The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-16
WIGS AND SWITCHES.
SHEER GRAY AND WHITE ONES
 MOST IN DEMAND.
Two Ways so Mako a Fortune.

Human hair is not so much in de- mand as people think'' remarked the man who makes wigs Sometimes
 out of 9 ton of it that has been put
 through the refining and selecting pro- cess about two ounces are fit to be used
 "The most expensive hair? Silver
 gray or pure white, and drab- blonde
 The former is often greatly desired by
 the rich, old ladies, who are not satis-
 fled with the amount of hair on their
 heads. switch of the gray or white
 is very dear, and will cost from twen-
 ty-hve and thirty to one hundred dol
 lars. Often we can fill only one order,
 because of the scarcity of the supply.
 The drab- blonde is in large demand,
 particularly by middle-aged women,
 who like fluffy and expansive coiffure.
 This brings, for a switch, from eighteen
 to twenty dollars up.
 "The rarest hair known is that of the
 yak, an animal found in Central China.
 Because of the late war it is very
 scarce. The reason for this is that the
 Chinese government brought practical ly all there was in the market for the
 plumes of it's soldiers-at price fo
 eighteen dollars a pound. Our largest trade with it is among old ladies, who substitute 1t, sometimes entirely, for their natural hair.
 ''The major portion of hair for wigs and switches is imported from China,
 The original color is coal black, and can be refined down to giddy blonde. It is in white hair that our greatest troubles arise. If hair could be bleached white upon the human head the inventor of the process would become a millionaire There are hundreds of persons, strange as it may seem, who would rather have the tops of their head pure white than q washed-out, light gray. So far, how ever it cannot be done, and we lose I dollars every minute because of the im- possibility.
 I'll tell you another way in which some ingenious body can make a for tune-take the kinks out of the negros hair. Now, you may not believe it, but l have had any number of darky dudes and pretty mulatto girls come to me to see if they can have their locks smoothed down. They offer to pay me big, still price, too. They tell me how they spend hours in greasing their wools with vaseline, and combing away relentlessly and tirelessly, and to no purpose. It's true, the vaseline treat ment will make the darky's head look like black glass ball for a time, but the kinks come back.
 Do you know that some society women are getting the notion of hav- ing their hair dyed prematurely gray in spots and splashes? The other day I was visited by young woman about twenty eight years old She had glo- rious wealth of auburn hair, came in a brougham, was covered with furs and wore rich jewelry.
 "She told me of friend who has had strikingly beautiful dash of gray over her brow, and that men raved over it. It gave her such a distinguished and refined air, too. Moreover. it made her look 'iteresting,' with vague sugges- tions of mystery and early suffering This young woman desired similar halo and entered into enthusiastic con- vefsation with me about what I could | do for her.
 Some persons have the idea that |
  theatrical profession The truth is that one-third of them are worn by men and women who are continually on the street. They have nothing to fear, however from detection, for can SUD- ply man with head of hair which would never be suspected by the closest observer of being false. This art has become better learned in the last few years.
 "The consummate wig is that which is ventilated, and the work on this is arduous and intricate. The net is made so that when placed on the flesh the ap- pearance of the scalp is truthfully giv- en Hairs are drawn into this net, two 1t time and fastened with an infini- tesimal double knot. i have another style, which I call the transforma- 5ion wig. This is for women, and ab- solutely precludes any chance of deteo- ion. As you will see, it Is made only of a narrow band, which fits over the brow and behind the ears. The hair, is open and free upon the lead, and you may separate it and see lothing but the natural scalp. 7 "It is interesting to know that Eng 1911 IlitflllIdt ptoplc Ouyt llltlI WlSS III his city in preference to the London ' lealers, although we charge them fifty s ,er cent. more. White am speaking of i his I may say that nearly all of the ky-scraping pompadours and coiffeurs ( which stylish women wear are false. It nay not be known, either, that thirty ,er cent. of the well-to-do men, who z lave their share of vanity, wear tou- $ ,ees which cost them from fifteen to flf- y dollars. + False mustaches cannot be worn to f void detection They must be fastened 3 o the upper lip with spirit gum, which E caves a rough edge and invites detec- 1 . ion. Detectives however, do very well 2 they do not allow too close scrutiny. "The average woman does not stop to hink what labor has been gone through 0 supply her with her needful switch t is enough to say that out of ton of D air the result of the refining is usually S ne pound of strands thirty-six inches il ,ng. Lady Fanciful may be wearing a 1e hair from hundred womens S heads pon her own, and be none the wiser" t Mail and Express. II S MEDIEVAL RUINS y