The Portland daily press., 1875-04-23
GENEVA. Anril 1st. 1s75.

AmerlcdH IduleSj uOre particularly peInap5s
those Of the upper ten thousand, are not inter-
ested in 'strikes," unless the 'strike or the eff
fects of it come directly to the family hearth,
and cause their dear husbands to hold with
tighter grip their pocket books and deal out
sparngly the ducats TO the feminine side of the
house. But strike has come to my notice
which if not interesting to American ladies, is
of interest to none. The peasant girls of Brit
tany and Auvergne have assembled in mass con-
vention aud deliberately passed the following
resolution. Resolved, that we will neither
cut off nor sell any more of our hair SO long as
the present ruinous prices continue" that
sounds businesslike These girls are really
owned by the Partisan coifeasrs, or at least their
heads are, and they have been in the habit of
dealing in each girls crop of hair in just such a
way as the Wall street magnates deal in min-
ing stock. They fix the price to be paid
for klo of hair, and let it fiuctuate to suit
themselves, and whenever they so wish, they
get up "correr," as they have had the
whole business in their own hands, and the
girls of Brittany, AubeIgne and Alsace are the
only ones who make a business of raising
hair for the Partisan market. But the girls
have now come to the wise conclusion thatIhar
is worth something and that they will not sell
at such 'ruinous prices" 1t seems there is a
deplorable diminution in the market price of
their capillary adornments, or at least so the
coi6ares say and guess they tell the truth;
still one good healthy peasant girl supplied
with all the natural and artificial necessaries to
make her hair ''grow," has made fortune for
some Of these gay Partisan hair dealers. The
prices have been on the decline ever since 1870.
In 1873 feminine hair was exported according
to Custom House returns, and they never err,
at 96 fr the kilo; but previous to the war prices
ranged considerably higher. 1t is interesting
to note that in 1852 girls hair brought 20 fir. a
kilo; that in 1866 it had doubled and 40 Fl.
was eagerly paid; in 1868 the price was 20 fri
At the commencement of 1870, before the out
break of the Franco-Prussian war, female hair
worked up, that is, manipulated BY the coifeatr,
was valued at from 125 to 160 fir. ger kilo. at
wholesale. OF course ladies paid good deal
more. Capillary luxuriance of a blonde
description, clear and pure, was often
sold at 1000 fr ($400D per kilo.
to the consumer. Some girls are said tc be
worth their weight in gold, but there are
good many not worth their weight in hair, TAX
could put money enough (or its equivalent)
into my vest pocket to pay all expenses of the
Centennial Exhibition and then have enough
left to fit out an expedition to explore the
North Pole. Just imagine the simplicity of a
youth asking for a lock of his partners hair
during the excitement of may waltz He
could not possibly have the slightest idea that
really he was asking for twenty or thirty dol
lars. One of the reasons for the decline in the
trade of late years has been the extensive man
ufacture of imitation feminine hair from WOOL
silk etc., which, when properly worked up, is
warranted TO deceive even the most practised
eye. Then there is a cheaper grade got up
quite especially for the American trade. This
latter is manufactured from bark, old boots
and shoes, in fact most any kind of old rubbish
can be used to make what is worn by our
American women, who can't afford the gen,
une article or the best limitations There IS
one coifeur in Paris Who has in his possession
a very extensive lock of hair as black as coal
and as fine and smooth as swans back. lie
says it was Mother Ewes, and consequently,
owing to its great antiquity, no price is set
upon it. He has no reliable vouchers for his
statement however, and there Is no harm IN
not taking his assertion as strictly true. III the
re ult of this competition offalse hair with false
hair could persuade the ss,erhood who have
so magnanimously consented to live with rs IN
this same planet to be content with their
natural advantages, mankind would be the
gamers, but hairdressers would certainly lose
on account of 1t. l can't say that pity the
Brittany peasant girls who have struck SO
nobly for higher pay Many of them will not
have to work, but may easily retire on their
income. for it don't cost much to be up in
the world" where they have habitation and
abiding place. 1t is the hairdressers and deal-
ers who are responsible for the low prices, and
now fer the Brittany strike" II they nad
not placed an inflated, ficticious value on tue
stuff years ago, there would be no such com,
petition now and the girls CT Brittany and
Auvergne would be on a peace footing WIFE
the dealers in hair.
The latest thing in the way of representa-
tiou by proxy comes 10 me Iroin up ~ .ne
and an extraordinary one too. A damsel IN
that district wished to love, honor and obey
compatriot who had emigrated to the country
s'where one man is as good as another; but
as there were difficulties in the way of his re.
turuiDg and she did not wish to go out to join
him before the knot was tied, she applied to
the local cure TO help her out of the dilemma.
The civil code Of the canton renders the pres
ence of both contracting parties to a marriage
indispensable, but the worthy old priest, with
visions nt one more five franc piece ever before
him, concluded that the bridegroom could be
represented by proxy. He accordingly got
friend of the tjdnce to act as q substitute, ana
after having sworn that he had authority ttom
the swain in the United States the proxy, u
married man himself, went through the cere-
mony with the damsel. The municipal au-
thorities are now looking into the. matter,
pointing out to the priest where he stopped
over" to the proxy where he made afool of
himself aud has got in a bad box, and to the
inpocent and hasty little girl where she was
in too great rush to be launched upon the
sea of matrimonial bliss, and got aboard tho
wrong ship, which has lett her farther from
her sweethea art than she was before.
A religious revival is in progress in Geneva,
and judging from appearances it will not be
unproductive of good. A great number OF
Swiss pastors from all parts of the Confedera-
tion take part, and so far the meetings have
been crowded to suffocation. NJ. Theodore
Monod OF Paris is the leader and he pieadS
most elooueptlv for the ,ause of the Lord. AT
| most DIR, city under notice OF these reviyal
meetings, in a Genevase paper read tAae 'ne