West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1891-08-13
4 Girls STRANGE HABIT.
From sabyhood to womanhSod Her
Dist Was Hair.
AT TWENTY SHE BECAME ILL.

One Of the most peculiar habits
on record was that Of Mary Preston,
beautiful young girl, who took
the prize at the Cooper Institute
art school for the finest crayon
sketch. She is highly educated; an
expert musician, speaks several
languages and moves in the best
society. No one would ever droam
that there was anything ettrhtflc
in her composition, because she hid
her peculiar practice under the veil
of secrecy. She began it when she
was a little girl, continued it
through childhood, and only stop
ped when the surgeons knife got
in its fine work. Her habit was
eating hair. It'did not make any
difference whose hair IL was or what
the color. According to her own
story, she couli not have been more
than three years OF age when che
began to chew tho ends Of her long
curls. Her hair was q beautiful
shade of auburn, sweet enough al
most for anyone to cat that is, If
ones taste ran in that direction.
Little Miss Preston chewed of her
curls and swallowed the mouthfuls
Of hair with as much pleasure as
the ordinary child would
A PIECE OF CANDY.
No one knew anything about it.
There were not any bad symptoms
so far as is known, and she did not
have anything moro than the or
dinary sickness Of childhood. 1t is
hard to conceive where she could
have got liking for hair, but she
had it and it grew with age like all
ather habits,
Whe she got old enough to think
and to know better SHE tried to
break of the hair diet. The long
est that she ever went without hair
rs regular stimulant Vas when
she cGt her eye teeth, and then her
jaws we're too sore to chew. Hair
does not slip down TIE esophangus
like raw oyster, as anyone will
find out by trying to swallow even
single hair. Sometimes Miss
Preston coIifesses that she would
Iavc some trouble in getting n
nouthful Of hair to pass the cpiglot.
lis, but the difficulty was easily
overcome by mixing it with Gg
or orange.
Miss Preston did not recognize
the vice in others by example, and
her parents aud schoolmates never
knew what she did when alone.
She was ashamed Of the habit. She
did not rely or her own hair to
furnish a supply Of the delicious
dainty, but let her pin money go
for switches. She bought hair
from BARRIERS, horse clipping estab-
lishments and dog fanciers under
various pretcnses, so that Efe had
change Of diet, and was not con-
fined to the mOnotony Of plain
EVERYDAY HUMAS HAIR.
She drew the line on the wool Of
the colored man, but lambs wool
was luxury that she enjoyed in
season with as muck relish as the
ordinary citizen does his lamb
chop. How many pounds of hair
she ate from the time she began
until her twentieth year viii never
be known. She has no idea, but
says that never a day passed with
out her getting away Wits a large
/ lhnuIul
She became gegy ill ON her return
from Europe about a year ago.
Probably foreign hair did not agree
with her c0ltieated tastc. Sire had
a severe gastric trouble, and all
food that she took was rejected al
most as quickly as it was swallowed.
There WAS no evidence Of tumor,
and the slightest symptoms Of can
cor could not be detected. The
doctors believed that there was
cancer Of tic intestine, near the
pyloric ofifice, which affected the
action Of the stomach by sympathy.
She was star7fHg 20 deagr, ard to
give her relief it vas decided BY Or.
Arbucklc, the consulting surgeon
Of St. Inkc's IiospitaI, TO make on
opening into tic st0msth from tho
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