Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1895-11-19
HARyESTS OF HAIR.
GIRLS PART WITH THEIR CROWN
ING GLORY FOR A FEW CENTS.

lN0 GIOhN FOh FEW IEN >.
yeweiry and wigs Arc Made Of tho Queer
est Of Crops-Information, Some Of II Of
an Odd Character, From a Man who
Makes Things Of Hair.
twas quite by chance that the writer
Of this article happened on a man who
has spent his lifetime in the manipula-
tion Of human hair, transforming it in
TO wigs, crowns, frizettes and all the
other kinds Of "false" hair and weaving
it into watch chains, eyeglass guards,
bracelets, as well as mounting IL in lock-
cts, rings, pins, earrings and brooches
aud working it up into all kinds Of
floral designs and emblems.
"A charming head Of hair ON q wom-
an, /" he said, "is thing Of beauty and
indeed a crowning glory, but to hair
worker IL is Of little value. Even the
longest hair, before it has passed through
the hands Of the manufacturers, is well
nigh worthless. The hair Of woman's
head which is 30 inches in length, for
example, would not be worth more than
90 cents.
II remember woman coming into
my shop one night and Offering to sell
her hair. She said she was seaman's
wife, and not having heard from him
for many months was in desperate
straits for money. She wanted to know
how much would give her for her hair,
which was of considerable length. I re-
fused to cut it off. wouldn't cut any
woman s hair off. It is such a demoral-
izing, degrading thing to do, and the
fact is emphasized when dire need is the
cause Of the sale However, was in a
position to obtain her assistance until
her husband came back.
eve get our finest descriptions Of
hair, !" continued the subject Of this in
terview, "flon France and Italy whence
come all shades Of black and brown.
France, again, Germany and Spain sup
ply the market with brown, light flaxen
and red hair. Gray hair, being found in
every parcel, is described ns universal
ION the continent there are regular
hair harvests. During the summer time
you can see at every fair peddlers sur
rounded by girls with their beautiful
hair nicely combed out standing in file
waiting their turn The peddler has in
his hands a pair Of shears, each girl
bends her neck, few snips, and the
hair is off, tied into a whisp and thrown
into basket standing at the shearer' s
side. And how much do you think that
the girls get for this? A few cents, a
guady trinket or bright silk handker-
chief.
"Some peddlers travel from cottage
to cottage plying their trade, and the
same performance is gone through. An
average head Of hair weighs four ounces.
When sufficient hair is accumulated, II
is sold to the hair manufacturers, who
submit it to a process of cleansing and
sorting into various lengths and shades.
Il is then ready for the wigmakers,
who buy it as they require it, paying al
the rate Of 90 cents or so per ounce fol
lengths Of 10 inches to 10 inches to as
many shillings as there are inches fol
lengths Of SO inches and upward. The
greatest demand is for hair from IA tC
"a inches in length. Tho longest female
hair ON record is 70 inches. 4"
The tycoon Of Japan once confscateC
the hair Of whole province and had il
woven into a ships hawser over a quar-
ter of a mile long. Then he discovered
that steel ropes were in existence, ant
now tho cable, composed of the pigtail
of the unfortunate Japs, reposes before
the eyes Of tho curious in Bethnal Greer
museum.
The gentleman interviewed possesse
a magnificent trophy Of hair, in sizl
some feet long by feet high, in thu
form Of a basket Of flowers, every leaf
every petal and every stem Of which i
composed Of cunningly wrought hair
from the human head. How long 1
took to create it, it is impossible TO say
but years unquestionably. He has othe
similar displays, mostly the work o
himself or his son, though they pale in
TO insignificance beside the mOnumen
of patience in question.
The working Of hair into ornament
has gone out Of vogue considerably o
late years, but seafaring men even nov
are great lovers Of this form Of memen
to- Naturally their favorite designs as
sumo the forms Of anchors, colnpasse
and other things nautical
One day a gentleman came to th
subject of this article and desired hin
in a most mysterious manner TO weav
some hair, which no gave him, into tn
form Of a serpent. The head and tai
were TO be Of gold, and the tail was t
be fixed into tho mouth Tho serpen
was TO be in two coils and to encircle
golden heart pierced by dagger.
order to thoroughly comprehend the de
sign he had TO bo let into the secret, an
this was the explanation which was oi
fered;
The serpent was TO represent the ns
ture Of q certain young lady to whoI
the hair belonged and who had jilte
the gentleman IN question The golde
heart was symbolic Of his pure an
worthy affection, and the dagger shove
how deeply he had been wounded. Th
tail Of the serpent Icing In its mouth in
dicated that IN injuring her quondaI
, lover she had also bitten herself. Th
Tilted swain was most particular nbor
the execution of the work, sont Il bao
twice for alterations and finally refuse
! to have IL at all, perhaps discovering I'll
bathos of his scheme. Boston Post
Caught Their I1ars-
mn. .... ....... - 49,. -.