Show cad af v v a adventurers CLUB P ii V HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 A lightning shave H HELLO ELLO now EVERYBODY this is the story of a close shave the closest 1 shave 1 john of clifton N J ever saw in his life if I 1 id d said it t was the closest shave I 1 had ever seen well that might n not ot mean anything at all but when johnny says it he speaks with the authority of a man who has been seeing close shaves all his life and giving them you see johnny is is a barber johnny has been a barber for the last 17 years but he says hed never had anything e exciting happen in his shop until the summer of 1934 and how come johnny waited until now to tell tel us that thai story well you see johnny was just a bit skeptical about us heres how he explains it my wife he says has been buying your paper ever since we were married but neither one of us ever believed in contests we thought they were all faked then my wife tried one and won a prize so we had to change our minds now she wants me to try my luck in your department and now lets take a look at johnnys yarn he says it as terrifying as some of the stories hes seen printed in this column because it happened so fast and was all over so soon but just the same it was a bird while it lasted and it left johnny in such a state of jitters that he want to do any work for the rest of the day back door to shop brings bad luck johnnys shop has a front and a back door the back one leading to a pool room that is no longer used that back door johnny says is always kept closed in winter but in the summer when its warm he opens it to give the breeze a chance to circulate johnny used to keep that back door open all summer long during business hours nowadays though there are times when he be k keeps beeps it closed the minute more than two small clouds ap pear in the sky together johnny shuts it and it takes a darned good customer to talk him into opening it up again johnnys wife is a little bit afraid of lightning she had often told him about that door she said lightning followed a draft and that he ought to keep the back door closed whenever it began to thunder but johnny never paid any attention to her if he had well then held hed 11 AP aa A shower of bright yellowish sparks coming out of the end of his razor never be telling this yarn to us today and take my word for it its the dog thing that ever happened to any barber while at work at the tonsorial art it was along in the afternoon and the sky was cloudy there was no one in the shop but johnny and his helper and they were thinking about sitting down to a game of checkers until the sky cleared and the customers came out of their holes again thunder was rumbling in the distance and coming closer with every rumble it started to rain and just as it did a man came in he sat down in the first chair and ordered a shave so johnny forgot about the checkerboard and began working up a lather in the old shaving cup before the soap had begun be 1 gun to cream up the storm broke the rain came down in shee sheets ts and the thunder whir which h had been a distant rumble before now sounded like the report of a 16 inch gun going off right alongside your ear but that bother johnny his wife mi might be afraid of lightning but he ile he scooped up a big wad of lather on the brush and began rubbing it over his customers face he spread the lather and rubbed it in his helper was standing at the window idly watching the water collect in the gutters there was another crack of thunder louder and closer than any that had come before imperturbably johnny finished lathering the man in the chair and picked up his sharpest razor customer becomes rigid unconscious johnny picked up the razor brought it down on his custom customers erps face for the first long sweeping stroke then in the next second everything in the world happened johnny felt a sudden numbing sensation in his right arm A bright light blinded him momentarily but as it died out a bit he could see what had caused it A shower of bright yellowish sparks COMING OUT OF THE END OF HIS RAZOR the next thing johnny knew the razor was wrenched from his hand it fell clattering to the floor johnny looked down at his customer he lay in the chair rigid stiff and totally unconscious and johnny stood beside him his face white his whole body shaking feeling as if hed like to pass out himself ile he stood trembling until his helper came and led him to a chair then he sat dazed while the helper soaked a towel in cold water and applied it to the face of the man in the chair in a few minutes the customer opened his eyes he looked around the shop and then at johnny sitting in the chair ile he sort of looked as if he expected johnny to finish shaving him but not for johnny for all the rest of that day lie he hold bold a razor in his hand his helper finished the job he had started so no now whenever the sky begins to cloud up johnny shuts that thai back door and one of the things he and his wife agree most closely on is that little matter of lightning released by bv wesleen newspaper union |