The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-08-22
A soARewFuL AND SOLITARY LIFE.
The Pitiful and Touching Story Of Joseph
Merricl, the Elephant Man.

The Pttfful and Touching Story OF Joseph
Merrick, the Elephant Man.
We can remember no invented tale
that speaks SO to the heart at once of the
cruelty of life and the beauty of human
compassion as the true story closed by q
sentence in the newspapers announcing
that Joseph Merrick, the elephant
man." was dead
Imagine human soul clothed in q
body so unspeakably frightful that see
ing it men turned sick with loathing and
women tainted; being who had to be
conveyed from place to place in secret;
who hardly dared to venture abroad
even by night; who, finding his fellow
creatures ran from him, grew terrified
by the terror he created, and shuddered
in dark corners like a hunted beast.
Imagine him driven by starvation to &C
cept showman's offer and be exhibited
to the most brutal of audiences, that
commonly enough shrieked and ran pell
nell from the tent as soon as the curtain
was drawn.
Early in 1886 Frederick Treves, one of
the surgeons of the London hospital,
found Merrick in a penny show, in q
room off the Whitechapel road, crouch
ing behind an old curtain and trying to
warm himself over brick that was
heated by gas jet. Mr. Treves went
up to him not only without fear or loath-
ing, but with sympathy. For the first
time in his life of twenty-four years Mer-
rick heard kind word and was spoken to
like man. The effect was curious. It
made him afraid at first. He shrank as an
ordinary man would from something I'M
canny. Then, as he began to realize the
truth, he broke into sobs of gratitude.
Days and even weeks passed, however,
before he recovered from the shock Of
hearing a compassionate word.
The police prohibited his show on the
ground of public decency So he went
to Belgium, where again the police in
terfered, and where an agent decamped
with his money. Merrick was left desti-
tute and starving in the streets of for
eign town, where the ignorant mob
thought him fend.
He came back to London-how, no
no one quite knows. At every station
and landing place crowds logged him.
Steamers refused to have him on board.
But he came back to London, because
in London lived the only man who had
ever given him kind word. He made
his way to the London hospital, found
Mr.. Treves, who had him lodged for
time in an attic in the hospital, and de-
termined to find permanent shelter for
him.
But now it was found that no institu-
ton would receive him. The royal hos
pital for incurables and the British home
for incurables alike declined to take him
in unless sufficient funds were forth
coming to pay for his maintenance for
life. He himself begged that he might
be placed in blind hospital. 1t is hard
to match the pathos of this plea.
Then in November, 1886, Carr Comm,
chairman of the London hospital, wrote
to The Times asking help for this case,
and the British public responded. A
room was built for Merrick on the
ground floor in a remote wing of the hos
pital, and there, surrounded with books,
flowers and hundred tokens of the
kindness that is really quick in the pub
lie heart, he lived.
He had found many friends the
Prince and Princess of Wales, Mr.. Glad
stone, Mrs. Kendall and others. To Mrs.
Kendall is due the happy suggestion that
Merrick should be taken to see the
Christmas pantomime at Drury Lane.
She engaged the royal box; she had him
brought to the theatre, and took every
precaution that no strange eye should
see him. Hidden from the house behind
the curtains Of the box, the elephant
man" tasted an hour or two of intoxicat-
ing happiness. 1t was all real to him
the fairies, the splendor and the jewels.
Merrick, in spite of his hideous ex-
terror and terrible experiences, was in
his way a gentle sentimentalist, and
gushed forth at times, under the happy
conditions of his life at the hospital, in
verse modelad on the hymns Of DR..
Watts, in which he gave utterance to
feelings Of gratitude, the sincerity of
which none ever questioned. 1t was
tender heart that was beating beneath
mask more hideous than that of Orson.
Above all, it was heart that was filed
with love for the man who was literally
his saviour, who first spoke kindly to
him, who rescued him from fate a
thousand times worse than death, and to
the end was both his doctor and his
friend. Recently, it was only Mr.. Treves
who could thoroughly understand the
poor creatures MANNED utterances; and
to Mr.. Treves he chung to the last with
the wistful trust and affection of a dumb
animal.-London Speaker.
Points About the Hair Brush.
There is another consideration in con-
nection with the use of the hair brush,
which, though it may scarcely need men,
ton, should not be overlooked. The
brush should be kept clean. It gives
one shudder to see the brushes and
combs that are sometimes supplied at
places of public resort. No one should
ever think of using public hair brush
any more than a public tooth brush, un-
less it becomes matter of absolute ne
cessity; but the fact remains that the in
dividual article requires to be properly
cared for, else it becon es an instrument
Of danger rather than a delight.
If the case is not very aggravated the
bristles may be washed in lukewarm
water, to which few drops Of ammonia
can be added. This will clear away the
accumulated dust and dirt as by magic.
The bristles can be rinsed in pure water
and allowed to dry in an airy place; the
brush should not be exposed to the sun,
nor should the back of it be wet at any
time. Soda and soap soften the bristles,
and if the back of the brush be Of ivory
it will turn yellow by their application.
For general use it is better economy to