MODERN SCALP HUNTERS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18532, 14 July 1922, Page 5

MODERN SCALP HUNTERS.

SHAVING HEADS AND SKINNING POCKETS. SYDNEY, July 13. At the proceedings against a barber and five assistants on a charge of conspiring to defraud people of large sums, various witnesses, including plain clothes police, gave evidence that they were charged from a few shillings to over £3 when they entered the shop for a hair-cut, to which certain head and skin treatment was added at the barber’s suggestion. The effectiveness and authenticity of such induced treatment were amongst the issues involved. One policeman testified that his protest against a bill for £3 2s 9d for violet ray treatment and the removal of three hairs, in addition to a haircut resulted in a reduction to 16/6, raiding police having appeared in the meantime. TRICKS OF THE TRADE. Received July 13, 7.50 p.m. SYDNEY, July 13. In the case against the barbers, the Government analyst gave evidence that the analysis disclosed that the oils and creams *in shampoos used at McDonald’s shop were similar to those used by barbers throughout the w'orld. An ex-foreman at McDonald’s shop deposed that the employees were instructed they must earn a certain amount of clear profit. Anything above that they divided equally with the proprietor. By various alleged ruses customers were induced to undergo treatment after hair-cut for presumed affections of the scalp skin, thereby piling up fancy charges.