Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-01-08
Il Curious Employment,

Ihe person who, alone in Ne,,v
makes specially of attendino oTk
finger nails, lives in handsome nm. ~ tlle
on Twenty-third street, near R',tffs R@a1ff,s
theatre. There Sun reporter fn,l5s
her, in large and richly furnished ,'an
Ior, but small portion Of which. beEpird
"A green sllken screen and near q ,,iiI
dow, was set apart for the prartic" ~
her profession. Behind that gcree, VI "
a small table were displayed rn.pnl pm
cleaning scissors Of odd shapes. Lr;sIyy
ivory-handled knives and files. hove ~
cosmetics and polishing powders h,t
ties Of perfume, and an infinity of on
tools and materials for the trcai,ns,.
upon correct principles Of art. Of The a.,
ger nails. The manicure herself sc,,ad
on low stool in the window, W.
large, fiDe-looking woman, very fastc
fully dressed, apt of tongue and def, -
hand while plying her novel craft, Pc
fore her stood luxuri 1us arm-cli iair f,-
the person 10 be operated upon.
Yes faid she, looking up nle.s
antly, Il was the first, and believe .,n
still the only, manicure in this country
II is wonderful to me that there are n1i
more here TO practice the ar, n
France manicures are AS common as bar
bers in New York. and there should Ls
enough demand for their services :,
bring them into equal request here A,
mark OF refinement, Of good brcedInr
careful keeping and bcautifying Of The
finger nails is as essential a. tho caro- r.
the teeth. Perhaps il is even more a.
for taking care of the teeth is in iargt
part matter Of selfish interest 10 he
owner OF the teeth. but in caring fnr
the finger nails we do so out Of c6nsid
Grafton for decency, love Of the Lcau,i
ful, and regard for the fCelings Of ,bnes
with whom we are brought in coutar,
Nails, you kow, will not ache. even
though they may be in permanent
mourning, bitten as ragged - the cdge
Of saw, and fringed with fraycd cnf;.
Gle and hang nails. Perhaps that is why
so many people neglect chem. But I
cannot complain. When | started IN
business, two years ago, I waited some
days before my first customer camo-a
lady, who paid me a dollar for putting
her nails in order-and now ! have as
much as | can attend 10, "a many a
twelve, fourteen, and even sixteen
day, and as each enc takes an averaged
three quarters ofan hour. my hands are
kept pretty busy all day long A gres
number Of my customers are regular,
That is. instead OF coming in for IN o..
casional fixing up Of their nails. 4. &
man goes into a strange barber shop for
n shave, they take regular courses Of
treatment, for three months al time.
coming to me once a week.
Those who thus artis,icallv hcagtiT
their digits arc OF the very bcs, Gas. Gi
society. They are ladies of the AigAet
families, gentlemen Of the mos; ari.,o.
cratic clubs, bankers, brokers. an, mer-
chants. know OF but one politician
among them.
My principal customers are ladies Of
wealth and refinement. Al the mem.
bcrs of four of the wcalthicst families Of
New York, from the children W to the
grandparents, come 10 me once q week.
One OF those families has been very IN.
fortunate in It's nails. / have had 70
cure them Of almost every blemish, de-
feet and bad habit possible. but at last,
] am happy to say, have got them in
beautiful condition
What do you mean by b.emisAcs.
defects and bad habits ?"
"Blemishcs include discolorgtions.
white spots and opacity; brittle and
bad growing nails are defective, and
among the many bad habits ar punch
ing at the matrix nj the base Of the nai!
until it is rough and raised in an un-
slightly and often painful manner, IS
that practice is a prolific cause Of hang
nails; biting the nails. which causes
them TO have rough edges and ugly
shape: tearing and clipping the thick
cned cuticle nj the sides OF the nails,
with sharp instruments which should
never he used for that purpose. Al
these things I cure; and no matter how
unsightly the nails may be, can guar
antee giving them. in a reasonable time,
beauty of form and color. After they
are once put in good condition II is moi
difficult TO keep them o The services
Of the manicure are not necessary
oitener than once a week. although some
ladies come to me regularly twice
every week. Asa rule. those who are
most careful of their nails and visit me
oftenest are the very ones who are most
likely TO unblushingly rob me Of the
credit of my work by claiming il for
themselves. What beautiful nails you
havei You must have been TO the
manicure says one lady 10 another
who has Just left my house. Oh, GeaI'
mol / have no occasion 10 60 20 tle
manicure. My nails grow naturally
that way replies the dear, araes'
creature. But haze my consolation in
my service of the heautiful-and my
dollar and half. 1t is not true, you
know, that nails grow beautiful and per-
feet naturally. At least. have never
seen any that did. Nature is not TO be
trusted implicitly for tho fashioning Of
the human form divine as you may
have suspected If you have ever contem'
plated lot of sea baihers."