The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

piolessioHdI tattooerS VINO make their
entire livelihood by following the art
New Zealanders Great TattOOers
They have little studios of their own
In which clients may choose from hun
dreds of designs and Of which the price
runs from 90 cents to $50, which, of
course, is plenty, when one considers
the possible consequences of the oper-
alton, erysipelas, gangrene, blood pois-
oning, amputation and sometimes death
itself.
In regard to colors, there are six
used by the modern tattooer, namely:
Black, blue. red, green, brown, yellow.
OF course, all the shades of these col
ors can be obtained by proper mixing
and blending. AS to the most dangerous
color to use it is hard to decide as
there are possible dangers connected
with the introduction of any and every
foreign substance beneath the skin.
The natives of New Zealand have al
ways attached great Importance to the
| art of the tattooer, which they call moko.
| Instead of needles, the New Zealander
uses the bones of fish and birds and the
| hard thorns of plants. We have it on
the authority of travellers that the Poly
nesian tattooers, who employ the incision
mode, had often to hold their patients
down by force until the cruel operation
was finished.
In some tribes the women are as elab-
| they are not allowed to be tattooed at ALL
and in still others they alone are the ones
that undergo the torture. Savage tribes,
however, are far from neglecting the hy-
giene of the matter.
| Complete repose is enjoined, a certain
diet and deprivation of every physical in
| dulgence. Among the emollients pre-
scribed as protection against inflamma-
| tion are various healing leaves.
From observations of the Polynesans
| the process of tattooing takes years to
accomplish, while here in America a per-
| son may be covered In from eight to y
months, according to the vitality of the
| subject.
| The natives along the Amazon are dis
| tinguished as being a people that tattoo
| their lips in preference to any other part
of the body. The tattoong of the skin by
Japanese generally those of the lower
classes, has attracted much observation
| from Europeans and Americans, due
partly to the extraordinary elaboration
and artistic skill displayed, partly to the
fact that the occupations and customs OF
the class in which tattooing is most prac-
uced are such as to render 1t necessary
frequently to wear none but the most in
dispensable garments
The japanese are probably the only race
which have retained generally the prac-
tice of tattooing and have brought it to
state OF hlgnly artistic development.
Up to few years ago the practice was
so widespread that in Toxic alone there
are estimated to have been, possibly still
are, $4,000 tattooed men. However, lately
there has been a ban put on tattooing in
Japan, in this way, that japanese is
not eligible to either their army or navy
who has the mark of a tattooer and as
they are all anxious to serve their coun-
try in this capacity, they refrain from
marking the body, but an American or
European who happens into Japanese
port has no trouble in locating the local
tattooer and having him demonstrate his
art
Being tattooed does not necessarily i'm
pair ones health. l lost 80 pounds in
weight while undergoing it.
Japanese tattooing is so superior to that
of all other nations that European and
American sailors are said to look forward
10 it as the principal advantage in a visit
to the land of the rising sun.