The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-20
STORY OF A MAIDSTONE.
Wonderful Cure For Hydrophobia
Owned In Virginia.

Il sold the other day the most curious
estate l ever heard of, said William Z.
Lynn. 4 prominent citizen of London
county, Virginia. I have carried this
estate around in my vest pocket for the
best part of the year. So far as 1 know.
there is but one other piece of property at
all like 1t in the world. And what is still
/ stranger, perhaps, while had d bona fide
offer from a New York Millionaire to man
age this estate for period OF years in
such way as to yield the heirs d hand
some income. which would have capital
lied the property at about SiU, 600, one of
the heirs bid 1t in at the public sale for
$500. This estate was the famous Upper
vile maidstone. which mas been in the
nandS OF the Fred family for over $50
years. y second bid or what we call un
der the Virginia laws. 10 per cent bid
mas been made, and the stone Will be auc
toned again. But think it viii remain
IN the family. As its name indicates, the
peculiar property of this stone is its ap-
parent appetite for the virus to be found
IN the wound made by the bite OF a dog.
snake or any VenOmOuS animal.
The stone was brought to Virginia in
1I4O by Joshua Fred. who was Il well-to-
do farmer in Warwickshire, England and
became an important landowner in Fau-
quier county. BY his wish his descend
ants had chung to this stone as a priceless
heirloom, and 1 am pl Oud to say thaJ their
use of 1t has always reflected credit upon
the good Old-fashiOned hospitality and
kindness characteristic OF all good Nir-
ginians. 1t was well 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 u 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 farthing even for
board and lodging or horse feed. In later
years, the VIcissIuuQes OF war and peace
having somewhat affected the fortunes of
various members of the family, it be-
ha too al -iGir
came TO use the maidstone to pay what
they pleased for their entertainment and
for the care of their teams Beyond this
however, no charge whatever was made
for scores of the most remarkable cures
"A journal was kept by the various
members 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 af-
ter member of the family, most Of whom
have long since turned to dust in their
graves, are most interesting. While the
stone was in my possession, L had Occa-
sion several times to use it upon persons
who We're brought TO me in great agony
of mind over wounds they had received
from the bites of rabid dogs. The last
case occurred just few days before the
sale of the stone. 4 young boy was
brought to my house late at night who
had been bitten on the wrist The wound
was an ugly one, and the father was in
great distress or MIND Tor rear tndr ny
drophobia would set in. l 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 in the
morning. he said. the stone let go. The
boy was then sound asleep The father
placed the stone. as l had told him to do
in glass of milk. on which, when l saw
it in the morning. there was a thick.
green scum. This seemed to be the usual
result in all such cases The stone was
never known to let go until 1t had extract
ed all the poison. and. on being placed
in a glass of warm water or milk. dis
charged a greenish liquid. which physi-
clans who saw the operation have told me
was undoubtedly poisonous matter caused
by the bite of the rabid animal.
1.-The stone itself is. perhaps. an inch
long by three-quarters wide and is of =
gravish-brown color Years ago it was
accidentally broken In two and the jew
eler who placed a gold band around it to
hold it together has told me that the in
side was a little darker than the out
side. and was arranged in concentric lay
erS. 4"