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WHY ARE THESE THINGS?
Stubborn Facts That Cannot Be Explained Away
1. Some say alcohol gives strength. If so, why do all athletes abstain while training for a race or other contests requiring strength?
2. Some say alcohol gives endurance If so, who do great employers of labor cut off the supply of drink when work of an especially arduous or lengthened nature is required?
3. Some say alcohol gives heat. If so, why do travelers in the Arctic regions who take drink succumb to the cold, while total abstainers remain unharmed?
4. Some say alcohol is good in hot countries. If so, why did Stanley refuse it to his men during his forced march across Africa in search of Emin Pasha?
5. Some say alcohol sustains the nerves. If so, why do surgeons abstain before performing a delicate operation?
6. Some say alcohol sustains the health. If so, why do insurance companies take total abstainers at a lower premium than others?
7. Some say it is dangerous suddenly to give up the use of alcohol. If so, why do prisoners, most of whom are obliged suddenly to abstain, improve in health? - Sel.
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MADSTONE IN NEW YORK
The "Congaree" Taken There From South Carolina.
[Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.]
NEW YORK, April 27 - Learning that cases of hydrophobia had appeared in New York, Capt. F. B. Orchard, of Augusta, S. C., has sent here a Congaree madstone. The nodule of calcareons matter, for such it seems, was consigned to the brother of the owner, I. E. Orchard, a musical critic, who says the use of it may be had, without cost, by any person who thinks he has been bitten by a rabid dog.
It has been many years since the "Congaree" stone has performed its function as extractor of poison, and the consignee would like to see its powers tested.
There are at the present moment four specimens of the madstone. Curiously enough, two of the four were found in South Carolina. One of them is now in the British Museum; the other is the one sent here.
This madstone is from 2 ½ to 3 inches in circumference and nearly an inch thick. In shape it is oval. Its surface is smooth. It resembles beeswax in appearance. Being very porous, it is necessarily light. Its present guardian, who has firm faith in its properties, given the following particulars, which he says can be corroborated:
"The Congaree" is one of the most famous madstones in the world. It has an interesting history. It was taken from the stomach of a deer, which was killed in Congaree Swamp, about 20 miles from Columbia, S. C. This was in the year 1805. Soon after it was discovered the stone was lent by its owner to a geological museum at the South Carolina College, where it remained several years. In the early spring of 1808 a mad dog invaded the college campus and bit four of the students. There was not the slightest doubt that the dog had the rabies. One of the young men who were bitten was the son of the president of the college. Three of the young men who had been bitten by the rabid dog consented to have the stone applied to their wounds. It was first placed on the wound of a student whose cheek had been torn by the beast's teeth. It adhered at once and clung tenaciously for 1 hour and 40 minutes, when it suddenly dropped off. It was thereupon placed in a vessel containing milk and water, and, in less than a minute, the fluid turned green, being impregnated with the poison which the stone had sucked from the wound. The stone was washed off and again placed on the same wound, and, as before, adhered, but not quite so tenaciously. In the course of half an hour it dropped off again, was again cleansed and again applied to the wound. This time it refused to adhere, having extracted every particle of the poison.
"The young man who first submitted to the treatment was saved, as were the two others who followed his example. There fourth student, who had been bitten in the hand, made light of the matter and refused to have the madstone applied to his wound. A week later he died of hydophobia, after, it need scarce be said, having suffered frightful agonies.
"The stone at once became famous throughout the South, and many newspaper articles were published about it in Columbia and elsewhere. Its owner, who had lent it to the museum, realizing its great value, again took charge of it, and applied it gratuitiously to all who were in need of it in the vicinity. In every instance it proved efficacious. When he died, in 1820, he bequeathed it to his son, who a few years later, sold it to a Charleston physician. For many years the stone remained in Charleston, and was used not only on persons who had been bitten by mad dogs, but also on those suffering from snake bites, and always with uniformly successful results.
"It is estimated that, from 1805, when the stone was discoverd, to 1899, when it was last used, upward of 145 persons have been successfully treated."
