Year: 1879

Philadelphia.


| Philadelphia Item.


The item which was pnblishet


in the London Times, and which


was generally copied in papers


in this country, relative to the


elopement of the daughter of a


nobieman, in which occurred the


sentence: "She can be fully i


Identified by a cross tattooed on


the right leg, just below the


knee" has served to call out in
this country, from the press, a
general condemnation o f the
practice which was known to be


largely induIged in by English
and French women.


In order to learn whether the
tatooing was carried ON to any
extent in this city, an Item re-
porter last week made a tour of
discovery in which he was very
successful. Among the first vis-
tied was a young physician, who
said: .It''s 'lii f


NThe leg mark referred to in
reference TO the elOping young
damsel would be a poor means
efidcntity in this country, for /
know Of a number of young Ia
dies in this city who have their
limbs decorated in similar
manner. During my brief time
Of practice / can say that l have
met with many cases. Two
young wives whom / have at
tended recently had crosses ta-
tooed on their limbs, and one
young lady of whom / know had
the initials of her favorite suitor
pierced in the skin just ab.ye the
ankle" aM .im


A young practitioner said he
had met with numerous cases
lately. Among the most favor
ite devices are serpsnts with their
tlils in their mouths forming a.
ring, which are tattooed in Just
above the knee. -inini goi5e' |


Among the demt-monde he
had seen 'Sany number of cases."
He stated that most of the fe-
male tattooing was performed at
the same house of the patron by
a. woman whose name he did
not know. He was of the opil :
ion that tattooing would spread
like wildfire since that paragraph
about the young English woman
had appeared. gndTaff 9mei


Being anxious to gain all the
information possible relative to-
this barbaric custom, an Item
reporter started out in search of
the woman referred to, who was
finally found in an unpretentious
but neat house in the vicinity OF
Sixth and Callowhill streets. A
ring at the bell brought a color
ed servant to the door, and the
scribe was invited to a seat in
the parlor, while his card was ta-
ken upstairs.


Five minutes afterward a pleas
ant-faced lady, attired in plain
silk, unrelieved by adornments
Of any kind, entered the parIor,
and smilingly extended her hand,
the fingers of which were black
with India ink. After stating
my business, the 10 ", after some
hesitation, consented to talk on
the subject, providing her name
and residence were not publish
ed. 81 have to maintain much
secrecy" said the lady, "for
many of my patrons lie ong to
the best families. In answer to
the query whether the practice
was increasing, the lady said@A |
year or SO ago business was dull,
but now I have more than ! can
attend to-" "'oo@ aaiil i.,Hi


s1 do not know how I shall
describe the operation" said the
lady, "for ] am not very apt at
such things. But If j could SO
it that you could see the
m odus operandi yourself. will
you pledge me secrecy in case
you know or recognize the pa
Lient?" =


The scribe willingly gave his
word to be mum, and he was Ia
ken into a room up stairs which
adjoined the operating room, and
where he could observe, without
being seen. The operating room
bore the appearance of a dentists
office. A large, comfortable
chair, in which an aspirant for
tattooing honors was seated,
stood by the only window in the
apartment. The patients leg
was bare and exposed nearly to.
the knee, and from its appear
ance it was evident that the OPP
Grafton had Eeen susp;n led when
the lady came down to welcome
the reporter. Work upon it was
resumed without delay, and ev-
cry time the needle pierced the
skin the young woman WINGED
perceptibly, and il was evident
that the operation was painful
one. Several times the leg was


ierked back convulsiyely, which
drew out an angry command to
e. n