The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1904-10-14

infant ~ give -SoOuO. L nae the mon
ey with me and paid 1t. Then | cut
off the wonderful locks. shifting and
half crying all the time My work
seemed like shearing an angel. At
last carefully packed up the precious
hair. | had left enough for the aged
woman to have short curls to peek
out from under her bonnet. Nv proit
on that hair cutting was enormous
The shares that had paid no diyf.
dendS became shortly after the old
lady'S death. Of value again, and the
houses were leased. so that the young
woman was left in no need and with
plenty Of ready money. The doctor
and | have preserved our secret n
would do no good TO make the Young
woman unhappy, although I sometimes
think that l should write her the truth.
1t would hurt her. of course, but then
she would realize how great was the
love Of her grandmother.
MINING TO GET THE GRAY.
Next in value to the real white hair
IS real gray hair, and this is due chief.
~ TO the fact that there are so mapy
degreesf0 of grayness. When O. hair.
dresser is i'll need Of switch of gray
Dalr he forwards a sample to the man.
u1acturer. who matches it by ming.
ling strands Of white hair with tina
necessary strands Of gray. This might
seem an exceedingly difficult thing
to do, as il is said that the hairs OF
the head cannot be counted, except on
heads that are almost bad,
But it is not such a very difficulf
process. A handful of white and a
handful of gray hair Of various degrees
Oh graynesS are drawn across upturned
spikes, the different varieties being
added until the required shade il
found.
There are shades of red, or auburn
and OF bronze black that are exceed
lnsiy difficult to get, but none of these
mas anything like the market value Of
the White or even the gray hair. Most
OF the hair that we sell comes from
Hussla, Scandinavia, Italy, Germany.
Spain and France, and the cheaper
sorts from Japan, China and South
America. It is only once in a great
while that there is any American hair
lof sale, because the Americans as q
people are more prosperous and don't
nave to sell their locks,
Much Of the hair that comes to tha
manufacturers is in the form of comb.
lhss' a small saving which the Amer.
lean women, even of the poorer classes,
nave not realized have a value. These
comDlngs' are sterilized and treated
with antiseptics after they have been
carefully run over stationary combs
or spikes until they are in order. All
thls is done by machinery that separ.
ates, through the fine teeth. what In
known as the root and the spoint.
mar. Another machine gathers the
strands into their classifcations ae.
cordinS to length.
DIEING AND BLEACHING.
"Of course. human hair has to be-
dyed to suit the prevailing fashion. II
IS easy to dye hair that has been shorn.
as there is no danger that the dye
Will run, because the hair is held in
a horizontal position. This is almost
impossible in the case Of dyeing the
hair on the head. 1t is a mistake to
speak of dyeing hair to lighter color.
HAIR can be dyed only to a darker
shade-which makes the raven and
bronze black valuable. OF course. Won
can bleach hair. We all know the per.
oxide blonde
One large source of hair getting IL
gone. There is large falling off In
the supply from Brittany, where we
used to send agents. 1t was not at all
uncommon in the old days for girls to
sell their splendid treSses that they
might purchase their wedding trous.
seau, aid in the furnishing of the fu.
ture home, and thereby hasten the
marriage ceremony. Even the wives
OF Well-to-do farmers would barter
their locks for priced trinkets.
Then the tricksters, with false Jew
els and bogus satins, appeared. They
killed the goose that laid the golden
egg, and in many instances came near
getting killed themselves. The young
men and the old men grew weary of
shock.haired women who had little to
show for the sacrifice of their good
looks. 1t became customary, as soon
as the hair agent set up his tent at a
fair, to topple 1t over on him. His
goods were scattered to the winds, and
then he would be so beaten that he was
glad to escape with his life to seek
some new, less dangerous, and less pro-
titable business.
THE manufacturers easily might I'm.
port tons Of hair from South America,
Japan and China. and they DO import
good deal, but it is so inferior in
length and chiefly because of its coarse
ness that it can be used rarely in the
~, n 70 M, nr I1eeo.I. 80