Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-26
CHILDREN HAVE
PEARLY EYES
ILLINOIS FAMILY CREATES MUCH
woNpERMENT
Scientists MystIfled by Miracle Of the
! Stork, Which Brings to Klsh-
waukee Wee ones With
Rainbow Eyes

Special to The Herald.
KINGSTON, Ill, Aug. 25.-DeKalt
Of freak children in the world, the foul
daughters and two sons Of Mr.. and
Mrs Joel Watkins. who reside near
this village, being provided with eyes
Of entirely different hues, and each OF
them resembling some tint of the
rainbow.
Physicians have accounted for the
extraordinary birthmarks (for such
they are said to be) by pointing to tht
fact that the mother has assisted her
husband for years in earning liveli-
hood by hunting for pearls. working
for days in the Kishwaukee river with
out interruption and during that time
opening thousands of brightly colored
clam shells.
The first three children born to Mr.
and Mrs. Watkins were no different
from thousands Of other children which
the stork brings to northern Illinois
annually, with the exception that their
eyes contained round white marks
where they should have been entirely
OF brown, blue or gray.
The fourth child exhibited pink eyes
to the village physician who attended
the mother, and is still provided with
the same colored optics.
Eyes Resemble PEARLS
But even this incident failed to at
tract more than ordinary interest
among the medical men who heard OF
the strange case, and once more Mrs.
Uat 6or hue uoor n m
diggers and pearl hunters in the Kish-
waukee.
The fifth child was marked In the
same peculiar manner as the fourth,
but with the pink coloring matter Of
the eye being more decidedly pink
than the babe born two years previous.
But the sixth babe to enter the
household of Mr.. and Mrs. Watkins
surprised even those who have become
accustomed to look for freakish eyes
when the stork arrives at the humble
home on the banks Of the river. The
little tots eyes are pale blue and at
intervals of five or ten minutes light
which can only be described as phos-
phorescent in its nature glows for an
ir slant from each pupil.
The attending physician declares the
child is perfectly formed and Jas
healthy as any babe in the neighbor-
hood, but the strange light puzzles
everyone who has had the opportunity
of seeing it, and today the physicians
from every surrounding town are here
tn make a thorough examination of the
babes optics.
DR.. j. c. Mcintyre, who has attended
the mother for years, has offered Mr..
Watkins a princely sum to take the
child, or, if he prefers. the whole
family. to Chicago or New York and
there give the world an opportunity Of
seeing the greatest freak of nature ever
exhibited.
The father, however, who is only
comfortably fixed financially, has so far
refused to entertain the idea of ex-
hlbiting his "pearl-eyed' children.
"They are very dear to u.s." he said
to a newspaper representative. land
I don't believe 1 will go about the
country with any sideshow business"
But Mrs. Watkins favors the plan
proposed by DR.. Mcintyre, arguing that
the money obtained in this manner
could be put to good use in educating
the children.
II don't want my boys and girls to
become pearl hunters and clam dig
gers" she said, as the reporter left the
humble cabin on the banks of the Kish-
waukee.