Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-02-21
@xAws
HOW FALSE HAIR Is OBTAINED.
Much of Ii Comes from the Ash Barrel,
of Paris

Much of Ii Comes from the Ash Barrels
| of Paris.
The best false hair comes from France,
where it is sold by the gramme at
| prices which vary according to quality
and color. The most expensive false
hair is the silver white variety. which
is in great demand and very difficult TO
| find. This is due to the fact that men
grow bald in majority 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.
Still women growing bald must have
white hair TO match the scant allowance
advancing age has left them. The
chemists have taken the matter iu hand
and are able to produce by decoloration
of hair Of any color tolerable grade Of
white hair, which, however, has blu
ish tint not at all approaching in beau
ty the silvery 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 directly
from the heads Of peasant women, who
| sell their Silken tresses sometimes for a
mere song and sometimes for fair
price, according as they have learned
wisdom. Every year the whole terri
tory of France is travelled over by men
whose business IL is to persuade village
maldens, their mothers and their aunts
to part with their hair for financial con-
siderations.
| FOOLISH MAIDENS.
These men are known as "cutters,"
and there are at least five hundred OF
them in the country always going from
| house to house, from farm to farm and
through all the villages in all the de-
partments, seeking subjects for their
scissors. A good cutter averages from
two TO five heads OF hair day, and he
pays from Of. to 1Of. for each. 1t IS es-
timated that a single head Of luxuriant
! growth weighs about pound.
The false hair thus obtained-at the
cost of the tears and regrets of many
foolish maidens-is the finest in the
market, and sells for an exaggerated
price, which puts it beyond the reach
of the ordinary purchaser. Besides,
| il is evident that the supply OF
genuine Cuttings" must fall far short Of
| the demand for false hair. So the ma
| jority Of this wavy merchandise Is OBJ
tained-yeS, ladies, / am exceedingly
sorry, but ii is the fact-from the rag
pickers. These busy searchers OF ash
heaps and garbage barrels collect every
day in the city Of Paris alone at least a
| hundred pounds of hair which some
hundreds 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 from 81 to Sl.50 a
pound, which shows simply that the fair
sex in one city alone throws away an
nually about 800, 0OOf. worth Of hair, for
which they afterward pay-and 1t is the
same hair, Enthusiastically over
1,O00,000f.
BIG PROFITS.
The cleaning of this refuse hair is an
operation which requires careful atten-
ton. 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 cutters and slop-
buckets, it is rubbed in sawdust until il
shines once more with It's pristine gloss,
and then the process OF sorting is be-
gun. In the first place skillful hands
fix the individual hairs in frames with
the roots all pointing the same way, and
then they are arranged according TO
color. Finally, when sufficient num-
Der OF hairs of one color have been OBJ
tained-nor Is the number so immense
as is generally supposed-they are
made Into the beautiful braids
which are shown so Sc
ductively in the windows Of
fashionable coiffeurs. II, as the good
book says, wisdom goes with the hair,
she who places on her head one Of
these conglomerate braids might be
said to receive a portion Of the wisdom
of hundreds or thousands Of other wo-
men who had worn those hairs before.
1t is said that the cutters in France
have piled their trades so industriously
that at present it is hardly possible In
the whole Republic to find woman
who will sell her hair. The business
has been done to death and now the en-
terprising dealers in false hair are send
ing their representatives through Swift
zerland, Belgium and Norway canvass
ing for unsophsticated lasses who will
allow themselves to be robbed OF their
hair, which is half their beauty, for a
few pieces OF silver.