The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-02-22
TWO ST. Louis Girls Said to Have Con-
tracted the Dread Disease
From Wearing False
Hair.
[NCURABLE AFFLICTION
1t is as Impossible to Cure Leprosy as
It is to Stop Other Girls
From Wearing
Rats.

y
health that there are two girls in the
city suffering from leprosy caused by
wearing rats made OF Asiatic hair,
G. A. Jordan, assistant health commits
sioner of st. Louis, announced that he
would begin an investigation into the
sale of hirsute goods here.
The two victims of the dread in
surable -nalady are being treated in
st. Louis secretly and Doctor Jor-
dan will make an effort to have them
located and quarantined.
The girls. according to the health
boards informant and leading
hair store proprietor were employed
until few days ago in a store down
town. Last week one of the girls no.
ticed peculiar blotches and patches
appearing on her face and the next
day another showed the same break
/ ing out. The proprietor of the store
4 had them both sent to a physician,
whose name the health board is seek
4 ing to learn,
The pimples and patches We're pro
nounced leprous. The two young
4 women were removed to private
sanitarium in the city, where they
: are being taken care of.
The investigation of the healtf
4 board promises to be most extensive
and rigid, especially as regards thu
Asiatic or Chinese hair which is be
ing imported in large quantities.
The Chinese hair is used chiefl.
among working girls, because 1T il
cheap. Caucasian locks, made int
rats and curls, are far beyond th'
reach Of the average shop woman
4 and the Asiatic substitute, which
{ sells for about one-fifth of the rea
l hair, is largely used in st. Louis.
The Chinese hair is clipped iron
the heads of Malays, Siamese. kore
ans and other Asiatics, among whom
, leprosy is epidemic. Owing to th
! great demand these days for artif
:, cial head adornment, good prices ar
9 paid for hair, and the Chinaman ca
7 make it worth his while to dispens
= with it.
There are companies in China an
other oriental countries which hay
the privilege of all the hair that
r clipped from the heads of men VIII
are executed and men who die in hoi
: pitfalls unidentified The hair Is ser
to this country in large bales lik
hemp, Recently the tariff on artificii
hair of the cheaper varieties has bee
II reduced, and the importations int
+ this country have been corresponding
e ly heavier.
h The germ of leprosy. doctors b
k lieve is carried in the hair throug
A its long travels and while on ii
n head of woman finds its way I'M
g. the skin of the scalp and spread
1T the most dread of all maladies-tf
ID original plague of the bible.
lie The leprous bacilli have never bee
a isolated and examined to the satisfa
tion of dermatologists and physician
who make a speciality of skin disea
es. Not a single cure of the disea
I is on record The course of Il
plague is marked by the gradu
III anaesthesfa or decay Portions
limbs become dead, and nothil
known to medical science has ev
restored to life portion that h
IT. turned blanched white under t
OF leprous curse.
IL The names of the women clerks
1T fected with leprosy are said to
ne known by one hair dresser here a
I'd cording to his information the V
in tins of the leprous disease are bel
cared for by one physician who
said to have made a study of the d
ease for the hair dressers.
ne The man, who is at the head
nd one of the largest hair dressing
& adjustments in the city, said
en- American Association OF Hairdresse
ne has expended $4,000 in an investi
ton. The result of this invests
ton he said was a report that
:, infection could not be traced to t
~ hair by any one country. Hair
- use as switches. rats and pads is
90 ported from Germany, France a
China.