The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-02-12
From the Boston Transcript.


Almost every city boasts of the longevity of its in
habants but the people of South kingston and those
of Providence Rhode Island, in the Providence Plan
tations quarreling to the longevity of the peo
pie who dwell in their respective towns. The contest
is hard one and it is doubtful which will win the
Each puts his best foot foremost to gain the
victory The latest accounts are in favor Of the
South Kingston side.
On the LIST Of June, l840 there were living in that
town rs persons whose united ages amounted to 2l20
years, about IS years each the youngest being 49,
and the oldest 95 years of age The of the old
est is VIM Lunt, and he was barber to Gen. Wash
ngton. In addition to these, there were men be-
tN cen 80 and 80 years of age; IS women between
80 and 9O women between 80 and 100, and woman
l05 years Of age besides lots of "youths' from Is to
So.
This is pretty well for town with less than four
thousand inhabitants. But there is no telling what
Newport will d. that she has got into spirit of
competition.
The question has often been asked, whether ba-
chelor has been known to live to the age of
hundred years. We unable to answer he in
quiry.
But to pass from longevity to longitude there are
some families who seem to grow to an immoderate
height Their altitude overtops that of all their
neighbors. They Overlook their contemporaries
The Bible tells of the sons of Anak, and that
there were "giants in those days" Occasionally
find one of these "tall customers such Mons BIZ
hin, who was here a year or two ago, and the Ken
lucky Giant and Mr.. Freeman, the American Giant,
who, we believe, is now in this city.
Blu; they are mere pigmies to what existed in for
mer days, if we may believe what tradition and his
tory tells us.
Og, King of Bashan, who is spoken Of in Scripture,
is said to have been more than twelve feet high
Goah was about nine feet nine inches high, eleven
feet, according to some commentators. The Empe-
ror Maximnus is said to have been nine feet in
height Turner, the naturalist, mentions having
SEEN on the Brazil coast of gigantic savages,
one of whom measured twelve feet Thevet, in his
description of America, published at Paris in 1875,
declares that he and measured the skeleton of
South American which was eleven feet five inches
in length. Dimerbroeck saw, at Utrecht, well pro-
portioned living man, measuring feet inches and
DIR. Becamus was introduced to youth who
nearly nine feet high a man almost ten feet, and
woman quite ten feet The Patagonans have been
nation of giants. The "Phosophi-
cal Transactions of the Royal Society contain ac-
counts of skeletons dug up in England, measuring
eight nine feet in length, which probably
Roman. In the 4lst and Add volumes of the same
work two engravings taken from " os frontis''
and os femoris, }" the former of which is reckoned
to have belonged to person between eleven and
twelve feet high, the latter to giant thirteen feet
four inches. Walter Parsons porter to King James
l., was seven feet some inches in height.
The Chinese pretend that they have giants fifteen
feet in height but, before they have done with John
John Bull is done with them-we suspect
they will not loom up quite tall as they would
make the barbarirns think them to be.