Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-11-27
STRANGER. THAN FICTION
A Reporter Discovers a Romance
in Real Life:
A Starving wonisn ssIis uef Locks and Sd
Rega'ns Her Husbaud-&Loiigink Hearts
Reunited After Terrible Struggles
Hali Dealers story.
IPhilade' 'phla Times. !

II had strange exp riencs once ih
human hair" said q member of firm
OF hu nan hair importers to a re lorter for
the Times. "A French lady Of noble
blood, who has been my friend for years,
wrote me a lew months ago. inclosing a
lock of hair; which was a peculiar shade
OF drab and OF silky 6neness. She wanted
M to match it, and I set about doing SOY
dispatched my agents ali over Europe,
but nowhere could they q nd a thread OF
hair that wo ,ld ma ch tie sample.
then insef ed an advertisement In
the priuc pal Ihladslpiia, Nav York and
B ,ston papers. Offering liberal reward
for swi ch Of the desired quality and
color. OAe day q woman of about twenty
years of age. shabbily dresse |, but with a
form an face that Venus nj ght have en-
We'd, ettered my Office.
came in answer to your ADVERTISE
m sut,' she said, and, removing her hat,
unbound luxuriant coil of hair that
callel from me an invo untary cry OF ada
m'ration. Will this do?' she asked.
Il examined her hair and compared 1t
with the sample ssnt me y the Countess
The two were So similar that wnen
mixed them together / could not distin.
gu sh one from the other.
"'This hair is exactly what l want
sail, and will give you ,wo hundred
dollars an ou ice it,
Take it off, she sa d, with a nervous
trembling OF her voice that at once at
tracted my attention. I am starv ng, I
and my baby, and what you are willing
to pay is a fortune to u.s.
II became interss ed, and questi6net
her. A ter lit 10 hesil ation she toll me
her story. Her hus ,ant had been a sea
captain, and sh rtly after they were mar.
ried had sailed for the west coast of Afri-
ca His vessel was new heard OF after
leaving port, aud it was presum that
she had ioundered at sea and all hands
had besn lost. III, tssumed willow had
strug glel to main ain herself and infant
child, but with ind ffsrent success. Final.
ly, when suffering from the paugs OF hum
ger, she had read my advertisements, and
hastened to my place of usiness, praying
inwardly that her hair, which had been
her husbands PRIDE might be of the re!
gu red shade.
''Well, to make long story short,
bought her hair, WI ca weighed four
ounces, and paid her $S0J for l.. sent
the switch to my customer. the Countess,
and wrote her the history of the ha.t.
ShO ID "oIudu VI BTeuG W6uiUu anu
goodness of heart. The r-tura mail
brought me n letter author zin me TO pay
t poor little sailors widow $l,0oJ extra.
i dill so, and wrote an account OF the
affair. to our official journal, which is pub
iished in New York. The story was SO
romantic that the d ally papers copied IL.
and received several letters from ch mr.
liable people offerins pecuniary assist
IN
p'oud and refused to receive any help
"Ole day. about three wesxs ter the
publication of the story. a man who was
Lronzed and bearded, came into my Office
very Il uch excited. He held in his hand
a copy of a New York lpar, and uafold-
ing it pointed to my story.
"'Can you give me- the ad lress of this
womsnT he asked eagerly. She is my
w fe; thought her dead'
"While wrote down tn. address ne
told me his ory. His vessel had been
shipwrecked on thu African coast, and
he and two others OF the crew alone man!
aged to reach the shore. 1t was several
months before they M, n1ged to reach a
civil z ID port He immed ately sent word
of the disaster to the owners of the foun.
dared vessel and wr ote to his young vile.
From the for ner he received reply, but
he heard no word from his wife. and
when be re chea Ph idelphia he discova
er d that sae had mysteriously dsap-
peared. One day fu oSn, over a paper
he me across my soy. anl had hur-
ried to my "fli - to learn fuller particu.
lars. l sent him TO his w.fe In NV car
riage, and you can ina zine what ec1rred
at the meetIn-, for e,ch he, eved 81 9th
er dead. Iwr,te to thu Counters, giving
the sequ i 10 o stcry, and til. result was
that the shipwr .cxst Cart in now CO =
mands b r vtci', and the lie who sac.
rife d her hair e. biy brsaI sails With
y IN on evJry voyage"