The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-02
THE ORIGIN OF EARRINGS.
Mohammedan and Christian Story Take it Back to the Time of Abra

The threatened revival among young
 girls of the custom of wearing earrings
 has called forth a diatribe against
 what is denounced as senseless and
 barbaric practice, But earrings have
 never died out; they are still commonly
 worn by ladies of the preceding gene
 ration; it is only that fashion had de-
 creed what was certain to be tempora-
 ry abstinence in the case of their
 daughters.
 It is the unnatural though harmless
 operation of ear-boring involved that
 has aroused the ire of the "advanced'
 opponents of their possessing ugly ears
 and the dread of not following the
 fashion? For it is the fact that where
 as the appendages enhance the beauty
 of ell-shaped ears they accentuate the
 defects of badly formed ones. Ear
 rings are just as much relics of barba
 rism as are rings, necklaces and brat o.
 let's; but the feminine nature will have
 to undergo very great change before
 the use of all or any is discarded. Ac- cording to a Mohammedan legend, Sa- rah, being jealous of Hagar, declared she would not rest until her hands had
 imbued in her bondmaids blood. Then Abraham pierced HagaI's ears quickly, and drew ring through it, so that Sa- rah was able to dip her hand in the blood of Hagar without bringing the latter into danger. From that time it became q custom among women to wear earrings
 Curiously enough, the book of Gene sis enables the custom to be traced back to the same people and to the same period. Among the presents which Abraham's servant carried with him when he went forth to take wife unto Isaac, and which he gave to Re- becca at the we'll, was golden ear ring of half a shekel weight" The practice of wearing earrings must have been a common one with the Israelites while wandering through the desert, for the image of the Golden Calf was fashioned by Aaron out of gold ear rings belonging to both sexes. For very long period earrings were more or less peculiar to eastern nations. At first the Greeks and Romans expressed the greatest contempt for the men of the Oriental nations with whom they came into contact wearing earrings, Eventually the Greeks first and then the Romans adopted the custom. With the former, however. it was the result of misunderstanding.
 The oracle of Apollo having declared that if they wished to have good citi- zens they were to put what they held most precious into the ears of their children, misunderstanding the gods they pierced the childrens ears and adorned them with gold With the Romans the fashion owed it's origin to feminine vanity; and In the luxurious days of the empire fabulous prices were given for these useless or so that it was said of Roman matrons that they often had whole suspended to their ears. One young aristocrat, by name Galba, stole and pledged one of his mothers and with the proceeds de- frayed the expenses of a tour through Europe Of course. the most costly and celebrated earring on record is that of Cleopatra, which contained a pearl valued at ten thousand sesterces, or nearly one hundred thousand pounds. This was the gem which she dissolved in vinegar and swallowed at he banquet given to Antony in order 0 win the wager that it was possible 'or meal to cost such an enormous sum- Both the Greek and Roman men If that period affected earrings, but with the Romans the practice was con- ined to the nobles.
 The Danes are generally credited with the introduction of earrings into
 his country. On several occasions, when the sinews of war were at low 'bb, the Danish women came to the as- 'istance of their men folk by yielding ID these ornaments to the melting pot while King Sweno was ransomed from his source. That the Saxons, who initiated the Danes, were ex- remedy fond of earrings is proved by he fact that Saxon law expressly
 njoined that earrings and necklaces hould, at mothers death, fall to the ot of the daughter After the tenth entury, however, the fashion seems to rave declined throughout Europe, and arrngs are neither found in graves lor seen in paintings or sculptures. 1he wearing of them was reintroduced nto England in the sixteenth century, nd Stubbs, writing in the time of Queen Elizabeth, says: "The women re not ashamed to make holes in their 1 ars, whereat they hang rings and { ther jewels of gold and precious tones" But what would Stubbs have l aid if he had lived to see men thus 1 dorning themselves, which became | he vogue shortly afterward? For ex- mple, in the famous Chandos portrait, l is depicted with earrings, | yhile if one closely scrutinizes the pie ures of the great nobles of the day, it | ,ill be found that many of them are | a left earring only, usually a earl. In the seventeenth century ear ings were no longer worn by English len of birth and position, the fashion ecoming transferred to sailors who ave retained the use of them, com 1only in the form of gold hoops, down , our own time. It has long been a ommon belief among seafaring men f all nations that the wearing of ear
 ngs strengthens the eyesight, and is
 certain cure for sore and bleary eyes.
 As matter of fact, the strengthen ( lg- of the -eyesight theory is generally ccepted by the educated classes as ell, for one often hears of ladies who rmly believe that they have benefited Let it be said at once, ever obtained medical favor. It is,