The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-12-21
A Philosophical Giant.

Captain w w. Bates, Of Ohio, who
lacks only half an inch of being eight
feet high, was found yesterday IN his
rooms, sitting in front Of the stove.
chatting with bis wife. the Nova Scotia
giAntess- The captain is brave gen.
tleman who takes life seriously. In his
boyhood he enjoyed good common
school education, which he ha, since
supplemented with wide reading. espe-
cially on the subject of physical devel-
opment. HIS pet theory Is that mental
development leads TO growth of body.
and physical development. to growth
of mind. always provided that the de-
velopmeut Is normal.
The Captain is satisfied tina, the race
is not dezensraiing physically, aud that
bigger men are produced nowadays
than ever before. Gniiah, be says, is
described as six cuSits aud span in
stature, but who knows for certain how
much cubit was: Besides. the Jews
were small people. and who would
nave regarded with wonder a man who,
among taller race. nigh. have attract
ed no special notice. So of the big
Greek and Roma heroes; in the absence
Of definite information as to their
inches. the Captain waves them aside.
When he visited England. in 1871, the
year OF his marriage. he devoted con
siderable time to an investigation of
the legends OF the English giants.
First" he said, II went to the
Tower of London, where | found the
suits of armor of the three giants. Og,
Cog and Magog. They relieved each
other, you know. in guarding the gate
o. the tower. and were the captains of
the guard that attended at state execu-
tions. The larges: of the three suits is
that of Og. 1t is composed of steel
bands linked together. to give opportu-
nifty for motion. 1t is al. in one piece.
and is buckled together at the back.
was accompanied by DIR. Buckland, sur
gcon in Her Msjesty's Life Guards. The
armor of Og was taken down from its
brackets and handed to me. thrust
my legs into their proper places in the
suit, and put my head into the helmet,
then inserted my arms into the sleeves.
and tried to strAighten NY body, but l
could not do it. The srmor was to short
for me But the helmet and the foot
pieces were a little too large. The giant
must haye been q monstrous fellow in
breadth and weight, but not more than
seven feet three or four inches in
height
II next went to tho British Museum,
where hangs the skeleton Of Murphy,
the Irish giant. 1t is suspended by =
wire inserted IN the top Of the skull. l
had taken u measuring tape with me
did not measure the skeleton from
the top of the head to the bottom OF
the feet because the vertebr@ of the
spine, separated in life by layers Of car
tilage. in the skeleton are wired closely
together. But ! too. the length Of the
various parts of the body, and especially
of the legs. measurcing them from the
ankle joint to the hip joint. have
forgotten the exact number Of feet and
inches. but when compared them
with the measurements of the cores.
ponding parts of my own body. found
that was the bigger man of the two.
Murphy was only about seven feet
seven inches high, though the stories
make him nine feet high. Either the
system Of measurement must have
changed or else there was humbugging.
rs well as giants. in those days.
II next visited Warwick Castle. and
examined the armor worn by Guy.
Earl Of Warwick. Guy is said to have
been nine feet three inches in height.
On measurement CT the armor, how
ever, found that its wearer was all OF
five inches shorter than am. was
shown the Earls porridge pot, with a
capacity Of forty gallons. his sword five
feet long. his tilting pole twelve fee.
long and twelve inches in circumfer-
encs, and his two-tined iron fork with
q handle as large as crowbsr.''
Having thus disposed of these ancient
giants. the Captain turned his atten-
tion to the modern ones.
"Oae morning." he said, Il sailed
from my lodgings IN a house belonging
To the Duke of Northen,berland, on the
Strand. took train and visited Chang,
the Chinese giant, then on exhibition
in Manchester. When / first entered
the hall. l noticed that Chang wore a
high dress and very thick soled wooden
Chinese shoes. He was seated, and il
was only with tho greatest difficulty
that he could be induced to stand up,
Ho had been advertised as nearly niue
feet high. But ON measurement back to
back with me, the Chinaman proved 10
be about three and one-half inches
shorter of the two.
"Beim. the Frenekman that Barnum
had. WAS only seven feet eight inches
high. Beim once got into fight with
Colonel Goshen. another Of Barnum'.
giants. in the old museum on Broad
way. The cause was jealousy. They
had exchanged q few blows. when Bar
mum who happened to be in the
museum at the time. came rushing up
stairs. Hold on hold on he shouted.
If yoa want TO fight, wait until we can
announce it, Ii will bs first-clAss at.
traction, and will draw well. Both
giants fell to laughing. snd at once
made up. