TONSORIAL REFORM.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12935, 15 October 1907, Page 8

TONSORIAL REFORM.

THE SANITARY SHAVE AND THE

HYGIENIC HAIRCUT

In these days of punctilious regard for the laws of health, it is a matter lor no surprise that power should be sought by tho authorities to make the tonsorial atelier and its appurtenances subject to reasonable regulations, ensuring to the 'public a satisfactory measure of immunity from the perils nnd penalties of insanitary surroundings. This question was brought before the Auckland hairdressers last week by Dr. Mason, and they expressed their preparedness to conform to the requirements of the Health Department, provided they could be constituted a cloie corporation, protected from the competition of thoic of tbe fraternity who could be persuaded to cut hair and shave chins for less than sixpence.

A reporter yesterday set out upon a voyago of discovery to ascertain what was being done locally to rob haircutting nnd shaving of their microbic terrors. Dr. Finch. District Health Officer, on being approached, said that nffer all the propasitkm was a very simple one —the whole thing began with cleanliness nnd ended with cleanliness, in support of which aHirmtitiou be produced a copy of the Invercargill regulations. These (inter alia) proride that only liquid or powdcied -soip or shaving cream shall l>e used; that all shaving brushes and razors shall bo disinfected after each use; that no sponge or powder puff shall be used: that styptics (the "first aid" preparations for stopping the flow of blood from that inadvertent "bit of a nick"') shall be washed after each application; that clean hair brushes and combs shall be used, etc.

In order to more thoroughly fortify himself for the expedition, our representative "sought a second medical opinion. The gentleman whom he consulted agreed that the regulations were sound in principle, but ho objected thnt if the Auckland demand in the direction of making the industry a close corporation were conceded here, it would probably give rise to a further instance of an increase in tho cost of living. "It is difficult to see how. in those circumstances, the public could bo protected against .in increase? of prices. It is necessary, in the interests of health, that a man should have his hair cut as frequently as possible, and if wo charge him mere for it, ho will be inclined to adopt m Byronio length of locks. However, it competition is left open, the public will bo the gainers."

Tho writer found it humanly impossible to test by actual experience tho methods in vogue at the different city saloons, and so decided to beard the barbers in their several dens, as it were, and elicit the facts by a gentle but firm process of cross-examination. It must bo recorded at the outset that in the first-class saloons the wholo of the Health Department's regulations have been put in operation by the proprietors without any prompting, fave that induced by a laudable desire to place their businesses beyond reproach, and to bring them into line with the latest and most approved methods. "Look at these for brushes!" said one. "Clean, aren't they?" And they were even so. "We use nothing but soap powder, and all our razors and shaving brushes are disinfected in formalin." The same was trito of the noxt saloon, the next, and the next after that. "I haven't got a sponge in tbe plate," remarked the second proprietor, "and we don't use powder puffs either. Everything is done with a spray. All our shelves are marble, and these are washed down with formalin solution every night." "It doesn't pay to have anything but the beet nowadays," a third said. "Your customers know what is propel, and see that they get it. I give each customer a clean towel, and, not only that, but it is sterilised in dry steam beforehand, and only taken out when it ia wanted. I have a jug of disinfectant before each chair, and oveiy brush and razor is thoroughly cleansed in that. Of course it pays. People get to know you do things properly, and come to you every time." Another said he had installed a special steam and hot water service not long ago at a cost of nearly fifty pounds, and tho trade warranted it. "These are the Invercargill regulations, are they? Well, I do that and that, and that and that. Yes, the whole lot, practically, nnd a little bit more of my own. It would be no hardship to tne to bring them into force in Christchurch," ho added, sapiently. "But what nbout the cut price, hair cut and shave?" the writer asked all and sundry. "Wo don't want that trade," came the answering forte chorus. '"Besides," ono put it, "thero an* very few cheap fthops in Christchurch, the Arbitration awards knocked most of them out" "They do a class of trade that It wouldn't pay us to touch," another said. "Now that tlie better class of business people know we can give them a good, safe, clean shavej in attractive j surroundings, they are giving up shay-! ing at home and coming to us. Every »aloon has its own class of custom and we don't want to 6ce anyone wiped out."

In many of the less pretentious saloons away from the centre of tho city, a bravo attempt was seen to bo" made to secure cleanliness. Although in some instances tho attempt proceeded but little further than a generous use of obvious disinfectants, who shall say tint a liberal measure of protection is not afforded to the public? It would bo extravagont to claim that any single saloon among those of lower rating was dirty or insanitary. At the worst some could only be written down as slightly untidy. But as a whole, it would be difficult to find anywhere in the Dominion a better and more wholesomely conducted series of establishments thin are the hairdressing saloons of Christchureh.