The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-03
A HUNT FOR HExADACTYLs.
The Chicago Professor Who Is After
six-FinEered and Six-TOed People.

The Chicago Professor Who Is After
six-FinEered and Six-TOed People.
1t Is related in story books that there
once lived a man by the name of Diogenes.
who at nights often haunted the high
ways with lantern in hand, until the
early hours of morning-long after the
clocks had signaled the approach of day,
hunting for an honest man. He followed
this pursuit for some time and finally
pronounced the search hopeless. Upon
somewhat different lines, Prof. Starr of
the University of Chicago Is also in quest
of a certain brand of men. and according
to what he told Times-Her-
aid reporter, his mission has so far
been just as fruitless as characterized the
work of Col. Diogenes. In the professor 8
endeavor to secure hexadactylous sub
iects, however, he is having a much easier
time than the lantern man had. In the
DAYS Of Diogenes oil cost a lot of money
and the roads were bad. Prof. Starr S
scheme for finding certain types of man
is accompanied by easier processes. All
that he has done is to insert an adver-
tsement in the newspapers inviting those
whom he wishes to sec to call upon him
at his apartments at the corner of Fifty
eighth street and Jackson avenue. Up
to the present date not a
single six-hngered or six-toed individual
white or black, had called upon him. His
visitors were newspaper men only. To
these he smiled and said he had nothing
to say for the public except that he want
ed such subjects as siX-hngered and six
toed people male or female, that he might
further carry on a scientific study that
he commenced some smonths
ago. So, If there are any of
these in this town or elsewhere who are
III
they will be doing the professor a favor by
moving on out his way as fast as posi-
BILE. He has money and his scheme pos
sesses just enough mystery TO make it in
teresting.
Just exactly what the professor will at
tempt to prove after he has interviewed
the hexadactylous remains to be seen. He
Will not tell anybody anything about it
now. Alchemist Stone was never more Sc
cretiVe in his early experimental days with
brass and lead than Is the noted anthrop-
oogist a present. He shakes his head and
looks solemn when asked about ii. He says
that he is ambitious to show the world a
thing or so. He, therefore, must be wise.
He is wise, for the germ Of ambition is the
chrysalis of wisdom. The world may yet
be startled by the announcement, scien-
tifcally made, that man once had dozen
fingers or so, and that they were gradual
~ cut down, one by one, until nature
been reached. or 1t may be that the pro-
fessor will try 10 prove that the people
haven't fingers enough, and that, after
awhile, man will be armed with six or
more of them on each hand.
If this be true, the question naturally
arises, of what use will another finger be
to mankind? Apparently five are enough
for all the uses at present and there are
some who haven't any real business with
that many Even If the times are prosper
Gus, five fingers are sufficient with which
to count all the money one can get hold of
these days. They seem TO set ex-
actly right around knife and
fork In the interlacing of fingers
with a pretty girl homeward bound after
the theater, five fingers on the one hand
and FIVE fingers on the other seem TO fit
precisely, and the occasional friction never
produces corns A sixth member there
might make Il awkward. Six fingers
would make the hand heavier and may
hap would prevent by firing the arm, so
many frequent trips of the hand TO the
mouth The hand thus arranged would
have It's drawbacks, of course. and like
wise would have its advantages. Instead
of the ordinary FIVE fingers that a man
gets in front of the mahogany counter
and the big mirror these mornings OF
thirst and dollar wheat, he could run 1t
up q notch without apologizing 10 the bar
keeper.
Equipped with six fingers, what show
some OF the society ladies could have for
the display Of their jewelsl What a great
assistance the additional finger would be
10 the individual who mad been attacked
BY dermatophytes and the like. Perhaps
then. too, a man could insert the buttons
belonging TO his shirt without having to
violate one of the scrptural intunctions.
SO might it be that a woman could find
her pocketbook when in a crowd without
having TO blush and turn red. These and
more Walters in beer gardens could be
able to hook on another glass and thus
put six mugs on the table at one "trip.
This would be a great saving of labor.
A politician with a hankeriug after pie
could, IL lucky, get twelve fingers pushed
through the crust whereas he now has
but ten. Deaf mutes could talk faster
and Wagnerian musicians could make
more noise In huckleberry time
stranded actors and tramps could pick
their way more easily a.ong than now.
Maybe, with six fingers, William j. Bryan
could get tighter hold on the reins of the
populistic- democratic party. With six fin
gers the business Of accident insurance
companies that write policies indemnify
ing the various organs OF the body would
be largely increased because IN such event
railroad brskemen would be more liable to
lose fingers. But the advantages and dis