Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-08-10
HARVESTS OF HAIR.
GIRLS PART WITH THEIR CROWN
ING GLORY FOR A FEW CENTS.

Of this article happened on man who
has spent his lifetime in the manipula-
tion If human hair, transforming il in
tn wigs, crowns, frizcttcs and all the
other kinds of false hair and weaving
it into watch chains, cycglaSs guards.
bracelets. as we'll rs mounting il i'll lock
cts. rings. pins. earrings and brooches
and working it up into all kinds of
floral designs and emhlems.
"A charming head i hair on WON.
an, >" he said, sis thing of beauty and
indeed browning glory, Int to hair
worker il is Of little value. Even the
longest hair. before il has passed through
the hands of the manufacturers. is we'll
nigh worthless. The hair Of woman's
head which is 80 inches in length. for
example would not be worth more than
80 cents.
Il remember u woman coming into
my shop enc night aud Offering Ia :ell
her hair. ,he SAID she was scaman'S
wife, and not h;.ving heard from him
for many months was III desperate
straits for money. She wanted to know
how much Iwould give her for her hair,
which was of considerable length. | re-
fused 10 cut il off. wouldn't cut any
woman'S hair of II is such dcmoral-
izing degrading thing To do. and the
fact is emphasized when dire need is the
cause IF the sale. However. | was i'll u
position tn obtain her assistance until
her husband came back
t.at init nf
hair. " continued the subject of this in
tcrview, "from 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 i'll
every parcel. is described rs universal.
"On the continent there are regular
hair harvcStS. During the summer time
you can see at every fair peddlers sur
rounded by girls with their beautiful
hair nicely cumhcd ont standing i'll file
waiting their turn. The pcddlcr has in
his hands n pair of shears. each girl
bends her neck, n few ships, and the
hair is off. tied into whisp and thrown
into basket standing at the shearer' $
the girls get for this: A few cents, a
guady trinkct or Il bright silk handker-
chief.
"Some rcddlers 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, il
,u -,.lI 20 . l,ns g. xt-h
submit il To II process of cleansing and
sorting into various lengths and shades.
1t is then ready for the wigmakers.
who buy it as they require il. paving at
the rate IF 20 cents or So per ounce for
| lengths of 10 inches 10 IL inches to as
many shillingS rs there are inches for
| lengths Of 30 inches and upward The
greatest demand is for hair from II To
81 inches in length. The longest female
hair on record is 80 inches. p"
The tycoon Of Japan once coniiScated
the hair Of whole province and had it
woven into ships hawser over a quar-
| ter of u mile long. Then he discovered
that steel ropes We're iii existence. and
now the cable. composed Of tie pigtails
of the unfortunate JapS, rcpoSc, before
the eyes of the curious in Bethnal Green
/ museum.
The gentleman interviewed possesses
magnificent trophy of hair. i'll size
some 3 feet long by feet high. i'll the
form Of Il basket Of flowers. every leaf,
every petal and every stem of which is
composed of cunningly wrought hairs
from the human head. How long it
took 10 create it. il is impossible To say,
but years unqueStionahly. He has other
similar displays, mostly the work Of
himself or his son, though they pale in
To inSignificancc beside the monument
Of patience in question.
The working Of hair into ornaments
has gone ont Of vogue ons;dcrably of
late years, but Scafaring men even now
are great lovers Of this form of mcmen-
to. Naturally their favoritc dcS;gn as
sumo the forms II anchors. compasses
and other things nautical
One day gentleman came to the
subject of this article and DIES red him
in a most mysterious manner To weave
some hair, which he gave him. into the
/ form of serpent. The head and tail
We're to he Of gold, and the tail was TO
be fixed into the mouth. The serpent
was to he III two coils and to c,ic:rclc Il
golden heart pierced by :, dagger In
order TO thoroughly comprehend tie de-
sign he had To be let intothc secret. and
this was the explanation which WAS Of.
| fered:
The serpent was to represent the iia
ture of certain young l.;dy 10 whom
the hair belonged and who lad Tilted
the gentleman i'll question. The & l,'on
heart was symbolic of his pure and
worthy affection. and the dagger showed
how deeply he had been wounded The
tail of the serpent being i'll its month in
dictated that i'll injuring her quon:.am
lover she had also bitten herself The
Tilted swain was most particular about
the execution Of the work, sent it back
/ twice for alterations and finally refused
| TO have il at all perhaps Il s-ovcring the
bathos of his scheme Boston Post
Caught Their Ears.
The new canon ef Westminster was
once terribly interrupted hy the inces-
q n.