The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-03-28
The New York World continues much
exercised about those fearful articles Of
female apparel called ua-
CHlGNONS.

lemale appafei calieA Ut-
CHIGNoNs.
The Editor sets out with telling us
that chignons have been objected to on
grounds of health and cleanliness, and
so chignons must disappear as accesso-
ries to female loneliness. The Editor
adds
The votaries Of fashion in New York
may be blind to all reason, all common
sense, but when their cleanliness is i'm.
pugned, and an accusation is entered
against them Of setting at aught neat.
ness and tidincss, they Immediately are
up and in arms, not as the roughcr sex
would do, battling with their accuscrs,
but sensibly removing the object Of
popular aversion. So chignons have
suddenly become questionable. Fifth
Avenue won't touch the horrid thing,
Murray Hill wouldn't v e look at it,
and not for worlds could You induce
Madison Square to purchase it. This
much has been done wisely and we'll,
but there are still many who look lin
geringly on ii, apl arently handsome
coil, sceptical Of its being as an apple
of the Dead Sea, rotten at the core
For these and others q few more par
ticulars may not prove uninteresting,
and must prove Il death blowto the last
few chignons still live and move and
have their beings, on the heads Ola few
misguided m~ortals.
III TRADE IN HUMAN HAIR.
There are in New York four houses
that make the importing ofhuman hair
their sole business. The hair is pro-
cured from the Ere lch and German
markets, from Russia, and such places
on the Continent of Europe where the
trade in that article is made a speciality.
The amount of hair annually imported
is valued at from 100000 to $1,000
600, and is taxed by a duty offorty per
cent. Oftle varieties, the German hair
is considered by connoisseurs as the
best. 1t is the longest and finest,
though from certain provinces in France
the hair procurable is Of the best posi-
bic description. Made into chignons,
wigs, plaits, fronts, and such like, hair
in New York has a ready sale. The
price OF hair varies from rs to 500
per pound, except in the case Of gray
or white hair, when as much as $3.50
and 5000 is considered not too cxorbi.
tant a price. White hair is, of course,
the most scarce, the shafts having to
be picked from the grey, SO probably
thousands Of pounds of Lair haveto be
gone through before being able to get
as much as ono pound OF white. The
Sc 4 pound hair is, OfcOursc, not OF a
very fine texture, nor of very delicate
hue texture, hue and length improve
with the. price. One of the principle
requirements in hair to make it valua-
bic is length and the task ~ofsorting the
various lengths is one Of immense diff
Guilty. The hair, before arriving in this
country, undergoes a number Of opera
tions in order to make it thoroughly
clean and free it entirely from oil. One
of the largest importers in the city in
formed us yesterday that, from the ma
ture of the process the hair had to m
dergo, it was next TO impossible that
any insect, whether gregarine or pedi-
Gull, could remain in it. He stated that
the hair he had submitted to a power.
full microscope, with a result only show
ing the beauty and fineness Of its text.
ure."