Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-03-25
VERY ROMANTIC INDEED.

IL naQ strange eXpeTleuce olCe III Hu-
man hair" said a member Of a firm of hu-
man hair importers to a reporter for the
Philadelphia Times. "a French lady of
noble blood, who had been my friend for
years, wrote mea few monthsago, inclosing
lock of hair which was peculiar shade OF
drab and of silky fineness. She wanted me
to match it, and [ set about doing 80. l
dispatched my agents all over Europe, but
nowhere could they find thread of hair
that would match the sample.
81 then inserted an advertisement in the
principal Philadelphia, New York and
Boston papers, offering liberal reward for
switch of the desired quality and color.
One day woman about twenty years of
age, shabbily dressed, but with form and
face that Venus might have envied, entered
my office.
"I came in answer to your advertise
ment,, she said, and removing her hat, un-
bound luXuriant coil Of hair that called
from me an involuntary cry of admiration.
will this do?' she asked.
81 examined her hair and compared it
with the sample sent me by the countess.
! The two were so similar that when / mixed
them together l could not distinguish one
from the other.
"sThis hair is exactly what I want" l
said, 'and l will give you 5000 an ounce
for it,"
"'Take it off, said she, with nervous
trembling of her voice that at once attract
ed my attention. Il am starving, | and my
baby, and what you are willing to pay is
| fortune to me-
81 became interested and questioned her.
After little hesitation she told me her
story. Her husband had been sea cap
tain, 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 she had founder
ed at sea and all hands had been lost The
presumed widow had struggled to MAINTAIN
herself and infant child, but with indif1er-
ent success. Finally, when suffering from
the pangs of hunger, she had read my ad-
vertisment and fastened to my place OF
business, praying inwardly that her hair,
which had been her husbands pride, might
be the required shade.
"Well, to make a long story short, l
bought her hair, which weighed four
ounces, and paid her $500 for it. l sent the
switch to my customer, the countess, and
wrote her the history of the hair. She
is woman of great wealth and good
ness of heart. The return mail brought
me letter authorizing me to pay the poor
little sailors widow $1,000 extra. l did
so and wrote an account of the affair to our
official journal, which is published in New
York. The story was 80 romantic that the
daily papers copied il and received sever
al letters from charitable people offering
pecuniary assistance to the sailors widow.
She was proud and refused to receive any
help.
zone day, about three weeks after the
publication of the story, a man who was
bronzed and bearded came into my office
very much excited. lie held in his hand a
copy of a New York paper and upholding it,
pointed to my story.
"Can you give me the address of this
woman ?" he asked, eagerly. "She is my
wife thought her dead"
"While l wrote down the address he told
me his story. His vessel had been wreck
ed on the African coast, and he and two
others of the crew alone reached the shore.
1t was several months before they managed
to reach a civilized port. He Immediately
sent word of the disaster to the owners of
the foundered vessel and wrote to his young
wife. From the former he received reply,
but he heard no word from his wife, and