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.
INCURABLE AFFLICTION
1t is as Impossible to Cure Leprosy as
1t is to Stop Other Girls
From Wearing
Rats.

loTmdlloH received Dy lne Dodlu "
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 commls-
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 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
had them both sent to physician,
I whose name the health board is seek
ing to learn.
The pimples and patches were pro-
nounced leprous. The two young
women were removed to a private
sanitarium in the city. where they
are being taken care Of.
The investigation of the health
!. board promises to be most extensive
and rigid, especially as regards the
Asiatic or Chinese hair which is be-
ing imported in large quantities.
The Chinese hair is used chiefly
among working girls, because it is
I cheap Caucasian locks, made into
rats and curls, are far beyond the
reach of the average shop woman,
: and the Asatic substitute, which
7 sells for about one-ffth of the real
4 hair, is largely used in st. Louis.
The Chinese hair is clipped from
4 the heads of Malays, Siamese, kore
5 ans and other Asiatics, among whom
g leprosy is epidemic. Owing to the
u great demand these days for artifi
2 cial head adornment. good prices are
9 paid for hair, and the Chinaman car
! make 1t worth his while to dispense
with it.
There are companies in China ane
other oriental countries which nave
the privilege of all the hair that II
r clipped from the heads of men who
are executed and men who die in hos
- pitals unidentified. The hair Is sen
to this country in large bales like
hemp. Recently the tariff on artificial
hair Of the cheaper varieties has beel
II reduced. and the importations init
i this country have been corresponding
e 1y heavier.
h The germ of leprosy. doctors be
X lieve is carried in the hair through
a its long travels and while on tn
IL head of woman finds its way int
e. the skin of the scalp and spread
1T the most dread of all maladies-th
i'd original plague of the bible
lie The leprous bacilli have never bee
a. isolated and examined to the satisfat
tion of dermatologists and physician
who make specially of skin disea:
es. Not single cure Of the diseas
is on record The course of tn
plague is marked by the graduf
III anaesthesia or decay. Portions {
limbs become dead. and nothin
known to medical science has eve
restored to life a portion that ha
IT. turned blanched white under tn
OF leprous curse.
IL The names of the women clerks il
IT. fected with leprosy are said to
ne known by one hair dresser here. A
I'D cording to his information the vi
IN tins of the leprous disease are bein
cared for by one physician who
said to have made study of the di
ease for the hair dressers.
he The man, who is at the head I
nd one of the largest hair dressing e
& adjustments in the city, said ii
en- American Association of Hairdresse
he has expended $4,000 in an investg
ton The result of this inyestlg
ton he said was a report that Il
!, infection could not be traced to Il
~ ~ hair by any one country Hair f
~ use as switches. rats and pads is II
as ported from Germany France al
China.
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