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[OMAN HAIR §
HARVEST IN BRITTANY. §
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¥ANY persons have heard of
the extraordinary markets
held periodically in differ
ent towns on the continent
of Europe, to which women and girls
come to sell their hair for money or
goods; but we believe no actual snap
shot photos of the traffic itself have
ever been taken—or, if taken, have
ever been published. Obviously the
vendors do not care to be perpetuated
in this matter, and M. Geniaux him
self had more than one narrow escape
from the infuriated ladies who were
selling their tresses to the itinerant
merchant-barbers.
The traffic in artificial hair is a big
business. It is interesting in itself,
and quite a readable article might be
prepared as the result of an interview
with an extensive dealer in human
hair in London or any other great
capital. This information, however,
is accessible to ' any journalist who
cares to go and get it, and beyond
bare mention it forms no part of this
paper, which deals rather with the
fountainhead (the joke is not inten
tional) of this curious industry.
I visited one of the great Paris coif
feurs, writes Charles Geniaux, in the
Wide World Magazine, and he made
the startling statement that “when
they reach a certain age—say, forty or
fifty years—almost all the ladies in
Paris use artificial hair, particularly
those who wear the hair in twists, or
who affect the archaic style. Why,”
he said, “do you know the price of a
single kilogramme (over two pounds)
of first-class hair—hair thgt has been
sorted, cleaned and prepared? Well,
sir, I do not sell it under a thousand
rtWwwi’tipi
AN AVARICIOUS MOTHER ABOUT TO SELL
HER CHILDREN’S HAIR.
or eighteen hundred francs, accord
ing to color, texture and general
beauty.
“And,” he continued, “thanks to
the life of high pressure which we
lead in these modern days the de
mand is becoming greater and
greater.”
With these interesting statements
stil l ringing in my ears, I left the
coiffeur and resolved to find out for
myself the origin of those mountains
of human hair used by the wigmakers
of Paris.
Luck was soon to satisfy my curios
ity, for not long afterwards, in the
course of a journey through Brittany,
my attention was arrested by certain
conversations on the subject of a sale
of hair, I was told that the peasant
women round about had their hair cut
off periodically and sold to the mer
chants who went shearing from vil
lage to village. I made inquiries
without losing a moment, and soon
found out that one of the most im
portant of these markets was about to
be held in the month of June at the
Fair of St. Fiacre.
A RICH FARMER’S WIFE IN THE HANDS OF THE HAIR BUYER—HER SERVANT
STANDS WITH HER CAP ON THE BIGHT.
In a few days I was blithely climb
ing the hill on whose’ summit is held
the famous Fair of St. Fiacre, which is
attended by practically the whole
agricultural population of Morbihan.
In the centre of a large plateau is a
round chapel. A few walls, some
courtyards, two or three farms, and a
little timber on the limit of the far
reaching horizon. Such is the battle
lield on which the azricultural inter-
ests of the entire Department ar
ray themselves. Also, young men
come from far and near to this
fair to offer their services and
hire themselves as laborers to the
farmers. They look picturesque
enough, these fellows, as they flock
in together, holding in their hands
long peeled twigs. As soqn as a
farmer has hired one of them, the
young man breaks his willow stick as
a sign of the engagement, and from
(that moment ho enters the servivc of
his new patron.
' Burt «Bk_
THE WIFE OF THE CHU?F HAIB-SHEARER HAGGLES WITH HER CUSTOMERS
OVER THE QUALITY OF THEIR HAIR.
But do you know what the maidens,
and even the old women, are doing in
the meantime? Why, they are busy
exchanging their hair for articles of
clothing and miscellaneous sundries
dear to the feminine heart! I must
now set down accurately and in de
tail all I saw and heard during my
undoubtedly perilous mission. Talk
about a sheep-shearing station in
Australia! Why, it is nothing to
what I saw. First of all, however, a
word of explanation is necessary.
