Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1905 — TATTOOING NOT UNCOMMON. [ARTICLE]

TATTOOING NOT UNCOMMON.

Fashionable English People Have the Craze. In the annual report of the directorgeneral of the medical department of the British navy appears a paper by Staff Surgeon Finch, of the Thesis, in which reference is made to the case of a stoker who was tattooed at \Yeihaiwei and who subsequently suffered from a rash over his body. . , "Tattooing,” says the report, “is now “not uncommon in many widely separated classes of society and it would repay any one desiring this form of decoration to see tiiat the needles used are sterilized.” Inquiries made show that the report as to the popularity of tattooing is quite correct. Alfred Smith, who lias tattooed over 15,000 persons—among them over 1,000 medical men—said that witli antiseptic treatment there was no fear of any disease . being spread and all his needles were sterilized. He prepares every arm in the same way as a nurse would before an operation. Asked ns to whether fashionable'people liked to lie tattooed. Mr. Smith said that a great many of his clients were society folk —"from dukes downward.” The average time for an operation Is one and a hqif hours and .♦sometimes,' when an elaborate picture Is lielng made, n man will call twice a week for six months. Women and children are also tattooed. Some women, it seems, like to have a little inscription on the third finger of Hie left hand, where It is covert'd by the wedding ring. The inside of the upper arm and the ankle are also favorite places tor pictures. Men and women often come to have Initials tattooed on their arms and sometimes, after a respectable time, they want the initials altered. One young lady came—at different times —with eleven different men. At each visit she signed her name and the signature was tattooed on her companion’s arm. The young woman Is married now, but her husband has not his wife's maiden name on his arm, while of the eleven young men whose arms were once so adorned six have been back to Mr. Smith to have the same obliterated.