The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-10-01

The. earth is being put to a new use.
1t has been turned into hair dye. Not
all the earth, by any means. Only one
little corner of it-a little red clay
corner in this state, says a Den
yer writer. If you ask Mrs. Frances
Sherman where that corner is she will
reply; That's my secret" And you
really can't blame her when you con-
slider that if we knew the secret we
could all come to Colorado and pick
up pocketful of clay Jumps which
would turn us into authenticated
beauties within a day. No wonder
Mrs. Sherman prefers to keep her clay
bed as her own property. Nothing but
a common reddish-brown clay it is to
all appearances, and what magical
chemical properties Turk in it she does
not know. All she does knows of its
workings is that, applied to the hair it
changes it to a dark shade of reddish
gold, such shade as no other hair dye
has ever succeeded in producing. 1t is
only a few weeks since she learned
the secret of the clay, and at first she
exprimented with it very gingerly. She
tried it on locks of hair that she cut
from different heads, and in every case
the same results occurred. The hair
was dyed to a beautiful shade of
brown, having bright tinge, and was
darker or lighter, according to the
length of time of the application. It's
preparation is a slow one. First it
must be ground into a mortar; next it
is put through an S0-sieye, which
means a fine one; finally it is sifted
| through boiling cloth. The Jumps of
hard red clay, which look very much
| like adobe, come out from the boiling
cloth operation in the form of a fine
powder From this it has been found
that two kinds of dye can be made.
For one, the powdered earth is simply
mixed with water until it becomes a
stiff paste, and there you are. For the
other, the clay and water paste is
baked until it turns an inky black
The baked clay is used for the darkest
shades of dye. Never was anything
more simple than the use of the dye
1t is applied warm-that is, all that
has to be remembered. The operator
warns the pan of paste, then with {
brush dipped in it, goes carefully al
over the hair, brushing the paste il
from roots to ends. 1t is a queer thins
that it does not in any way affect tn,
skin or scalp where it touches, al
though it has so quick an effect upol
the hair. 1t washes off readily from
the skin. Mrs. Sherman is a pionee
in the use of the X-ray for scalp treat
ment and also as physician of man,
years standing on matters connecte'
with the hair she has experiments,
most carefully and thoroughly witt
this new discovery. All the gray hair
must be captured and colored, and thi
takes a great deal of time and nue.
patience, but once done the job is owe
until the new hair begins to grow GU
after some months. 1t has been prove
that the dye is permanent. Whateve
shade it gives after being applied tina
shade it keeps forever after, and Their
Is no danger Of waking up some day
find yourself a green-haired lady or
blue-beard, as in the days of old-tim
hair dyes. The chemical properties c
the clay are so powerful that one appl
cation is all that is needed. After tn
, paste has been thoroughly brushed il
the pastee sits, in all the patience wit
: which she can possess her soul. for 5
| long as the desired color requires.
! fight shape close to Titan takes onl
J two hours waiting; the darkest at
burn wants twelve hours. At the en-
of that time she is shampooed in ha
a dozen waters, and then she may fac
herself in the glass and get acquainte
with her new appearance.