El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-01-15

embroidered. or sometimes flounced
throughout its length. The hair is
deliberately dressed and curled.
Artificial Hair Used.
Judging from the statuettes and fres-
Goes, II would seem that a wonderful
amount Of attention was paid to the
dressing of the hair by the fashionable
women of Crete IS centuries ago. 1t
was a business that must nave occu-
pied much of every day. the coiffure
Of the period being an elaborate and
marvellous structure OF curls and ring
lets. with a knot on the top OF the
head and long tails or curls over the
shoulders. The chances are that artifi-
cial hair was largely used TO help out
the natural supply.
Even the men wore their hair long
and done up in a sort OF crest Of three
coils on top, the ends falling in three
long curls upon the shoulders It is
likely. however, that this was merely
4 fashion Of the dandies of the period.
The latter (as shown by the frescoes)
shaved their boards and pinched their
waists with tight-drawn belts in
manner that must have been painful.
If the costumes Of the women were
elaborate and fanciful. those OF the
men. on the other hand. seem TO have
been severely simple. Ordinarily they
wore breechciOuts and little else-an
attire primitive enough. though the
garments in question were patterned in
gay colors. What would be called in
these days ''puttees" protected their
legs, and their shoes were handsome
and well made The commonalty,
doubtless, went barefoot. But on Oc-
casions of ceremony. or when invited
to an entertainment. the man Of ancient
Crete wore an deliberately embrOid
cred robe that fell almost to his heels.
Garments of silk
Such robes were worn by both sexes
Like other garments that clad the
ancient Cretans, they were Of beauti-
full and richly dyed fabrics Often,
cultivation Of the silkwOrm in the ORR
ent dates back at least 5000 yetars. and
the commerce Of Crete under its sea
kings presumably extended to the
ports of the far east
Their garments were sometimes en-
broidered in gold: and such glttering
ralment was supplemented by thin
and very transparent linen. with which
the women covered their bodies above
the waist Lace, too, they wore The
discoveries in Crete have proved that
lace making is much older than was
heretofore supposed And, in the
houses Of the well TO do. all these ar
ticles Of apparel were stored in chests
splendidly decorated and inlaid with
metal and ivory
Made a Famous Purple.
An important export of ancient Crete
was the costly and brilliant dye known
In late rdays as "Tyrian purple" It
was obtained from a species of sea
snail. the fabrics to be stained being
simply soaked in it for a number Of
hours. As late as the reign of Au-
gustus Caesar il sold for $3.50 a pound
All along the coast Of New England
are found snails which yield this won
derful coloring agent Yet the frugal
housewife buys bottled ''indelible1
inks. not knowing that a superior arti-
Gle for this very purpose may be
picked up on the beach. The dye grows
brighter with washing.
The Cretans of IS centuries ago had
gold in profusion- It was beaten into
masks for the faces of the dead (pos-
sibly to protect the latter against the
EVIL eye"D, used for all sorts OF deco
rative purposes. and employed as ma
terial for jewelry Of exquisite work
manship. One grave. in which several
women were buried, was found to con
tain ten golden grasshoppers, six gold
mice, half a dozen superb diadems. il
neckcoils, one butterfly Of gold. scores