The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-07-03
PIERCING THE EARS.
An Hour with Louisville AuratotIst.

| flEltClNG THE EAkS.
An Hour with Louisville Auratotist.
At 4 o'clock Friday afternoon a young
lady, tall and slender and blonde,
emerged from private room at jew
elry-stOre on Fourth avenue. Her
bright face was drawn with grimaces
and her mouth was down at the cor
ners, while her ripe-red lips were quiv-
ering with pain. As she came out OF
the room with an elderly lady she cast
an indignant look in the direction of
the head salesman, who had left the
same room but q moment before with a
sharp-pointed and slender steel instru-
ment in his hand. A close observer
might have noticed small crimson
spot on the lobe of the young lady's
left ear. This same crimson spot, upon
further investigation, would have been
found to be a drop of blood. The
young lady was angry, however, and
smarting with pain, and she didn't
linger any longer in the jewelry-store
than it required 10 walk to the door,
which she slammed spitefully after her
as she stepped out on the street, with
another whitening look over her shoul-
der at the head salesman.
whats the matterp" asked jour-
nalist, who had just stepped in to buy q
$4,000 diamond pin for his new spring
scarf.
II have been piercing the young
lady's ear" answered the salesman
with mean smile, ''and she didn't like
tho operation. succeeded in piercing
one ear and then she got mad and left.
She'll be back in a day or two, howev-
er, to have the other one pierced.
Young ladies must wear earrings, you
know"
''Do you make a business of piercing
earsP" asked the newspaper man.
1--WE do great deal of it here for
our customers. At least do a great
deal of it. / don't think anybody else
in Louisville has over undertaken the
same sort of work. Within the last
ten years / suppose l have pierced the
ears of at least two thousand girls and
young ladies. The operation Is a very
simple one. All l require is a sharp
steel point and stout cork. The lobe
of the ear is placed on the cork and the
steel point is pushed through in a
twinkling. Then either bit of brass
is left in the opening, or the earrings
are put in Immediately"
''1s the operation painfulp'
"As rule it is not. That depends
very much, however, upon the forma-
ton of the lobe. Sometimes the lobe
is thin and tender. Sometimes it is fat
and fiabby, and often it is hard and
gristly. A lobe of the last mentioned
sort is the hardest to pierce, and in
such instances the greatest pain is
caused. AS a rule, however, the oper-
alton is accompanied only by twfnge
of pain, which is gone as soon as the
needle is withdrawn"
"Do the ears become inflamed after
the operation?"
Eyes, but as rule very slightly.
Frequently they are made painfully sore
girls have to scratch. Grown young
ladies' however, generally obey our in
structions, and within week all trace
of the incision is gone"
Eat what age is the ear generally
piercedp"
Eat from to IA years. 1t is seldom
that girl gets to be more than ii
years old without having worn ear
rings"
'7There are exceptions, however.
Only yesterday married lady was in
the store, admiring pair of earrings.
My husband would buy these for me,
she said, If l had only had my ears
pierced tried to persuade her to
submit to the operation Immediately,
but she emphatically declined, and al
most tainted when 1 brought out my
steel point to show her how easily and
painlessly the operation could be per-
formed"
"Are you ever called to pierce the
same ears more than oncep"
Eyes; quite frequently. Sometimes
the brass is taken out too soon and the
opening grows together again. This
requires a second incision, which is al
ways more painful than the first.
know one lady whose ears have been
pierced four times, and she sent for me
the other day to have them pierced
again. The trouble in her case lies in
the fact that her ears grow so flat to
her face that the setting of the earring
can hardly be SEEM"
''Do you do all the earring piercing
that is done in Louisvillep"
II should say not. Many mothers
pierce their daughters ears at home
with an ordinary needle and keep the
incision open by inserting a bit of
broom-straw. This is barbarous sort
Of custom, however, and is nearly al
ways accompanied by excruciating
pain and inflammation. have known
instances where the lobe of the ear has
been entirely lost by this rough opera
tion."
"What do you charge for piercing
one pair of earsp"
"Not cent. We do it gratuitously
for our customers with the hope, Of
course, of selling a pair of earrings"
"What is the professional title of one
who pierces earsp"
"He is called an auratotist. Louis
ville Commercial.