The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-06-04
ODD WOMEN.


hands toward the end of the last century ::
/ yet she earned an honest living for herself
| by means of her toes and two little stumps
where arms ought to have been.
] She cut out paper profiles, land painted
miniatures, in an old, but most ingenious
way, by the aid of her stumps and toes.
| After exhibiting at Bartholomew and
other fairs, she was employed by the Earl
OF Morton to paint his miniature and the
f! picture when finished was shown to George
the Third. The monarch enabled her to
receive further lesons,in drawing and paint
ing from Mr.. Claig and then she earned
a livelihood for many years by aid of the
pen and pencil, helped out by small pen
sion she abandoned caravan life at fairs,
ana was professional at her own house.
She fell IL love with some body, or somebody
with her, and married but the world still
knew her as Miss Biffn, and under this
name she died about quarter of century
ago.
Another lady, who IN early age exhibited
for money, was Miss Hawiin, born so COM
pletely without arms that she had not even
stnmps, and was in that respect worse off
than Miss Biifin. Dressed neatly, with
powdered hair suitable to the days of old
Queen Charlotte, she sat on table, her
naked feet visible beneath frilled trowsers:
with her toes she managed to cut out
watch-papers, grasping and working the
scissors in some inexplicable way; and
still more reniarkable-used needle and
thread for sewing and stitching
Bearded women are more odd than Iowa
ble ; there have been some such to astonish
the world. There was one Bartc. Graetie,
in the sixteenth century, Of whom a Dor
trait exists in the Stutgaidt gallery, rep
resenting her as young woman of about
five and twenty, with very large beard.
Still more remarkable was Barbara Ursierin,
the ''hairy faced woman OF Aughsburg."
about forty years later. Her face and
hands weie hairy nearly all over-sadiy
like some species of monkey; the beard
was almost as long and spreading as the
hair Of her head. This hirsute lady was
not doomed TO single blessedness for one
Michael Vanbeck married her, and carried
her about as a show. Two engraved por-
traits of her are extant, and there is no
reason to doubt the variability Of the phe-
nomenon.
What are we to say of pig faced ladies?
There have been claims for many, but the
search for their authenticity seems to have
been as uncertain as Mr.. Thom's search for
reliable evidence concerning the alleged
age of old Parr and Henry jenkins.
Our narrative tells that a newly married
lady Of rank and fortune, being annoyed by
the importu mites of wretched beggar
woman, who was carrying a dirty, squalling
child, exclaimed, Take away your nasty
pig; / shall not give you anything
Wiereupon the iucensed beggar retor.e6
''May your own child, when it is born, be
mole like pig than mine!' Alas, the
lady'S child camc into the world with a
pigs face grew up to be woman, beau
tiful in form all except tho face, but hog
gish in feeding and manners, and lived and
died in a hospital founded and maintained
by her wealthy parents.
Equally veracious, we suppose, was the
story Of Belgian gentleman who re-
nounced the church and embraced Judaism.
the first child born to him afterward had a
pigs face; bat in later years, when the
father recanted and the daughter was bap-
tized, the face miraculously changed to
human form.
A third story is Of that Of Janakin Skin
ker, born in Rhenish Holland, in 1913, well
proportioned in form else, but pig faced,
and having no other power of language
than grunt. She, or her parents, offered
forty thousand pounds to any gentleman
who would marry her. Many gallants
came, but one and all begged to decline
when they had seen her. Unfortunately,
two printed pamphlets exist, one in Eng