Connecticut western news., 1885-10-28
MATCHING ALOCK OF HAIR
Outcome Of a Hair Merchants
 Advertisement,
I Husband aud Wife Who Thought Bach
 Other Dead Reunited

"I had strange experience once in human hair," said 8 member of the firm of John E. Lafore & Co., human hair importers. "A French lady of noble blood, who had been my friend for years, wrote me few months ago, inclosing lock of hair, which was a peculiar shade of drab and silky fine ness. She wanted me to match it, and I set about doing so.
 "I inserted an advertisement in the principal Philadelphia, New York and Boston papers, offering a liberal re- ward for switch os the desired quali- ty and color. One day woman of about 20 years of age. shabbily dressed, but with form and face that Venus might have envied, entered my office.
 "I came in answer to your adver- tisement," she said, and removing her hat unbound luxuriant coil of hair that called from me an involuntary cry of admiration. will this do? she asked.
 "I examined her hair and compared it with the sample sent me by the Countess. The two were SO similar that when l mixed them together I could not distinguish one from the other.
 This hair is exactly what want I said, and I will give you s20O an ounce for it.
 Take it off, she said, with a ner- vous trembling of her voice that at once attracted my attention. I am starving. I and my baby, and what you are willing to pay is a fortune to us.'
 "1 became interested and questioned her. After little hesitation she told me her story. Her husband had been sea captain and shortly after they were married had sailed for the west coast of Africa His vessel was never heard of after leaving port, and it was presumed that she had foundered at sea and all hands had been lost. The pre- sumed widow had struggled to main tain herself and infant child. but with indifferent success. Finally, when suffering from the bangs of hunger, she had read my advertisement and hastened to my place of business, pray ing in wardly that her hair, which had been her husbands pride, might be of the required shade.
 "Well, I bought her hair, which weighed four ounces, and paid her $500 for it. sent the switch to my GUS toner, the Countess, and wrote her the history of the hair. She is a woman of great wealth and goodness of heart. The return mail brought me letter authorizing me to pay the poor little sailors widow $1, ,000 extra 1 wrote an account of the affair, which was published. One day, about three weeks after the publication of the story, man, who was bronzed and bearded, came into my office very much excited He held in his hand a e6by of New York paper, and unfolding it pointed to my story.
 "'Can you give me the address of this womanY he asked eagerly. She is my wife I thought her dead.'"
 "While I wrote down the address he told me his story. His vessel had been shipwrecked on the African coast, and he and two others of the crew alone managed to reach the shore. It was several months before they managed to reach civilized port. He immediate ly sent word of the disaster to the owners of the foundered vessel and to his young wife. From the former he received reply, but he heard no word from his wife, and when he reached Philadelphia he discovered that she had mysteriously disappeared. One day in looking over a paper he came across my story and had hurried to my office to learn further particulars. I sent him to his wife in my carriage, and you can imagine what occurred at the meeting. for each believed the oth- CT dead. wrote to the Countess, giv- ing the sequel to the story. and the re- suit was that the ship wrecked cap tain now commands her yacht, and the wife who sacrificed her hair to bay bread sails with him on every voyage" Philadelphia Times.