Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-29


est Of Crops-Information, Some Of 1t OF
an Odd Character. From . Man Who
Makes Things Of Hair.
1t was quite by chance that the writer
Of this article happened on man who
has spent his lifetime in the manipula-
ton 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 we'll as mounting it in lock-
cts, rings, pins, earrings and brooches
and working it up into all kinds OF
floral designs and emb!ems.
"A charming head of hair on wom-
an" he said, lis thing Of beauty and
indeed browning glory, but to hair
worker it 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 a woman's
head which is so inches in length. for
example, would not be worth more than
60 cents.
II remember q woman coming into
my shop one night and Offering to sell
her hair. She said she was a seaman
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. re-
fused TO cut it off. / wouldn't cut any
woman's hair Off 1t is such democrat
izing, degrading thing to do, and the
fact is emphasized when dire need is tho
cause of the sale. However, was in
position to obtain her assistance until
her husband came back.
Eve get our finest descriptions of
hair" continued the subject of this in
terview, from France and Italy, whence
come all shades of black and brown.
France, again, Germany and Spain sup
ply the market with brown, light fiaxen
and red hair. Gray hair, being found in
every parcel, is described Us universal.
''On 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 pair Of shears, each girl
bends her neck, few ships, and the
hair is OFF, tied into whisp and thrown
into basket standing at the shearer's
side. And how much do you think that
tho girls get for this? A few cents, a
guady trinkct 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, it
is sold to the hair manufacturers. who
submit it to a process of cleansing and
sorting into various lengths and shades.
1t is then ready for the wigmakers,
who buy it as they require it, paying at
the rate of 20 cents or SO per ounce for
lengths of 10 inches to 10 inches to as
many shillings as there are inches for
lengths of 80 inches and upward. The
greatest demand is for hair from IA to
"a inches in length. The longest female
hair Oh record is ~ inches"
The tycoon of Japan once confiscated
the hair Of whole province and had it
woven into ships hawser over quar-
ter of a mile long. Then he discovered
that steel ropes We're i'll existence. and
now the cable, composed of the pigtails
of the unfortunate Japs, reposes before
the eyes of tho curious in Bethnal Green
museum.
The gentleman interviewed possesses
magnificent trophy of hair, in size
some 3 feet long by 2 feet high. in the
form Of a 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 to create it, it is impossible to say.
but years unquestionably. He has other
similar displays, mostly the work Of
himself or his son, though they pale in
to insignificance beside the monument
of patience in question.
The working of hair into ornaments
has gone out of vogue considerably Of
late years, but seafaring men even now
are great lovers of this form of memen.
to. Naturally their favorite designs as
sumo the forms of anchors, compasses
and other things nautical
One day gentleman came to the
subject of this article and dies ed him
in most mysterious manner to weave
some hair. which he gave him. into the
form of serpent. The head and tail
We're to be Of gold. and the tail was to
be fixed into the mouth. The serpent
was to be in two coils and to encircle
golden heart pierced by dagger. In
order to thoroughly comprehend the de-
sign he had to be let into the secret, and
this was the explanation which was Of
fered:
The serpent was to represent the ma
ture OF certain young lady to whom
the hair belonged and who had Tilted
the gentleman i'll question. The golden
heart was symbolic Of his pure and
worthy affection, and the dagger showed
how deeply he had been wounded. The
tail Of the serpeut being in its mouth in
dictated that in injuring her Guondam
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 it at all, perhaps discovering the