New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-02-26
FOE SAIL CHILD'S CAtI-s2oO.

a ~N'
solicitation i. was produced from its hidinsplace and
,eve,eutieIv detuded Of its numerous coverings Of
that must. r;ous rsrity, a Chids Caul. And yet
worthless and insignificant in s every aspect as was
that superfuous scrap Of baby it hsd been sacredy
te,t y more than twoscore years between soft layer.
NJ tho dsint;es. perfuned cotton wool a. if
6so;e tressure that even the sunlight must not visi.
too ,ouobIv and for more than half lifetime had
tep reosried With g superstitious veneration near
akin TO worrhip in the household which had been
ss, eompeed by the evil fortune of the hard times TO
offer it for sae.
Curious and varied AZ are tie advertisements ths,
appear by hundreds every morning in the daily news
pare,s A Child 8 Caul for Sale il that is not
seen more than once in half dozen years When,
therefore, that UNUSUAL announcement was lately inside
al the rate Of fifty cents lue i'll morning Journal it
p,oyoked curiosty and stimulated inquiry into the
fads. The advertisement stated that at No. i89 Ninth
avenue the precious morsel of mortality might be seen
and barganed for. The house des grated looks much
Ike other houses, ard would not judge from
sory examination thereof that the inhabitants were
wont to recreate themselves with sorcery, indulge
in witchcraf that they the sort of people to
drive much Of trade in charms, spells any other
black-at mysteries. The building is by no means .
fearful to look the contrary, certain features
pleasant and refreshing to the passenger. There is
aager.ber cellar of satisfactory dimensions under
corner, and there is family grocery Of limited extent
under another with mmense inducements ostent
ly offered to cash customers by Of huge pacards
in the windows.
The upper part of the building is used az tene-
nent house. and that it is dcnsely populated the prev
aence OF small children in the halls and doorways
would seem TO indicate. And despite the number of
the first aud the of the latter, there wssnot
fanily in the house or child in the crowd, that didn't
know all about "the woman who had a csul to SELL"
Had che been frst-rate Princess and INDUCED in
regal promenade every morning through those halls
magnificent in satns and costly stufs, blazing With
gold glittering with diamonds, with coronet her
head, rings her fingers and bells on her toes she
couldn't have been better known more envied than
she was in her real character Of the with the
cau. Plotted by dozen eager brats, it was a matter
Of little difficulty to find her exact locality although
it in the top story Of the house and only reached
by a tedious journey up narrow winding stairs and
through narrow halls so dirty that if ever they were
clean, it must have been in the early youth of for
mer generation.
Mrs. Robinson, the woman with the caul, is per-
Of average intelligence, English by birth and edu-
cation, aud apparently mort sincere in her belief of the
ilcstHDdDie Virtues VI the commonly enc OneTeu 10
sell. The csul she said was her own meaning thereby
not only that hers by present possession, but
that this identical membrane had epcased her black
eyed English head, then speaking, Ut the time that
black.eyed English head born into the world. Her
mother had most carefully preserved it for her until
she had attained the discreet age Of 81 years. at which
time she had ntrsted Der daughter with the treasure
who had hersef kept it through good and evil fortune
for 20 wears. Her husband, she said, was brick
layor, but the hard times had thrown him
out Of WORK, and he in company with hun
dreds Of others could get nothing at all to do.
There were five children to feed, and little to give
them and u1lcss help speedily came that little would
soon dwinde to nothing. Her husband told hor that il
the caul was his he would not part whit-no, not for
thousand dollars in gold but that was her dowry
chose to sacrifice il for base uce, he would not say
her nay Work did not come in; from the little furn
ture of the cramped lodgings, there nothing that
could be spared to the pawnbroker; hunger menacei
the children and was it for Der to keep licked up wis;
she firmly believed TO be precious jewel, which
might 70 easily be changed into gold, aud which wac
utterly useless her until that rapsmutson had been
accomplished! She resolved TO sell the carl, although
she locked upon it as part Of herself ard would
almost AZ soon have parted with an arm at the same
came to be advertised for sale.
Then the good lady waxed eloquent in the praise of
caus generally without claiming for her indiyid
ual specimen any distinguishing merit save that it had
for forty Yeas been kept carefully from harm that
il had never been broken. II seems that fracture
imnairs the value OF the membraneous charm by
breaking the spell OF good luck il always carries with
IT, and that when broken il loses its buoysncy, very
much Ike buIsted bladder. Flo. the distinguishing
virtue of "cbilds cau Is that it possesses super.
natural power to keep aHoa whoever bears 1t on his
person. According to the popular belief, all storms
and tempests ale pewerless against him, no hend OF
the air can avail to iDjure him. and no demon OF the
wave can drag him down; the muititudinous seas
cannot engulf him for the 'chids cau Is potent to
save from al dangers OF the deep; the wearer thereof
Can never be drowned but whether or not he can DO
harged is another question Hanging and the State
Prison are among the ills that flesh is heir to that are
not mentioned 10 the catalogue OF perils from which
caul can save.
No ship on which caul is present can ever be
wrecked or meet with serious misfortune, and conse-
quenty this sort Of divinity is much affected by sea
captains and opulent ssilor-men who can ahord the
luxury. Whether or not any uitar1an application OF
these important qualities has ever been made oy To-
surance Companies, we are unable 10 state Win GER
tainty not, would suggest that the laws OF sen
preservation and the universal desire for high divi-
dends dictate to these ASSOCIATIONS al immediate ana
heavy investment childrens csuls. Physicians ana
nurses might be suborned to sequester these valuable
articles from the babes-the rightfu owDers-and IN
short time, doubtless, thriving trade would spring
mp Care should be taken TO have the genu-
neness Of the specimen wei attested before paying 81
extravsgant price for it, as the market would be a.
once flooded with spurious article iugenicusly con.