Evening star., 1899-01-28
A CURIOUS STONE.
n valuable Estate Carried Around In
Vest Pocket,


Il sold the other day the most curious
estate / ever heard Of" said William F.
Lynn, prominent citizen. of Loudour
county, Va, to q Star reporter recently. ~
have carried this estate around in my vest
pocket for the best part of the year. Sc
far as 1 know, there is but one other piece
of property at all like it in the world. And
what is still stranger, perhaps, while had
bona fide offer from a New York million
aire to manage this estate for period OF
years in such a way as to yield the heirs a
handsome income, which would have cap
ftalized the property at about $4,000, one
OF the heirs bid it in at the public sale fol
$500. This estate was the famous Upper
vile maidstone, which has been in the hands
of the Fred family for over $50 years. A
second bid. or what we call under the Vir-
ginla law, a 10 per cent bid has been made
and the stone will be auctioned again. But
/ think it will remain in the family. As its
name indicates, the peculiar property OF
TINS stone Is its apparent appetite for the
virus TO be found in the wound made by the
bite of dog, snake or any yenomous
animal.
THE stone was brought to Virginia in
li4o by Joshua Fred who was a Welf-to-do
farmer in "arwickshire, England, and be-
came an important land owner in Fauquier
county. BY his wish, his descendants had
ciung to this stone as a priceless heirloom
and am proud to say that their use of it
has always reflected credit upon the good
old-fashioned hospitality and kindliness
Characteristic of all good Virginians. 1t
was we'll known all over the country that
anybody might go to the Fred farm with
any unfortunate who had been bitten by a
dog, and enjoy a certain cure without any
cost For a hundred years none of the
Freds would permit any one who was cured
in this way by the maidstone to pay a farth-
ing, even for board and lodging or horse
feed. In later years the yicissitudes of peace
and war having somewhat affected the
fortunes of various members of the famify
II became the practice to allow visitors who
came to use the maidstone to paw what they
pleased Tor their entertainment and for the
care OF their teams. Beyond this. however.
no charge whatever was made for scores of
most remarkable cures.
A journal was kept by the various MEM
berS of the family who had charge of the
maidstone, in which was entered the name
and age of every person on whom it was
used, and the character of the wound
treated. The entries in this book, made in
the quaint handwriting of member after
member of the family, the most of whom
have long since turned to dust in their
graves, are most interesting. While the
stone was in my possession | had occasion
several times to use it upon persons who
were brought to me in great agony of mind
over wounds they had received from the
bite OF rabid dogs. The last case occurred
just a few days before the sale of the stone.
al night who had been bitten on the wrist
The wound was an ugly one and the father
vas III great distress of mind for fear hv-
drophobia would set in. / placed the stone
on the boys wrist at about 10 o'clock and
went to bed. The father stayed UP and took
care of the boy. At > O'Clock i'll the morn
ing. lie SAID, the stone let go. The boy was
then sound asleep. The father placed the
stone, as L had told him to do in a glass
OF milk, on which, when L saw it in the
a
ThiS seemed to be the usual result in all
stfch cases. The stone was never known to
let go until 1t had extracted all the poison,
and, on being placed in a glass of warm
water or milk. discharged a greensh LIQUID.
which physicians who saw the operation
nave told me was undoubtedly poisonous
matter caused by the bite of the rabid AMI
NAL ~
The stone itself is perhaps an inch long
by three-quarters wide and is of a yeIyety
grayish brown color. Years ago il was ac-
cidentally broken in two and the ieweler
who placed gold band around it to hold
1t together has told me that the inside was
little darker than the outside. and was
arranged IN coEcentric layers.