Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1892-06-24
DO YOU WEAR FALSE HAIR,


The best false hair comes from
France, where it is SOLD by the
gramme at prices which vary accord-,,
ing to quality and color, says the
New York Herald. The most ex-i
pensive false hair is the silveg-white
variety, which is in great demand and
very difficult to find This is due to-
the fact that men grow b I'D in ma
jority of cases before their hair
reaches the silver-white stage, and
women, whether bald or not, are not
disposed to sell their white hair at
any price. They need it themselves y
Still women growing bald must
have white hair to match the scant
allowance advancing age has left
them. The chemists have taken the
matter in hand and are able to pro-
duce by decoloration of hair of any
color tolerable grade of white hair,
which, however, has blush tint not
at all approaching in beauty the sill
very softness of hair which has been
bleached by nature.
False hair of the ordinary shades is
obtained in two ways. The better
and more expensive kind is cut di-i
rectly from the heads of peasant wo-
men, who sell their silken tresses
sometimes for mere song and some-
times for fair price, according as
they have learned wisdom. Every
year the whole territory of France is
Travelled over by men whose business
it is to persuade village maidens,
their mothers and their aunts to part
with their hair for financial con-
sideration.
These men are known as ''cutters,"
and there are at least 500 of them in
f, the country always going from house
to -heGse,,---fesseana -ftaEDa to farm. and
through all the villages in all the de-
partments, seeking subjects for their
scissors. good cutter averages from
TWO to five heads of hair day, and
he pays from , francs 10 10 francs
for each. 1t is estimated that a single
head of luxuriant growth weighs
about pound.
The false hair thus obtained-at
the cost Of tears and regrets of MANY
foolish maidens-is the finest in the
market, and sells for an exaggerated
PAARNt hii'ii bNbo ~ DtNOfIu ltlG Tpdch
OF the ordinary purchaser Besides.
it is evident that the supply of gen.
uine cuttings must fall far short of
the demand for false hair So the
majority of this wavY merchandise -
obtained -re5 ladies, l am exceed
;ngiy sorry but it is the fact-from
tnc rag-plckeTs
These blsy searchcrs of ash heaps
and garbage barrels collect every day
in the city of Paris alone at least
100 pounds Of hair, which some hun
dreds of thousands of women have
combed out of their heads during the
preceding twenty-four hours. This
hair, all mixed together and soiled,
one would think, beyond redemption,
is sold to hair cleaners at 81 to $3.50
a pound, which shows simply that the
fair sex in one city alone throws away
annually about 300, 600 francs worth
of hair, for which they afterward pay
and it is the same hair, mind
considerably over ! 900, 900 francs
The cleaning Of this refuse haIr is
an operation which requires careful
attention After the hair has been
freed from the dust and dirt and mud
and other unpleasant things with
which it has come in contact in gut
ters and Slop-buckets, 1t is rubbed in
sawdust until it shines once more
with its pristine gloss, and then the
process of sorting is begun. In the
first place skillful hands fix the indi-
vidua hairs in frames with the roots
all pointing the same way, and then
they are arranged according to color.
Finally. when a sufficient number
of hairs Of one color have been OBJ.
tained-nor is this number so i'm
mense as is generally supposed-they
are made into the beautiful braids
which are shown so seductively in the
windows Of fashionable coiffeurs. If,
as the Good Book says, wisdom goes
with the hair she who places on her
head one of the cOnglomerate braids
might be said to receive "a portion OF
the wisdom Of hundreds or thousands
ofother women who had worn those
hairs before her
1t is said that the cutters in France
have piled their trade so l2dustrious-
ly that at present ii is hardly possible
III uuc Nhult hephDilc 10 Hud Wos
man who will sell her hair. Thk
business has been done TO death. ana
now the enterprising dealers in false
hair are sending their representatives
through Switzerland, Belgium and
Norway, canvassing for unsophisti-
Gated lasses who win allow them-
selves to be robbed Of their hair,
which is half their beauty for a few
pieces Of silver.