Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-09-12
EER EYES

Fell Upon an Old stone Once Worn by
Her Lone-Departed Father-The Story
of an Opal.
CINCINNATI, September 11.-An old
man sat in the doorway of Epply's I'M
eertaking establishment, 1SS West
NiAth street, yesterday afternoon.
He was reading a paper, and from
| one uphfted hand an opal flashed In the
sunlight.
The rich stone contrasted strongly
with the toh,worn finger on which 1t
rested and with the modest garments OF
the wearer. Perhaps this fact caused q
handsome lady, who was passing, to
scrutinize it more closely than she
would otherwise have done. Suddenly
S he gave little scream of astonish-
ment. and cried:
"My fathers ringI My fathers
ring"
Without speaking to the old gentle
man, she hurried into the place, and
made complaint to Mr.. Epply in person.
''That man sitting there has my
fathers ring" she said. "He died
nearly 10 years ago, and we could never
find his opal. That man has 1t on his
finger"
The accused took the bauble from his
finger with the remark that he had no
doubt her statement was correct, and
all he desired was to make an explana-
ton of how he came into possession OF
the opal. This he did satisfactorily,
and the lady left.
The wearer of the ring was c. o..
Smith, who has been employed by
Epply, the undertaken, for twenty-four
years. The lady who accused him is
Mrs. Charles Muscroit, wife OF we'll
known young physician. In July, 1881,
her father, Charles G. Collins, died In
the City Hospital, and his remrins were
Epply, whose employee, Mr.. Smith,
handled the body. During the funeral
services it was discovered that an opal
ring Of very peculiar setting belong
ing TO the deceased had disappeared
from his finger, and there was muce In
curry for 1t, but without result. Mr..
Smiths story of the manner in which
the stone came into his hands Is very
interesting.
"You see this cooling board" he
said, opening bier with legs, on which
the dead are placed. This was taken
to the hospital, where the body OF Mr..
Collins lay. l saw no ring on the de-
ceased, and it probably slipped down on
the board, 1t may have got caught in
the fringe Of the canopy; at any rate 1t
wasn't found for some time afterwards,
as there was q dull season and other
cooling boards were used, as this one
needed some tinkering on it.
"Some OF the iron pieces about the
legs were loose, and one day took IL
out to the lumber room to repair IL. /
threw 1t on the table and heard some
thing fall on the floor. twas the ring.
couldn't remembes where the board
had been hast nor any corpse that had
worn the stone, so put it on my finger.
thinking that sometimes relative OF
the owner would recognize IL. / wore
it off and On for nearly twelve years and
Yesterday an owner was found for it,"
Not shadow Of doubt falls upon Mr..
Smiths integrity, as during his long and
faithful service with the establishment
be has turned up every valuable left on
the cooling boards and restored them 10
their owners. 1t is a well-known fact
that the fingers of a corpse wither away
to some extent in two or three days and
rings are apt to slip OF the, lfeles:
hands. Since he found the opal Mr..
Smith has always tied such pieces OF
jewelry securely to the remains. Smith
has another opal almost similar to the
one found on the cooling board.