The St. Johns herald., 1893-12-14
THE TATTOO FAD.
Boston Women Who Have Pic
 lures on TheIr Persons.
4 Professor in the Art Makes Some Queer Revelations Concerning Some of the People Who Have Patron
 iZed Him.


 in her cheeks went an inch higher and assailed the faultless temples.
 ''Never heard of him. Who is he, anyhow?'' The big policeman bent his head for further information. The pretty brunette looked very much con- fused
 "Well, my brother said he was right along here on Fremont row. You see, I heard him tell Will Adams what love ly tattooing he did, and without the sign of pain, too. He said lots of girls went there just to see his work. Well, I'm crazy about tattooing, you know. Oh, not at all; oh, my, no. not upon myself! just like to see it, you know. 1 think it is lovely. So I thought I would just look at some of the designs. Four doors down? Oh, thank you," and the brunette told off four doors and hustled into the last one without a turn of her head.
 Only Capt. Mckay and the pretty brunette know what happened within during the next half hour. True. the janitor says he heard a very indistinct little squeal several times through the keyhole. That was all he knew of the matter. But when the brunette, with an expression of guilt upon her coun- tenance, hurried out into the street Capt. Mckay told an Every Saturday man the little tale on the understand ing that names should not be used. No, it has not quite got to be a fad yet. But it will be soon. 1 have pretty girls with the daintiest of arms and legs come in here every day for me to operate upon. Yes, most of them dec crate their arms. Tal3e this young lady, for instance. She is a student at the Conservatory of Music. Come from somewhere in Indiana, I think. She was crazy to have an American flag upon her leg. 1 know she was. but she had scarcely the courage. 1 put this little scroll upon her arm. away around here on the side of the muscle. No, it didn't hurt her in the slightest. She surprise that the needle did not hurt more than it did than anything. Now the ice is broken she will be back in a week, and perhaps then her courage will be better. She will have that flag put on there or I'm mistaken.
 The old system of jabbing with a needle by hand has gone out of vogue. Capt. Mckay uses electricity in his work. The instrument employed is an Edison electric pen with q larger eccentric so as to give the needle the play it requires. The play of the needle is about ne-thirty-second of an inch. Ordinary cell batteries are at tached to it. The same power how ever, cannot be used in tattooing all persons. It is regulated by the condi- tion of the skin of the patron. Two cells are sufficient for person with the softest skin. Harder skinned peo- pie take all the way to six cells, the full force of the battery. The Outlin- ing is done with single needle. The shading requires seven needles, which are placed in the machine side by side. But two kinds of ink are used, black India ink and Chinese vermillion. These are the only colors that can be used with perfect safety because they are not poisonous or injurious. Vase line and witch hazel are used to relieve the soreness when the design is com pleted.
 ''Oh, yes," said the captain, "'they call for all sorts of designs. There's the crucifiX; have perhaps more calls for it than any other. They want it put in the qpeerest places too. Why, l had a man in here one day who wanted me to put it on his spinal col umn so that the crowned head of the Savior would appear just at his collar button. l have tattooed bracelets on the wrists of pretty girls and garters on their legs. A young woman who is well known to the theater-goers of Boston has a serpent reaching from her ankle to a point well above her knee, which I did for her. The work took several days. It was a delicate job and required great care. When I finished she gave me twenty-five dol lars and you never saw 8 more pleased girl in your life. The wife of a we'll known steamboat captain has the de- sign of sailors farewell on the Aeshy part of her arm. She came and told me her husband had 6 similar one and she had determined to have one like it. It would never do to tell him about it though. happened to know that the captain detested the design which he bore within year after I tattooed it. dare say if he ever discovered the one his wife had they had squally weather in that household. have had at least twenty-five Harvard students here within six months. They mostly have such designs as the American coat of arms or something patriotic. You see that Rock of Ages? I pricl1ed that de- sign upon the left arm of an out of town clergyman within week. He paid me two dollars for 1t and was highly pleased"
 4 Monster Tree.