Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-08-27
HE BELIEVES IN MADsToNEs.


The Good Record of Stone That Came
From the Far East.
"No person who has seen madstoncs ap-
piled so often and SO successfully as l have
can ever doubt the efficacy of these arti
cles."
So speaks Mr.. D. Pointer, n citizen Of
Memphis, whose whitonod hair attests his
arrival at an ago of intelligence. Mr..
Pointers father was DR. d. Pointer, who
practiccd the healing art at Como, Miss,
for many years, being native Of Halifax
county, Va, where the grandfather, Thorn
as Pointer, lived. This family is widely
connected and is well known in Virginia
as well as in the Mississippi valley.
"When 1 tell you that we have had a
maidstone in our family for over three
quarters of a century, and that L myself
have positive knowledge of hundreds of
cures of bona flde cases of hydrophobia by
the stone, you will understand why l am
such thorough believer in it, " says Mr..
Pointer. "My grandfather, Tom Pointer
of Halifax county, Va, first came into
possession of tho stone. l have in my
younger days often heard all about how
he got it, but have forgotten most of tho
details. know that fleGnd of my grand
fathers travelled in the cast India or Chi
ma, and came back with great many of
these stones. l do not know how he got
them. He sold many to different people.
He did not sell this one to my grandfather,
but left it with him, saying my GRANDPA
ther could have it unless he returned and
claimed it. He was n great traveller. Hu
made another trip after this and was never
heard of again. Hence my grandfather
retained the stone. Later in its history 1t
was broken. Ono part is now in the pos
session of Joe Pointer and Green Williams
of Person county, n. c., and | and my
sister Mrs. Stith of Dallas, keep the other.
At one time, when it was necessary to sell
this stone at auction to settle an estate, 1t
brought $3.50
"The stone we have is quite ordinary i'll
appearance. 1t is black and might be mis-
taken for chunk Of coal. One side IL
smooth, but the other, the porous side,
that is applied to the bite, is rough. When
the stone is used, it is laid on the spot
where the bite has scratched the skin. II
poison has been deposited there, the mad.
stone will stick and absorb the poisonous
substance.
II recollcct on one occasion, when Il
member of our household had been bitten,
the doctor gave up the patient and said he
could not live till morning. The bite was
on the arm, and the swelling was immense.
The patient could not open his eyes. There
was no doubt about this being II case OF
rabies, for the doctor so pronounced it.
The doctor having given up the case and
declared that death would ensuc before
morning, asked him if l could not try
r ..1.t., Il ~.
objection, stating that it would dono good,
but to appcUsc my insistcncc he said Il
could do no harm. So l applied the stone
1t adhered. Presently it had absorbed all
it could contain Of thopoisOnouS substance
and fell off. by that time the sufferer had
been benefited sufficiently to be able To
open his eyes. l placed the stone in Il
bucket Of luEcwarm water, the usual way
Of treating it, and the poison mt once CX.
uGcd and rose to the top of the water form.
ing Il green scum. When the stone had
cmpticd itself, it was again applied to the
sore and before it had filled up again it
fell Off all the poison having been Hh.
sOrbcd. The patient recovered, though tho
dOatOr, disbclicvcr in the maidstone, had
given him less than II hours to live.
"Thcrc are many people in this city and
in Mississippi who can vuuch for the eff.
cacy of this stone l remember a curJ
before the war in which Phelan Lucas whG
now lives at Holly Springs, was deeply in.
tercstcd. Mr.. Lucas had valuable ncg:c
bitten by rattlcsnako while working III
the field. The bite was in the thumb. The
negro came in from the field with his hand
and arm fcarfully swollen and suffering
great pain. There was no chance for him
to live long. Mr.. Lucas said aftcrward
that anybody could have bought that negro
for SO then. But the maidstone was goJ
from my fathers, and the negro was cured.
"Pcrsons who have seen so many and
such positive cures us have cannot doubi
the efficacy Of the maidstone. "-Mcmphil
Commcrcial-Appeal.