Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-02-06
An ARMY OF RED HEADS.
IMPORTANT REVELATIONS OF THE
PRESENT CENSUS.

Fiery Locks Tell q Tale-Their Posses
sors Ina the Country Number 4,0O0,-
900 or Thereabouts-How Red Hair
Is CoIored.
United States census statistics, which
will soon be published, show that there
IRE about 1000, 900 redheaded people in
The United States. This vast army does
not include in its ranks persons whose
lair is of reddish tint, or even auburn
d golden haired people. 1t simply in
cludes those who have the undeniable
right to get mad when some unsympa-
thetic boy taunts them in public on the
terra Gotta tint of their topknots.
Respecting red neads, a writer in the
Philadelphia Record says that statistics
show that Philadelphia is entitled to
about 10000 redheaded persons. These
figures might at first sight seem exagger-
hted, but little work in the line of per-
sonal investigation has shown conclu-
Sively that the figures are about right.
A whole volume of undoubted size could
be written about the red heads of this
city. The most of them can be found
about Kensington. This is accounted
for by the fact that Kensington is largely
peopled with Irish or descendants of
Irish. A large number can be found in
Southwark for the very same reason.
When it comes down to capillary
freaks some very notable ones can be
found in the ranks of Philadelphia red
heads. For instance, there are two red
headed negroes. One is strapping big
male, and the other is slender female.
The female often promenades Chestnut
street, but the male rarely ever gets fur
Their north than Lombard street. In
kensington a worthy Hebrew couple
have fiery red hair, and so have four of
their children. A Pine street merchant,
whose hair was fiery red few years ago,
now wears variegated crop. 1t looks
as if some person had slapped him on the
head here and there with white paint
brush.
The writer continues: 81 have noticed
that about two thirds of the people who
come to the foreign delivery window
after mail have the finest kind of red
hair. don't mean that the hair itself is
fine. but mean the color is out of sight
They are the most polite people in the
world to wait on, but let me tell you that
you mnst attend strictly to business when
4 redhead is waiting, for their tempers
are quick as powder. For some reason
or other very few redheads buy postage
stamps. l don't know why this is. 1
have noticed another funny thing about
redheads. OF course, you know that the
paper collar is almost unknown now.
But it is fact that every paper collar l
nave seen in the past two years has been
worn by redheaded man"
The proprietor of an employment
bureau also contributed some odd stats-
tics. About three-quarters of the per-
sons who come here seeking work have
red hair. began to notice this about
three years ago, and investigated and
found that unbridled temper is the reason
30 many redheaded persons are continu-
ally out of job"
A we'll known physician, who has
made human hair a study for years,
says:
"The great Italian painter Titan"
said he, "was so fond of red hair that he
faFcu ABOUT IL, anu at one tlllle is Sdlu 10
have offered to sell his soul to the devil
provided his hair would turn red. This
passion for red hair has ragged fiercely
since early times. About every eight
years red hair comes in style, and the
bellies try to color their hair in conformity
to the prevailing style. They often use
poison, and that's where we come in. At
one period in history, however, red hair
was the subject for universal soothing,
and one old poet wrote of a girl who had
Tilted him:
Malicious fame reports her hair was red
That she smoothed it with a comb of lead"
"The reason why red hair is red is be-
cause of the pigment accumulated in the
cells of the medulla. In other words,
there are sacs at the foot of each red
hair filled with three or four distinct
pigments, all of reddish tint. l have
taken certain specimens of very red
human hair, heated them with twenty
times their volume of water, and obtained
as result very marked pink solution.
That goes to show that all the hair is
impregnated with the red stuff.
Fluids at Meals.