Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-15
WONDERFUL MAIDSTONE.
For More Than 100 YesEs 81 Has Curod
the Bitss of Snakes and Mad Dogs.
Savannah News.


the Bttss of Snakes and Mad Dogs.
Savannah News.
The recent death Of q m8n in Banks
county, who had been bitten by mad
Cog, mas revived i1teres: in mad stones,
Of which there are several in various
parts Of the state. There is one in Fair
Ourn which Is said to have been success
fllly applied to about 100 persons. But
By all odds the most notable stone IN the
s0u,bi that owned by Mrs. L. W. Gibson,
In Columbia county. II derives interest
not alone from the wonderful cures
which it has effected, but from its antiq-
uity sad the manner in which it came into
possession Of the family.
IDl-43 q vessel from the East Indies
toLc-Tl the COST of North Carolina.
where the great-grAndisther Of Mrs. Glib
Bon's husband lived st the time. A pas
seDger who WAS sick was put OF and Mr..
Gibson took him TO his home, where the
stranger WAS welcomed and nursed back
10 health. When about to take his de-
Parture he took from his pocket two
stones, one Of which he presented TO Mr.
Gibson, telling him 1t was Of great sge,ss
he had been assured by the gentleman
from whom he had procured II
in Bombay; that it possessed remarkable
powers in 81 cases of blood po'-"ning,
whether 1t resulted from corrosion Of for
eign substance, from the bites Of animals
or insects Of sny description, or from in
oCulstiOn. Even IN cases of smallpox,
said the stranger, ths stone had been
known to extrsct the poison from the
system, leaving the patient thoroughly
restored to health. The stone WAS Of
CRAVING blsck color and perfectly smooth.
l. wSs one inch in length, three-quarters
Of sn inch in width and half an inch
thick.
The stranger disappeared, and the stone
was laid by rs curiosity. No faith WAS
placed in rs medicinal qualities. 1t was
rot long, however, before an event hap
pensd which brought the stone into high
repute. a member of Mr.. Gi0son's family
Tss bitter by rsttlesnske. All known
rem dies failed. TIE patient mad pssssed
into pafoxysms, and all hope hsd fsd.
Il Wss then that one Of the
children thought of the mysterious
stone. As no harm could be done, II
Wss determined 10 use il. An ilcis-
Ion W2s made il the patients leg one inch
above the spot bitten, srd the stone WAS
inserted. AS the stone adhered scream
q unutterabIe anguish escaped the lips Of
the sufferer, SO is life Itself WAS being
drawn cut. In less than one minute the
stone had changed its color from dark to
q POISONOUS looking green. Ii was pull
ed out and soaked IN warm water sud APP
Piled sgain and again. its adhesive
power becoming less and less,
until ct last IL refused to
stick. BIZ this time the patient fell OF
Into heavy sleep, only TO awake to q
consciousness of restored health. He
lived for thirty years after the event. It
vas thus that the stone, which was only
kept SIS lest, bgcsme On object that
money could not buy. From ali parts of
The coast there were calls for the won
de7ful stone. The family subsequently,
removed to Columbia county, in this
stste, where for 100 years this stone has
been an object Of curiosity TO physicians
ane people n general,
TIE recent history Of this remarkable
stone is quite as strange as thst Of its
earlier years, curing the bites OF mad
dogs and cats, the stiGgs of scorpions
ano sRikes and the in culation OF poison
Gus substances. In 1872 Abe Lockhart,
NO-OACO msI III COIuD'lln CDUutgf "ao
oi ten by & pilot snake. The stone WAS
applied 10 the bite. The wonderful part
OF the story is that the man, who has in
Gefited scrofuls, was cured of that
ulSease and has since had no return Of
Tue malsdy. Seven years ago Shack
green, who lived nine miles awsy, was
ol!ten by 6 rattlesnske. When found he
was unconscious. rs was put into q
wagon and driven the nine miles to the
nome OF Mrs. Gibson. By that time the
VICTIMS leg had swollen to three times its
usual size. As soon ss the stone WAS ap-
pAed 1t affected the sufferer precisely as
fore.
a case which attracted widespread at
seution was that OF Miss Williams, who
p near the plantation of General
iaDrt Toombs, in Wilkes county. In
1000 Miss Williams was inoculated from
~. siIus> ,0sained from q mad COW. When
ts se iact was discovered it sent 9 shock
through the community. The lsdy's
trends at once resolved to use Mrs. Glib
euas maidstone, which was entirely
Ss'sessiul in wardiug OF the anticipated