Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-05-24

An OctOgenaFian who Thinks So, and
Gives Facts and Figures.
From the New York Sun.


From the New York Sun
One Sunday afternoon gray old man sat neal
the fountain In Madison square. his thin, shrunker
hands resting on the knob of q stout Malacca
cane. Unkempt white hair. as glossy as silk
fell in waving cataract over his wasted Shout
ders. pair Of eyes, once large and black, but
now faded and sunken, with the peculiar ap
pearance that dark eyes often contract In old
age. peered from beneath grizzled brows into
the faces of passers-by.
| "Gled to see YOU" piped the old man. greet.
Ing passer by who recognized him. "a man
Of so is ghost. Rather indeed, a ghost is the
better Off of the two. Nobody knows me any
more when / come out for an airing. I'm like
vex the survivors" He spoke with the pcevsh
discomfort of one who parted with his illu-
sions too long ago to remember that he ever had
any.
Il was just thinkin g" he said, abruptly skip
ping from one topic to another. what trans
formation Ia going on in the physical appearance
of cur peOpe-particulary in complexion.
have long been satisfied that blondes are slowly
disappearing in this country-this city. al
least-and I've never had better evidence of the
tact than this afternoon. Since I've been sit
ting here. old and young, mistress and maid
tn rty-Seven women have crossed nv eve. Only
five of them were pure blondes. Ealf a dozen
more would be c'assed perhaps as meZzOtint,
nette. 1t wasn't SO fifty years ago and odd, when
l commenced in my profession told you was
ghost" lie interpOsed parenthetically. AS
recollect cur women then there were nearly as
many blondes as brunettes I'm sorry for the
transformation, for a brunette angel is out OF
the question. Blondes are no more angelic in
spirit than their darker slsters. perhaps. In ap-
pearance, however. perfect blonde and perfect
angel are synonymous terms. An hOuri may be
brunette, with soft, dark. lustrousy anguish.
inn INIT
masses of golden hair and complexion like
alabaster or ParIan shot with pink. So de-
plore the gradual elimination of the blonde that
is certainly going on in the development of the
American people as q distinct type
The old gentleman had gone on rhapsOdiZIng
until his very muscles were braced with mo-
mentary access of vigor. He beat an impatient
tattoo on the walk with his cane, and continued:
! 'once an old man strides his hobby follow the
advice OF LOngfellOw. Take care! beware,'
has always been hobby of mine. What divine
galleries Of the beautiful have created in my
brain. What rare. ethereal girls! Talk as
you please about real love being a
a man was never yet desperately, heroically
In love. who did not fall in love at
first sight. He meets the woman of his dream.
and that is the end of it. In point or fact, he
has known her all his life; only he has never
met her before. / saw my wife once, for only
an instant, years ago. She passed me in a
crowd, and had only glimpse of the features
of the divinest blonde that ever wore an opera
wrap. Strange to hear such bursts Of senti-
mentalism from the lips of palsied old man,
! eli: But one of the curious points about human
nature is lite paradoxical inconsistency Very
able men, says one of MOntaignes cleverest
| lmtatOrs. have passed their lives in trying to
| prove that what is is not and what Is not ia ~
Again the Old man turned the conversation
abruptly. 1T was in '39 or 40. forget which,
/ that began to study the subject statistically
/ New York was nothing then compared with
what it is now. Everybody knew everybody
VINO was anybody. I'd like to show you my old
note book. but haven't stumbled upon it nv
self for years. In it 1 gave descriptions of a
hundred New York ladies of that time-com-
pleXion. eyes. hair, type of beauty, &c. There
were Al Greek noses in the collection, 81 aGui-
line, ~ celestial. and Is more Or less pug. And
let me tell you, young fellow. that when a pug
nose is combined with a Fair of beautiful ewes
it is simply irresstb the popular notion of
pug noses is q libel. Out OF the 100 studies
thus made the decided blondes numbered AZ;
there were u mezzotints, with light gray or
b!ue-Gray eyes, and light brown hair and SO de-
! cided brunettes. And let me state as singular
TACT, that the aquine nose belongs typcally to
the brunette.
81 intended when set out to make memo
randum on the subject once in every ten wears;
but. IN point OF fact it was 1851 before had
leisure to pursue my purpose. This time the
notes comprised descriptions of $50 women
some OF whom knew personally while others
We're simply represented by numbers. The
proportions varied considerably, that of pure
blondes having sensihly diminished In all
only 80 could be fairly classed in that cate
Cory; there were 70 meZZUtints and the remain
ing 81 were decided brunettes
I'm 1870 took third budget of notes. and
subsequently, wrote paper on the subject for a
London magazine. forget the title now, at the
request OF the editor. who had seen something
! about my hobby in an American newspaper
This time took hundred examples ONLY. lust
as they came. without discrimination. The ratio
of blondes had fallen to 80 i'm 100; that of meZ-
ZotintS had riZen to Is, and that of decided bru-
nettes to 49,
I'm 1880 / instituted another investigation.
but in truth was getting old and decrepit. and
the subject did not interest me as it once had
The result showed me % pure blondes in every
Ito women. % semis and SO brunettes
You might think me rOmanciIg If I did not
assure you that | really have studied the mat
ter carefully. In our earlier history the ratio
OF blondes was vastly larger than now, for rea-
sons tflat are very evident. Descended i'm the
main from English and Netherand ancestors.
the population of this city. until the tendency
was broken by immigration and intermarrape
showed decided inclination to the blonde
style IN both sexes This predOminance re-
manned undisturbed till about 1915, when the
development of the city as a great trade and
money center brought in a large influx
from the darker races of southern En-
rope. Since then the blonde has been slowly
disappearing for it is remarkable fact that the
dark type Is more persistent than the light
under the influence Of intermarriage. For ex-
ample whether the wife is dark and the hus-
band light or vice versa. the pOsterity will show
TIE same obstinate tendency to the survival of
the Gark skin and eyes and the oblteration of
the light. As physician, | have had ample
opportunity to verify this rule and | have
noticed very few notable exceptions to il during
an experience of fifty years. The influx
OF the Jewish stock of late years has tended to
accelerate the disappearance of blondes. What
effect the German strain Will have when the
increasing TeutOnic admiXttI ceaji.as ouce fisen
absorbed, in neutralZng otii(Io taaseaafcies. Is
something the next ten yeAFsI AFi! ID HAtrnine
1T is a lainentable tact 1T, pE1S9Sti.s ttwcvcr
that the blonde is gradually ss.ai isfi AG and one
thing that recOnces me to 9TH age ard death is
that the angelic type of wothan Will last till T
am gone"
A Enormous Dia,a ono Eio,.na.
From the LoLdon Standard - Il
1t viii interest the people who possess or deal
in diamonds to learn that diamond weighing
302 carats has Just been uneaEthed in the Kim
beriey mines An Octohedron measuring ~
inches in length, and only half an inch less in
It's shorter diameter, would a few years ago have
been appraised at an enormous figure. The stone
in question is only smaller than the Pitt gem in
its uncut state, and the latter bit of glitterine
carbon was sold in III to the Regent Orleans
for Gl30.0OO, and at this time. it is believed
would bring twice this sum. provided il were i'm
the market and that n customer copld ha fnund