St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-03-10
A Son of Anak.
A USELESS LIFE AND MELANCHOLY
DEATH.


DEATH.
The Ypsilanti, Michigan, Sentinel
gives IL brief account of IL man whose
misfortune it was to he remarkably
larger and stronger than his fellows,
and shows that Notwithstanding the al
most universal desire for unusual gifts,
it is, after all, the dead level of medi-
ocrity which is safest and most COM
Portable, since even the good gifts of
physical strength and noble proportions,
when III excess, may so OstraciSe and
set apart ii man from his brethren, as
to make even his eXcellenccs worse than
useless to him.
Charles Freeman. at some time short
~ before $50, appeared for the first
time among Il gang of laborers on the
Flat Rock and Gibraltar Canal, and he
moved among ordinary men like Il son
of Anak. He was eight feet high, and
measured three feet across the should
er>. His arms where they sprung from
his chest were as large Us Il middle sized
MAJ : body they tapered down to Il
hand three inches thick, and then
doubled INTO Il fist as hi" and hard us Il
rail-spitter'> maui.
He gave his age rs seventeen. and he
was still growing. He hired for the
wages and work of an ordinary hand
but his enormous strength made him Il
most destructive work man. Such IA
Titan should have had giant tools made
on purpose for him for when he seized
an ordinary shovel. it went through the
clay Ike Il brcaking-up pillow, and the
handle soon came off if the blade held
An ordinary aX was but Il feather in his
hand. 1t sank (" the eve in the wood
and the hclve spliuteied. He dealt out
strength i'll bulk. and WAS quite imcapa-
bile of measuring the force laid out, as
Is the manner of ordinary men.
When he stood among Il gang of
lahorcr>. the contrast made them look
like children. The strolling Indians
would stare III amaZement il few mo
ment>, and then with deep ugh -
get ont of sight of him as fast us their
dignity would let them.
He was put to do the work of three
pairs of oxen to remove the trunks of
trees. cut i'll lengths of ten OF twelve
feet, out of the way Of the diggers. lie
did not drag them aside as oxen would
have done. but putting his right hand
under the end of the log. raising ii from
the ground, then balancing it across his
left forearm. he shot it far to one side
with all the ease that skillful work
man piles his split cordwood. And
thus. day after day. the giant moved
until the canal was finished.
lie appeared again on the boats that
Piled along the Huron river, Michigan
He WAS engine and tackle to handle
heavy freig1.t. What others could not
shove or roll, he would pick up and
carry or toss. When the heavily
fIci"htcd boat struck on The. rippl,S. he
just stepped out of the stern and ..loost-
ed her over. Nobody would have felt
surprised if he had taken the whole, boat
and cargo right under his arm. as Il
woman carries n dough-tray and march
ed across by land. when they came to
long bends in the river. Nobody ever
said he did this, bccalISc they never
wanted to eXHggcrate his feats. any
more than we do now.
But navigation did not pay. and that
stopped, too. Some of the fancy"
heard of the uncelebrated giant. aud
took the notion that there was money
IN him. lie WAS as simple as IL child.
lie had no ambition, no desire to eX-
hihil or push himself. and had the most
amiahle of dispositions. ANY one could
lead him. 1t never got through his
skull that he was remarkable The
Sharpers meant to keep him so, and
speculate on his prodigious power
They coaXed him off eastward, under
promise of more profitable employment,
oI the like.
OF course in such company the good
natured giant fell into bad habits, nS
unfortunately. giants are only men, aud
the bad men who captured this son of
kish, made sport of him as the Philis-
tines made sport of the helpless Samp-
SON.
At Buffalo they sent him into Il dock
saloon with IA sixteen hundred pound
anchor under his left arm. Just us Il
chopper carries his ax, to pawn it for
drinks. He got the drinks, and the
keeper WAS glad to treat him for carry
ing it out again.
Thus he and his friends travelled on
his muscle to the s''a coast. and across
to England. They intended to get the
advantage of some English champion
but they had an elephant on their
hands. They had too much of good
thing. A friendly spalring. us an ex-
pertinent. with Il professional boxer,
showed that for him il match with any
living pugilist WAS impossible The
giants face could not he etfectually
reached. Blows on the body might us
well have been planted on sand bag.
When his unskilled maui came down. !
it came with the force of pile-driver,
and no matter what it met, the obstacle |
went to the earth.
by the ruse of representing him as
large and strong, but green, they made |
match of science and skill against
power with Il noted pugilist. The par /
Ties came on the ground, but at the first
sight Of Freeman his opponent turned
away saying. Il came to fight with
large man. not with Il mountain" Sec !
"uds. referees, and all hands declared |
the match fairly "otf"
And now poor Freeman began to per
ceive the worthessness of his mercenary
friends. While they could make use of
him. while there was prospect that lie |
could win fortunes for them, they had |
caJoled and tiattered him; they had
lured him. Il simple, ignorant country
rustic, far away from his home and his |.
few humble friends. Finding nothing
could be made out of him. his sharp at
PENDANTS deserted him.
From Michigan to Liverpool the route
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