESE BARBERS.

The Chinese barber's position is very similar to that enjoyed three centuries ago by the chirurgeou of Merrie England. He is dentist, aurist, dermatologist, barber, cupper, and leech, all combined. Unlike his European or Australian cousin, he is compelled to pass through a long apprenticeship ; and not until he has been examined and graduated is he allowed to practice his craft. As a rule, these barbers carry on business in queer-look-ing little shops. The visitor enters, and finds himself in a narrow room, not more than 10ft wide aud 20ft long, On the mantelpiece opposite the entrance, a joss stick slowly burns itself away in fragrant smoke in honour of Buddha, while over it, in comical contrast, hangs a cheap lithograph with some such legend as, " God Bless Our Home." At the end of the apartment is a two-storeyed bunk, where customers repose while waiting for their turn ; while from the back float the odors of Chinese cooking, Canton tobacco, and now and then the unmistakeable fumes of

opium. The shaving is no simple matter. The operator, dignified and successful, is in no hurry, and usually requires considerable persuasion before he will gratify a white customer. The customer ia seated upon a high stool, and sometimes upon a straight-backed, uncomfortable chair. A cloth is next tied about the neck. This is not the familiar towel, but a soft and tenuous shawl-like square of silk, Tho faoe and neck are washed, or rather sponged, with lukewarm water slightly scented with musk, io>e, or some other perfume, and then dried with a second silk napkin. The shaving resembles our own; the razor employed being the ordinary Sheffield make. The brush, however, is different, being a curious little affair, very much like the average tooth-brush. The operator lathers two or three square inches at a time without any rubbing, shaves off the growing hairs, and then lathers a second patch of akin. After the fnce and throat havo been scraped in this piecemeal way, the temples and back of the neok are shaved, and the eyebrows trimmed to the shape demanded by Mongolian fashion.

The next stage of the treatment is decidedly peculiar. From a black shagreen case the barber produces an ear razor, a pair of tweezers, horn scrapers, _ and cotton brushes. The ear-razor is a narrow blade of highly-tempered ateel, sin. long, and less than a in width. The tweezers are compass-like in shape, and nearly one foot in length. The scrapers resemble miniature shepherd hooks, and have neither point nor edge, while the brushes are like aurilavM. With the ear-razor the ear is shaved on both the outside and inside.

Words fail to describe the skill and delicacy with which a Chinese barber shaves the ear. The narrow blade sweeps round, cutting hair, down, and dead skin, and ever going deeper in toward the end of the auditory passage. With the scrapers he then removes the debris and all dirt blown in by the wind. Lastly the cotton brushes are applied, and the ear rubbed and polished until it is smooth, warm, and pink. The sensation, strange to say, is extremely pleasant. The third stage consists in removing the hairs which grow in the nostrils. The last stage ia a Chinese version of the Swedish movement cure, in which the muscles of tho faoe, scalp, neck and shoulders are kneaded, pinched, rubbed, pushed, and pulled until they are moist and almost sore. Then the arms and trunk are taken in hand in about the same style, the fingers " cracked," and the head of the body pushed and twisted into a hundred different positioua. A mild patting with the muscular hands of the operator completes the operation, whioh lasts anywhere from ten to thirty minute , and whose cost is well summed up in Lee Chung's own words: '"Melican man velly foolish —chalge ten cent, fol shave. Ilaly man no good, only fivee cent. Chinee man geinmelman—chalge twentylive and fifty cent, and one dollah."