The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-10-22
AN INSANE CUSTOM.
Hen who Think They Conceal Their
Aoe by Dretne Their Hair.

Age by Dyetng Anear HaAf.
There is only one person IN the uni
| verse who can compel as much atten-
| ton from those who do not know him
as man who wears wig. and that
is the nan who dyes his hair His fte
Is q prolonged ovation. Wherever be
roams he creates interest. Everybody
looks at him; everybody thinks about
MIN: many talk about him.
Yet the general attention he receives
should not be charged up to either his
assertiTeness or vanity. He Is usually
! a modest man and always an unsuspi-
cious one. He is serenely unconscious
of the figure he cuts; entirely unaware
of the distinction he enjoys.
Wrapped in the comfortable halluei-
nation that the world can never discov-
er his little secret, he floats through
! life on fowery beds of bliss. He FAM
cies he has cheated old time complete
ly. In his own opinion he has bafied
age In the most ingenious manner.
Whether the poison of the dye has
softened his brain, or the belief that he
has sliced twenty or more years from
his apparent age without any one guess
ing it has upset his mind, none will
ever know; but mental soundness
seems to depart when hair dye takes
its place among his toilet accessories.
Under the influence of nitrate of silver
| or anv combination of lead and sui
phur Cesars become simpletons, Napo-
Icons nothings.
Look at the face of the man with the
| dyed hair as he sits in happy uncon-
| seriousness of the fact that he is the cy-
| nosure of all eyes. Its expression is
one of childlike sanctifcation. He is
at peace with the world and blind to
the absurdity of his appearance. He
never dreams that his little dodge can
be detected clear across the street. His
mental sturdiness has got out of the
way of the smell of sulphur, and keeps
out of the way.
He never notices that when he visits
at the homes of his friends they open
all the windows. 1t never occurs to
him when ladies who sit next to him in
street cars fan vigorously that his hair
dye is responsible. A great flourish of
perfumed handkerchief when he APP
pears never alarms him. It takes a
man of very trustful nature to dye
his hair and go through life with an
undisturbed mind.
If the color he forced his locks to
take on at all resembled anything in
nature his serenity of mind could be
understood. Frequently it is Curl
GUS, unclassified blue, so unlike any
respectable hue under the sun that you
cam keep your eyes off it to save your
life This peculiar tinge is arrived at
after long application, and expresses
the abused hairs refusal to absorb any
more poison. Sometimes when nitrate
of silver is the article which does vio-
lenee to nature, the hair turns a dull,
gritty red, about as becoming to any
face as a wig made of red willows
would be. A
i Sometimes deep, deep black is ar
rived at. No hair ever grew on white
man head rs black as it is. No ra-
ven's wing could hold candle to it
No Indian could rival If. The blacklist
dog that ever howled or trod wizards
circle would look dull and dim beside
it. This is the hue that gives its victim
the highest satisfaction. He is, if pos
sible, happier than the blue haired
man, the drab. or even the Russia
leather red.
There is striking and painful dis.
erepancy between the deep lines in his
face and the extravagantly youthful
darkness of his hair, which he never
sees and nobody else can help seeing.
He refuses to see any other intimation
of old age than gray hairs. That is the
only thing that scares him. His set
tied figure, his heavy gait, his deeply
lined face and reedy voice are over
looked, though they tell the tale of his
earthly pilgrimage beyond the power
OF hair dye to con tradict.
II he is sixty he fully believes he
passes for forty. The thought makes
him so gay at heart that he effervesces
into boyish foolishness of manner, sad
~ incompatible with his figure and
face. His intimate friends begin to
apologize for him, and strangers find
themselves exchanging ridicule for pity
when they look upon him.
He is so sure Of the perfect success Of
his ruse that he gets into the habit of
removing his hat when he is in horse
ears, and flatters himself that women
think him handsome. Sometimes he
sees some other imbecile who has
taken the same plan to defeat the enc
my, Time, and laughs in his sleeve at
the glaring failure. Everybody is fall
lible on hair dye but himself. Unen-
lightened as to his own grotesqueness,
be travels the rest of LIES journey in
the unadulterated bliss of ignorance, a
creature that should move the hardest
Of US to mercy.-Louisvitle Courier
Journal