Connecticut western news., 1874-02-06
The Dead Siamese Twins.
A Ligature that Joined Them i'm Life and
 Death.


 ended one of the most remarkable of natural phenomena. They came to this country in 1929, when they were IS years old, having previously been shown in Europe. They were born on the coast of Siam, and their parents lived by fishing. None of their fifteen brothers and sisters were deformed, al- though many of them were twins. . z Their pay on exhibition was $100 week, which they equitably divided and put into savings banks. They never visited their home, and seemed to have no care for their family. When Eng was sick Chang nursed him; but per haps did so from selfish motiv es, as the serious illness of one made it necessary for the we'll one also to go to bed. Chang had something of an apprecia- tive vein of fun, and liked to give sense- less answers, in his broken English, to the numberless questions of visitors. They remained with Barnum until 1855, and it is believed that they had then saved about $4O,O ,OO0 each. Growing tired of show life, they decided to set tie down in warmer part of the United | States. --.
 In their travels they had been in North Carolina, and it's climate had pleased them. So they bought two plantations, and secured wives to com plete their domestic establishment. Here they took the surname of Bunker. | They were then bachelors of forty-four. They married English sisters, aged twenty-six and twenty eight. The girls had been servants, and it is said that Lancashire dialect still clings to them. The making of the double o1t | though the twins were not lunduly ex- acting, it was hard to find women who were both willing and at all desirable. There was no love-making before the engagement, the courting was done by proxy and correspondence, and the | ladies had seen their future husbands only at show in London when they accepted the offer of marriage. The twins based their choice upon ikenesses | forwarded by their agent, who gave as- surances of the responsibility of the girls. All having been arranged they were brought to America, the twins | paying their expenses, and the mar riage was solemnized quietly at Sails | bury. The wives were not beautiful, but were strong, healthy English work | ing girls. The domestic lives of the couples were peculiar. Each family had it's own house, servants, and do- mestic establishment. The plantations were owned and managed separately, although in matters of consequence Chang was usually the master. The wives lived entirely at their respective homes, and the husbands alternated- staying one week at Ohang's house and the next week at Eng's. Each looked after his plantation and other business during the weeks of living at his own place, and the visiting brother was not supposed to interfere. The wives did not agree very we'll, and the strangely tied families, quarreled 50 seriously that the sisters frequently had periods of complete arrangement, lasting for weeks at time.
 So, although Chang and Eng were rich, they did not live happily. Mrs. Chang had the first child, and it was deaf mute. The families increased rapidly, until Chang had six children and Eng five. Of these children four never heard nor spoke, although in all other respects all were strong and not deformed. Eight are living, the oldest, daughter of seventeen, having lately been married to the lessee of neigh boring plantation. About eight years ago Chang became converted in re- ligious revival, and Eng also embracing the belief, they joined the Baptist Church. They were regular in their attendance thereafter, and retained their standing as good Christians. Their tempers, however, were not improved by the spiritual change, and before the emancipation their slaves were the most whipped of any in the region. The Re- | hn11 IL III seriously impaired their wealth. To repair their losses they again exhibited themselves through the country, but they were only moderately successful, owing partially to rapacity which pre- vented managers from having anything to do with them. A greater curiosity in their line had sprung up, too, in the two-headed girl-two negro children from South Carolina, who are joined at the hips, and who are on exhibition in Paris. Chang and Eng had grown uglier as they had grown older, the lat. ter especially being wrinkled, thin, and bent Their tempers were soured, and they quarreled with each other con- stantly. They had grown greatly in in- telligence, however, and were more sensible to the gaze of the crowd. At the Revere House, where they boarded, they received few visitors, to whom they complained of the necessity which had driven them back into show life. They also retained strong secession pro- clivitles. During their absence their wives managed the plantations. Those of the children who were not deaf mutes were sent to school, and are now we'll educated. Before their last exhibition here the twins had been again in Europe.
 The cause of their moroseness as they grew older is believed to have been the probability of the fatal effect of one's death upon the other. The idea of separating them by surgical operation had been often broached, but physi- cians had generally agreed that it would kill them. Therefore each was haunt ed with dread of being left bound to his dead brother, with almost certain 1 ty of dying under any attempt to sever him from the corpse. While in Paris and London, they consulted the most eminent surgeons. One experiment., however, dashed all hope of separate | existence. Their lagature was com pressed until all circulation of blood
 between them was stopped. Eng soon tainted, and removal of the compress was necessary to prevent death. This
 proved that neither could sustain a separate circulation of the blood, and
 to have cut the ligature would have killed both. With this knowledge, they
 returned to their homes and lived as they
 had done before. Later the health of
 Eng grew worse, and Chang was fre-
 quently obliged, although we'll himself to keep to his bed with his sick brother.
 But about year ago Chang suffered a paralytic stroke, from which time his , health was the worse of the two. He
 took to drink as relief from suffering.