EDITORIAL 



365 



their words of delight. "I had no idea 

 that there is anything in all the world 

 so beautiful as this. Come here and 

 see it." 



The second lady said, "What mar- 

 velous structure ! What beauty ! How 

 you must revel in this study of nature !" 



The third came. "What is that? I 

 have never seen anything quite so 

 beautiful. You have indeed kept the 

 best for the last." 



Sphinx-like I remained silent and 

 still. Then there came an almost unan- 

 imous cry, "What marvelous beautry ! 

 I have never seen anything so interest- 

 ing as that last view. It will live in 

 our minds for days. Please tell us 

 what it is." 



As they passed through the door, 

 and for a moment stood on the walk, I 

 said. "It is a bedbug." 



Is He a Philosopher or a Fool? 



A man as bald as a billiard ball went 

 into the barber shop at the Hotel Statler. 

 Detroit, and found there a skilled but 

 Sphinx-like barber that uttered not a 

 word, not even of greeting as the cus- 

 tomer took the chair. After the shaving. 

 the bald-headed man said, "In lieu of 

 comb and brush as applied to other peo- 

 ple, you may just wipe ofif my head with 

 a towel." These words unsealed the 

 barber's lips. He said, "No, sir : all that 

 get shaved in this shop receive the same 

 treatment, and you will have brush and 

 comb like all the others. We believe in 

 treating everybody alike. If I even 

 touched your head with a towel I should 

 charge you for a shampoo ; that is the 

 rule of the shop." 



"Rut," astonishedly exclaimed the bald- 

 headed man. "There is not the slightest 

 occasion to use brush and comb on me. 

 Your rule does not apply in this case." 

 But the barber said, "Suppose you had 

 gone to the manicure, and had lost one of 

 your fingers, would you expect her to 

 make a reduction for that?" 



"Like many another logician," the bald 

 man said, "your argument is faulty : the 

 cases are not parallel. You should put it 

 this way: Tf you, Mr. Customer, had lost 

 all }our fingers and had gone to be mani- 

 cured, would you expect a reduction?' 

 Your philosophy is rank foolishness." 

 But still the barber insisted, "W^th even 

 the slightest use of the towel it would be 

 a shampoo, according to the accepted 



rules of the shop. A little shampoo, or a 

 big shampoo, or a long shampoo, or a 

 short shampoo, all amount to the same 

 thing. It is merely the customer's prefer- 

 ence as to whether he should have any 

 kind of a shampoo. Even a single sweep 

 of the towel over your head would be 

 rated as a little shampoo, at full price." 



Then said the customer, "This, I see, 

 is a technical shop. You are a stickler 

 for the rules. I insist upon having all to 

 which my payment for a shave entitles 

 me." The barber accepted the situation, 

 although he repudiated his own logical 

 conclusion in doing so. He dashed on 

 the bay rum and rubbed the head with the 

 ends of his fingers as vigorously as he 

 doubtlessly had done for forty years on 

 heads like Paderewski's and the football 

 players'. Then as gravely as if he were 

 manipulating magnificent tresses, he 

 combed the imaginary hair, and brushed 

 it back in gracefully flowing but imagin- 

 ary curves. He had done his duty. 



Thanks, Mr. Barber, for your philoso- 

 phy or foolishness. Your bald customer is 

 a lecturer on the philosophy of the school- 

 room and you are not the only one who 

 applies general rules irrespective of indi- 

 vidual cases. "Master Pupil, you have 

 come to my schoolroom. It is an impartial 

 olace. Though you lack brains, though you 

 lack physique, though you are precocious, 

 though you are advanced far beyond the 

 class, it is my duty to apply to you the 

 regulation comb and brush, our hirsute 

 equipment in intellectual pursuits. This 

 schoolroom knows nothing but brush and 

 comb. It has applied them for forty 

 years." 



Though the times have changed and 

 the authorities are considering a new 

 treatment for certain educational prob- 

 lems, though new features are inserted 

 into the curriculum, still, the Sphinx-like 

 teacher, mute to modern suggestions, 

 ignorant of modern innovations, will still 

 apply the brush and comb. He will not 

 adapt himself to new studies, and he will 

 not leave much doubt as to whether or 

 not he is. like that barber, a philosopher 

 or a fool. The barber's philosophy is 

 folly. We are sure the reader will in- 

 stinctively apply to many occupations and 

 especially to many a retired business man 

 who has used the brush-and-comb method 

 of money getting assiduously for forty 

 years or more, until he can recognize and 



