The morning call., 1890-11-30
THE SOUTH
SEA BARRIERS.
They Fill Their Customers Hair
With Lime and Slack 1t.
Savage Heads Fairly sizz!e-Then the Locks
are Done Up to Resemble Spiral Steel
shavings-shaved in Spots.

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ASy scanty growth of hair upon the face.
and though the struggling hairs are rarely
pulled out they grow so slowly that shaving
| is not resorted to more than three or four
times a year. The BARRIERS chief occupa-
| ton is in the dressing of the hair, and in
| this branch of the business he finds enough
| to do and ample scope for the exercise of
| his ingenuity in ways that would never
| occur to his civilized rival.
One custom holds good throughout the
| island realm wherever hair is worn at all,
| and that is the lime shampoo, based upon
motives Of comfort and convenience geneT-
ally, the same as led to the withdrawing of
| GOODS and roOSts on q hen-ranch These
things abound in the tropics, and must be
| accepted as distinctive feature of the life,
to be dealt with in the readieSt fashion. A
long and irritated experience finds its best
| solution in lime, and lime, therefore, Is used.
by all
A HEAD SIZZLING HOT.
Having lime the savage combs all the kinks
out of the three, four or even six inches to-
which he allows his hair to grow, Sits the
| fine lime in among the hair, selects COM
| Portable place in which to lie, gets the bar
| Der to sprinkle water on the lime and shuts
| his eyes, willie admlring friends stand about.
| to watch him siZzle. The water slakes the
| lime with much blowing of bubbles and the
| evolution of thick clouds of earbanic acid
| gas, the subject submits eheerfully to turn
| his head into murtar-bed until the heat
| becomes too much for him to bear, when
| dash of water washes away the steaming
| lime, and the first step has been taken toward
| dressing his hair.
Many are content TO simply comb the hair
| after the lime application is over and SO
leave it for month to come, yet even this
| simple operation is work OF time and pa
| thence, for man would be dlssraced VINO.
| should appear with the hair lying fat and
| smooth upon the head. The comb consists
| of ten or a dozen wooden skewers about
| fonr inches long, run down fire and smooth
and secured by cords and gum side by SIDE
| at the end Of a long and light piece Of
carved wood, which. served as Il head orna-
| ment. With this comb the hair is carefully
| raked out, so that each hair will stand on
| end, and together they will appear like a
| light mop.
| woMEN's HAIR THE SHORTER.
Between men and women the only distinc-
ton observed is that the men often wear the
| hair six inches long all about the head, the
| women seldom. more titan two inches, stand
] ing out even on all sides, while men train
T the hair below the crown upward. so that II,
| too. will grow parallel with. the hair on the
| top of the head This involves much comb
| ing and much use of bandageS before it will
answer all the requirements OF fashion and
| satisfy the wearer that lie will look suff-
| GENTLY grim TO his enemies when they meet
| in battle.
Others prefer spiky ringlets which are
| either trained to stand erect or to fall away
| from the crown in all directions. These
| ringlets are maze after the hair has been
| lined and combed out stiff. Beginning with
| the forehead, the barber grasps not more
| than ten or dozen hairs growing close to-
| gether, wraps them tightly around single
spear of grass and covers the whole with
| layer of bread-fruit gum. In the end the
| ornamented islander will present much the
| appearance of a blushing porcupine. For
| fully a week the hair must remain in its
| curl grasses, which are carefully bundled in
| a cloth saturated with oil.
| LIKE SPIRAL STEEL SHAvINGs.
| At last the barber decides that his work
| will do him credit, wipes eff from each wisp
| of hair its abundance of gum, draws out
| the core of grass and leaves the ringet
| standing erect and about as graceful as the
| fine spiral shavings which one finds in a ma
| chine shop where they have been planning
| steel. The man who elects to wear his hair
in a mop or rnglets must conduct himself
| with single eye to preserving for fully
| month the simple beauty of his couture. He
| may not swim without first tying his hair in
oiled cloth. and the pattering of the rain
! warns him 10 bundle up his head. At night
| he may not sleep with his head upon the
| soft mats but must rest his cheek upon q
| wooden pillow. The simplest form Of these
| pillows is joint of bamboo supported on
crutches at each END and three or four inches
| long.
| The natural black color of the hair is sell
| dom seen even in the children, and so al
most universal is the practice of lining the
head that the colors, ranging between straw
| and brick red, which result from the use OF
the lime, NAV also be taken to stand in
place OF the natural color Some leave their
| hair of the color to which it has been
burned, but many others eject to dye 1t
either Of single body color, uniformly
| laid on or in bars or blocks of gaudy hues.
| A favurite device is to colur the hair in two
contrasting hues along the line of the mid
die, blue on one side and red on the other.
red and green or yellow and black.
LIKE A PAINTED TARGET.
Others indulge in irregular patches OF
| dive, giving marbled effect. and on one isl
of concentric rings of bright colors, giving
| to each head the appearance of an animated
target for the skill of opposing archers.
| Among such as shave the head of all bnt a
portion of the hair there is a multitude of
fashions, and each conSultS his own taste or
the ripper Judgment of his barber. The
varied results are striking in the extreme.
| Some are seen whose hair Is confined to the
front of the head, leaving all behind the
crowns as smooth as ball; and yet others
reverse the process, extend their foreheads
to the crown and carry all their locks be-
hind. Heads bare on one side are as COM
mon as in Siberian convict train, and one
never gives such an oddly second glance.
The warriors delight above all others, the
regular fighting clip, is a cleanly shaven
head with crest about two inches wide eX-
tending from the forehead clear back to the
nape uf the neck, and trimmed to such a
length as will best insure its standing erect.
The savage islander must know what be-
comes of every particle OF hair which is
clipped from his head. He takes the bunch
home, burns it, mixes the ashes with water
and drinks it. He believes that If any one
could get possession of lock of his hair.
burn it and swallow the ashes that person
could draw all his strength away, and he
would weaken aud die just in proportion as
the dose hmself.-William Churchill In
Pittsburg Dispatch.