In England, this extraordinary
traffic would be almost impossible;
and, in consequence, very little human
hair is exported into Paris from
Great Britain. But on the other
hand, picturesque Brittany furnishes
almost one-fourth of the entire con
sumption in the capital. Now, why
is this? Well, it is mainly because
the Breton women wear as head-cov
ering a close-fitting linen cap, which
entirely hides the hair with the excep
tion of two flat bands which pass over
the forehead and down to the ears.
Now suppose for a moment that these
Breton caps were replaced by'ordinary
hats and bonnets. Well, if this inno
vation took place, the traffic in human
hair would simply become an impossi
bility, as the deficiency in hair would
be apparent to every passer-by. Thanks
also to the prevalence of the cap, the
Auvergne and some districts of Nor
mandy likewise furnish a consider
able supply of human hair.
The peasant women seem to have
reasoned the matter out something in
this way: “As our large heads of hair
are not seen, and as they have a cer
tain commercial value, why should we
over-weight our brains with them, es
pecially when honest merchants come
along to buy our hair on such advan
tageous terms?” And,goodness knows,
cash is scarce enough among the
Breton peasants.
It is no wonder, then, that the trav
eling hair-shearers and merchants put
up at St. Fiacre, attracted as they are
by the certainty of being able to shear
practically the whole population of
women and reap a very fine harvest of
human hair.
* I may remark, before going further,
that the merchants are not nice per
sons, or polite; and their language, as
a rule, is abominable. Probably by
way of violent contrast to the city
hair-dresser, who affects distinguished
manners and curls his mustache with
tongs, the hair-cutters I saw were un
shaven and slovenly in their dress.
At length I was fortunate enough to
be well received by the best-known of
them all, a comparatively intelligent
man, without whose assistance it
would have been impossible for me to
obtain the snap-shots reproduced in
this article. Whilst actually writing
these lines I have open before me my
note-book with this entry, in the hand
of my friend, the chief hair-shearer:
M. Gerard, Commercant,
A la Cbupelle Gaceline, par Carontolr
(Morbihan).
Without any appearance of conceit
he said to inc: “I am ajtind of celeb
rity in my ov i line. Hew many heads
of hair have I shorn? Perhaps a hun
dred thousand or more!’
Monsieur was aecon|>anied by his
wife; and in truth Madame Gerard was
extremely useful to himkn his extraor
dinary business, By the way, I no
ticed that all the shterers likewise
had their wives with th m. It became
evident to me later tpat they mis
trusted themselves, f eling certain
that alone they would not be clever
enough to deceive the country lasses
to the shameful extent usually prac
tised.
One of the accotnpai|ying pictures
represents the act of bargaining, or
haggling. In the round courtyard of
the farm you see vehicles crowded
against the wall, the hirses reversed
in the shafts eating bay off the front
seat of the cart. Right in front, on a
low wall, Madame Gerard has ar
ranged remnants of lurid stuffs,
shawls, kerchiefs and an infinite va
riety of odds and endsj— quite as at
tractive to ladies as ths ones at the
end of this number. Madame holds
between her fingers a print, which she
is handling with studied carelessness
for the benefit of an eld woman with
white hair, who is simply burning to
exchange her hair for the gaudy stuff,
as it would make her such a fine
apron. It is a grand comedy, this.
They talk, those two, they discuss,
they haggle. Examine closely the caps
of the women. You will notice the
two bands of hair underneath the
white linen on the forehead, but all
the rest is so scrupulously hidden
that he must be remarkably clever
who could tell a woman with her hair
on from one who has just been shorn
by the merchants.
A fairly rich farmer’s wife is seen in
the second large picture; and from
motives of hygiene, as well as avarice,
ih
M wIM £ i a\\ Vi /I vP
fcHrfcW
11® ih
THE CRUEL DEED DONE—COVERING THE
LITTLE GIRL’S SHORN HEAD WITH A
NET.
she has offered her head to the scissors
of the shearer. On the right of the
photo you will notice an old woman
holding the untied cap ol her mistress,
while the latter is being shorn. Here
again, then, we get another curious
glimpse of the industry! and we seo
that all the country women do not act
in this way solely for money, but ac
tually seek relief from the weight of
their superb heads of hair.
