The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-19
FACTS ABOUT FALSE HAIR.
Absolutely Pure

History records the fact that in 1862, in this country, long flaXen hair was purchased from the head at ten shil- lings an ounce, while other fine hair fetched from five to seven shillings for the same quantity; and within the present century the heads of whole families in Devonshire were let out by the year at so much per roll Ia peri
 wig-maker of Exeter going round at certain periods to cut the locks, after wards oiling the skull of each bereft person" That the use of false hair as an aid to feminine beauty was not unknown to the ancients is well proved. The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, long before the dawn of the Christian era, resorted to the wearing of tresses obtained from other persons heads; they even went so far as to paint bald heads so as to represent them as coV- cred with short hair, also marble caps, so painted, were worn. A valuable merchandise in the blonde hair of Ger man women is mentioned in ancient Roman history.
 A question that has doubtless often
 presented itself is: Where did all this hair come from? This question I will endeavor to answer. With the coming of spring, in the midlands and west of France, appeared what may fitly be termed a singular class of nomadic in- dividuals, armed with long, iron-tipped slaves, and bearing heavy packs of merchandise upon their backs. At first glance one would have taken them to be ordinary hawkers; yet merchan- disc was but an accessory to their strange industory. They were the cou- peurs, the reapers of a hirsute harvest. Armed with long, keen shears, they
 went their way seeking the tresses of willing victims dwelling in outlying hamlets and villages of peasant
 France; and laborious business it was. From ''dewy morn" until the shadows of night gathered thickly, they
 did their ten or fifteen miles day-of- | ten fruitlessly and with empty stom- achs, her only bed the wayside. In Auvergne these seekers after hair were known as chimneurs. The Bretons called them margoulins. which terms l have no fit English parallels
 These curious journeymen eXerted l every effort to gain their ends-a good head of hair; the former preferrlng the 1 local fairs as workroom, the latter choosing to visit the dwellings of their 1 possible clients In summer the Brit l tany margouln was often seen going ! through the streets, carrying his long i staff, from which hung twists of hair while he cried in doleful tones the we'll ! known "Piaui Piau!" at the sound of which the cottagers. with an itching ! desire to possess some of his gewgaws 1 attracted the wanderers attention 1 lie was only too pleased to dazzle their
 eyes with his many -colored wares, and I the bargaining was not slow to begin l While the woman fingered his goods
 the margoulin weighed her tresses with i his hand-a proceeding at which he was adept through long practice The
 bargain ended, the woman yielded he1 1 abundant locks in return for a few
 yards of cotton stuff, or a gray petit coat, to which--thanks to the progress | of civilizaton--the coupeur had to add
 a small sum of money. Sometimes the
 transaction was not completed without much discussion on both sides. Very often the coupeur had to return to the l charge owing to female indecision; and