The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-07-21
SUDDEN WHITE HAIR.

, juvenation proclaming their readiness tC
turn old faces into new ones, smooth out
wrinkles, obliteTate crow feet, and restore
+ the hair to its original abundance and color
the putting of young heads on old shoulders
should be easy enough but the proverbial
impossibility of putting old heads upon young
shoulders still seems to hold, although the
feat has sometimes been accomplished by
Nature herself. Sorrow, not Time, frosted
the bright tresses of Mary Stuart and Marie
Antoinette and theirs were not the only
queenly heads that have been pre- maturely
whItened by care and anxiety. While Han
over was waging an unequal contest with
Prussia, lady in attendance upon the con-
sort Of the brave blind king wrote thus Of
her royal mistress ''In the last two months
her hair has grown quite gray, may say
white. -Four months since one could scarce
ly discern gray hair; now can hardly see
a dark one"
similar change has often taken place in
the course of single night. One Of the wit
nesses in the Tichborne case depOsed that
the night after hearing of his fathers death.
he dreamed he saw him killed before his eyes,
and found on awaking that his hair had
turned quite white. An old man with snow
white hair said to DR.. Moreau: ''My hair
was as white as you see it now long before I
had grown old. Grief and despair at the loss
of a tenderly loved wife whtened my locks
in a single night when I was not thirty years
of age. Judge, then, OF the force of my suf-
ferings" His white hairs brought no such
recOmpense with them. as happened in the
instance of the gay gallant who had the hsr
dihoo6 TO hold a love-tryst in the palace
| pds Of tbe Irip0 of t,1-
the barking of an unsympathetic hound, the
telling of the old, old story was interrupted
by the mysterious appearance of the kings
guard The scared damseI was allowed
to depart unchaIenged but her lover
was held captive, to answer his offence.
/ Love making under the shadow Of the roval
palace was a capital crime; and so over
whelmed with horror at the idea of losing his
head for following the promptings of his
heart, was the rash woer, that before the sun
rose his hair had turned quite gray. This
being told King Ferdinand, he pardoned the
offender, thinking he was sufficiently pun
/ ished.
! When the Emperor Leopold was about to
make his grand entry into Vienna, the old
| sexton of st. Joseph's Cathedral was much
troubled in his mind. Upon such Occas ions
I
the pinnacle of the tower and wave flag as
the imperial pageant passed ny; bat he felt
that age had so weakened his nerve that he
dared not again attempt the perilOus per
! fOrmance. After thinking the matter over,
he came to the conclusion that he must find
a substitute and knowing his pretty dauph-
ter had plenty Of staIwart suitors. the old
fellow publicly announced that the man who
| could take his place successfully should be
/ his SON. n-in-Iaw. To his intense disgust, the
offer was at once accepted by Gabriel Peter
I sheim, his special aversion, and the special
/ favorite OF the girl. who saw not with her
/ fathers eyes. On the appointed dav Vienna
opened its gates to the new made Emperor /;
/ but it was evening, or near upon evening.
| when the vO'ing flag bearer welcomed the
/ procession from St. Joseph's Tower. His
/ task performed Gabriel would have descend
I ed from the airy height but found his way
barred. Two wretches had done the treach-
| erous sPxtOn's bidding, and closed the trap
/ door of the upper stairway. leaving the brave
/ youth to choose between precipitatino him
| self on the pavement below. or clinging the
! cold night through to the slender spire, with
/ but ten inches of foOthold. He chose possi-
BILE life to certain death; but when rescue
| came with the morning his ewes were sunken
/ and dim, his cheeks yellow and wrinkIpd. his
/ curly locks as white as snow. Gabriel Peter
shpim had won his bride at a fearful cost.
Believing a fortune might be easily won in
the oil country, a young BOstonian went
there to enrich himself. One stormy night
glare in the sky told him that sn Oil-tank was
on fire few miles off and knowing that
over the side of the tank. he made for a hill
to witness the spectacle. 'She's comingr'
man shouted. There was a rumhling
sound, and then the burning oil shot 1p from
the tank, boiled over its sides, and f1oated
down the creek. destroying everything in its
way, and setting fire to a second tank. Gu
riosty getting the better of discretion, he ran
to the ground in the rear of the tanks to get
better view. and in trying to avoid a pool
Of burning oil, fell into a mudhoIe, and stuck
fast therein. Struggling until he could strug-
gle no longer, he lay back exhausted, watch
ing the billOws of smoke surging upwards
and floating away into space. Suddenly his
ears were startled by the sound of cannon
firing a column of fame and smoke shot up
from one OF the tanks, and he was stricken
almost senseIess with the knowledge thai the
| "pipe-Iine men" were cannOnading the first
tank to draw off the oil. and so prevent
another overflow. he tried to shout but the
words wolId not come. A little stream Of
burning oil ran slowly hut surely towards
him. He watched it creeping on until it was
almost upon him then in a moment all was
dark When he came back to consciousness
he found himself III his own room, surround
ed by ''the boys" who had seen him just in
time to save him. 1t was a weary while be-
fore he was himself again, and then he was
inclined to doubt if he was himself, for his
once dark hair was perfectly white.
/ Instances have not been wanting of the
hair being deprived OF its color i'm a few min
utes The home coming of the king of Ma
pies after the Congress of Lavbach was Gel
ebrated with much public rejoicing. To do
the occasion honor, the manager of the San
Carlo Theatre produced a grand mythoIogi-
cal pageant, in which an afterwards well
known opera singer made his debut in the
character of Jupiter. The stage-thunder
rolled, the stage lightning flashed, as the
Olvmpian monarch descended on his cloud
supported throne. Suddenly, screams of
horror ran through the house the queen
tainted, and all was uproar and cOnsterna-
tion, until the voice of the king was heard
above the din, crying ''If any one shouts
or screams again, I'll have that person shot! ."
co,na,bt,o had gone wrong with the machin-