I do not know the wei d vocabulary
of Breton insults, but tie mother of
the little girl seen in th two single
solumn pictures made ny ears posi
tively ring with her fu ions howls.
First of all, she hid hei children in
her skirts. Then I pretended to go,
but suddenly turning rot id, I secured
a of the lit le girl with
her cap off, and her pretty, fair
hair tossed over her shoulders. The
poor little thing was crying. Probably
some instinct had warned her of the
barbarity of this custom. Her mother,
however, was eager for gain, and well
knew that children’s locks, more es
pecially whan golden, are worth most
of all. And so she bartered the child’s
hair for a piece of cloth. The two
little maidens of five and six were very
tiny, but, all the same, they were
dressed like grown-up people, and had
to submit to the common fate. Notice
on the right the unintelligent faces of
the peasants. So long as the country
folk remain in their present condition
of ignorance, this strange traffic will
continue.
In the other photo the mother is
covering the scalp of her shorn little
one with a resille, or coarse net,
while the child herself looks very dis
consolate. Until they have made their
first Communion, the little girls of
Brittany all inclose their hair in nets.
FLOWERS MADE FROM CANDLES.
A Pretty Experiment That May Be Tried
at Home.
Take a lighted wax candle and in
cline it over a glass of water, so that
little drops of melted wax fall into
the fluid. As each drop strikes the
surface it undergoes a beautiful
change, and takes the form of a won
derful white cup, somewhat resem
bling the white bell of the snowdrop.
These little cups can be varied in size
according to t’ue angle at which you
hold the candle.
Now we have got our flowers,but not
our stalk. For every snowdrop you
must take a piece of fine wire and
slightly eurve one end. Heat the
straight end of the wire and pierce
the centre of the wax flower while it
is still in the water. Having made a
hole through the flower, push it to
the curved end. Prepare a dozen
CANDLE FLOWERS.
wires in the same way, all tipped with
little wax flowers, and then twist them
together in the way shown in our il
lustration.
Florence Nightincald’s Work.
What Clara Barton has been to the
American soldier, Florence Night
ingale has been to his British com
rade. These two noble women set
THE “NURSING-CARRIAGE 1 ’ WHICH AC
COMPANIED MISS NIGHTINGALE
THROUGH THE CRIMEAN WAR.
examples of self-denying heroism of
which both countries may well be
proud. Florence Nightingale has just
completed her seventy-ninth year, and
although now an invalid she retains
all her faculties, and her interest in
the work she inaugurated continues
unabated. Forty years ago all Eng
land raved about the young woman
who, born of English parents in the
city of Florence, from which she took
her name, set out to alleviate the suf
ferings of the wounded and fever
stricken soldiers of her native land
far away in Crimea.
During the Crimean War nine of
her nurses succumbed to the fever,
and many were invalided home.
Florence Nightingale herself still suf
fers from the great and continued
mental and bodily strain that her
Crimean services put upon her, but
by her unselfish sacrifice she hae
made it impossible for the armies of
Great Britain to ever again suffer
from such horrifying calamities as
those that she witnessed, suffered and
endured.
Decorated by a Geyser.
The odd picture frames shown in
the illustration owe their decoration
to the spray of a geyser at Yellowstone
National Park. They were made by
PICTURE FRAMES PROM YELLOWSTONE
PARK.
twisting pieces of wire into the de
sired shape, and laying these frames
upon a rock near a geyser for two days,
during which time the spray collected
and hardened. The crust is so hard
that it requires a chisel to break it.
Real Estate For Sale
The tracts, lots, and parcels of lands
as stated below are for sale, cheap for
cash, or will exchange for available
merchandise at reasonable prices.
The land lots indicated will be sold
with special warranty of title, with
plat and grant, with the original
“beeswax” seal:
No. Dist. Seo. Acres. County.
942 2 3 40 Paulding.
124 7 2 40 Fannin.
90 1 81 Rabun.
118 26 2 40 Gilmer.
57 11 1 40 Union.
137 19 3 40 Paulding.
308 10 1 160 Union.
650 16 2 40 Cobb.
718 16 2 40 Cobb.
