The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-20
ally died. Pounded on fashion. 1t has

ally died. Founded on fashion, 1t has survived on sentiment.
 Especially at this time of year, in anticipation of the present giving sea- son, orders come in from little New England villages, from lonely Western ranches, even from New York, for the transformation of a last memento into a permanent form. Silky grown curls still come through the mail to the little upstairs room: thin shreds of silver long locks of gold. The little room has a quaintly commingled flavor of funer- al woes and the vanities of the wotid: bracelets and baby locks; watch chains and Willie's curls; brooches and Bes- sies hair.
 On the walls are more ghosts. That stone and weeping willow that Mrs. Deacon Smith used to have in her front room; those keeling female figures and baskets of flowers of all the colors that come in hair. that one can remember , hanging on the walls of cold. inhospit- able spare bed rooms in ones child hood.
 The Spanish have always been partic- to very recent times. It was only very few years ago that orders stopped com ing in from Dixie for these devices, as they are called in the trade. And resi- dents in the Spanish-A American coun- tries still order the funeral things at from s5 to sS5 a piece.
 The Spanish heve always been partic- ularly fond of hair jewelry and have never ceased to wear it. They like best that which employs a device, like one in hand the other day. for instance, a brooch of mother-o of pearl set in gold in the old fashioned oval shape and on the mother--of-pearl background tiny wreath of hair, almost increditably fine and delicate.
 This is the fine work which the pro- prietor says she Is not artist enough to execute. It is a trade which would pay no one for the learning to-day. A tiny portion of hair is enough to supply the bands to place across the top of ring or to fill in one side of a little heart-shaped locket, or for lit- tie band to place across the top of a bracelet. But it takes more to make a watch chain, which is the most conn mon of all orders.
 Curiously enough, 1t is men more than women who have kept this sentimental old trade alive. There are more orders for hair watch chains than for all other devices put together.
 They were finishing up a curious or- der the other day; a watch chain for a man In the far West. He had sent in three kinds of hair, yellow, black and gray. and demanded that his chain be made in three pieces, one of each. It was not a beautiful thing when finished but it was rather pathetic.
 An uninitiated person would not re- cognize the material of these chains at first Woven hair makes a material which might be used for variety of purposes. It is silky. soft and yet wlry like stiff silk net. Making 1t is a tedi- ous job. and one hardly planes the es- capped apprentice for taking to paper boxes or lampshades instead. Except for one other similar little up-stairs place in New York and one or two In Chicago. this is the only shop in America where hair jeweIry is made well. flavor of the humorous occa- sionally lightens the twilight of the place.
 One day there entered a man fallen in the vale of years, whose frosty locks might naturally have betokened a win ter of sentiment also. He wanted a | brooch made of lock of his hair. It was for a lady friend" he said, and
 he knew che would appreciate 1t great ly.
 Asked for the material. he carefully | bobbed his head down in front of the operator and showed her where she
 should cut off a lock, somewhere where it wouldn't show" The proprie- I tor, being a humorous little soul, and
 not desiring to lose the order fled pre- cipitately from the room to prevent her | self from laughing in her customers s face.
 Now and then the hair of a favorite horse or dog Is forwarded. almost in-