719 16 2 40 Cobb.
885 16 2 40 Cobb.
887 16 2 40 Cobb.
915 16 2 40 Cobb.
958 16 2 40 Cobb.
843 16 2 40 Cobb.
646 17 2 40 .Cobb.
16 17 2 40 Cobb.
17 17 2 40 Cobb.
86 17 2 40 Cobb.
1090 17 2 40 Cobb.
267 20 2 40 Cobb.
1006 16 2 40 Cobb.
514 15 2 40 Cobb.
567 15 2 40 Cherokee.
584 15 2 40 Cherokee.
585 15 2 40 Cherokee.
638 15 2 40 Cherokee.
639 15 2 40 Cherokee.
640 15 2 40 Cherokee.
641 15 2 40 Cherokee.
642 15 2 40 Cherokee.
255 13 2 160 Cherokee.
102 ‘H- 2 40 Cherokee.
101 1202 j Troup.
731 19 3 40 Paulding.
72 3 3 40 Paulding.
501 3 3 40 Paulding.
880 2 3 40 Paulding.
1175 18 3 40 Paulding.
13 13 1 160 Pickens.
246 6 1 160 Chattooga.
708 18 2 40 Polk.
981 21 3 40 Polk.
7 26 3 160 Murray.
1012 12 1 40 Lumpkin.
314 11 1 40 Lumpkin.
697 11 1 40 Lumpkin.
573 5 1 40 Lumpkin.
830 11 1 40 Lumpkin.
148 8 2 160 Fannin.
629 3 4 40 Floyd.
643 18 2 40 Douglass.
8 3 490 Wayne.
95 3 490 Wayne.
96 3 490 Wayne.
151 3 490 Wayne.
200 3 490 Wayne.
} 173 3 245 Wayne.
160 2 490 Wayne.
J 75 2 245 Charlton.
ixi17516 25} Upson.
}xjlUl2 25} Taylor.
| 368 28 125 Early,
j 113 16 1 80 Union.
} 175 16 1 80 Union.
815 14 1 40 Forsyth.
398 5 1 40 Dawson.
157 11 202} Henry. <■
104 19 2 41) Cobb.
901 21 2 74 Cherokee.
Three lots, 50x150 feet each, alto
gether being Nos. 14, 15 and 16, on
Mt. Zion avenue, in the village of Mt.
Zion, Carroll county, Ga.
One lot, No, 114, in block 17, in
Montrose Park, Montrose county Col
orado.
Six acres on Satterfield Ford road,
5 miles from Greenville, in Greenville
county, S. C.
Three lots at Montreal, on G. C &
N. railroad, DeKalb county, Ga.
1,100 acres; 700 hammock, 400 up
land, in Screven county, Ga. This is
a fine place, divided by the Georgia
Central railroad, 50 miles from Savan
nah. Railroad station on the place; good
location for country store. Splendid
situation for factory for staves and
cooperage works. Enough good tim
ber on the hammock land to pay for
the place three or four times over.
Investors are invited to examine this
place.
1.149 acres on west bank of Savan
nah river, in Effingham county, Ga.,
grant of 1784, and descent of title to
present owner.
1.150 acres on Satilla river, in Cam
dem county, Ga., grant from state,
and deeds on record for 100 years
back. Good title, by descent to pres
ent owner.
1,150 acres on St. Mary’s river, in
Camden county, Ga. Grant and deeds
on record 100 years back. Good title,
by descent to present owner.
430 acres on west bank of Savannah
river, in Screven county, Ga. Deeds
on record since 1827. Good title, by
descent to present owner.
I desire to sell these lands as soon
as possible, and they must go at law
prices, very low for cash, or on easy
terms and long time with 5 per cent
interest, as purchasers may desire and
prefer. Persons desirous of investing
money for future profits by enhance
ments should examine these offers at
once. I have other lands, which I
will sell on good terms and low prices.
In writing for information about any
of these lands, refer to them by ths
number, district, section and county,
and enclose two stamps, 4 cents, for
reply. Robert L. Rodoers,
ts Attorney at Law. Atlanta. Ga.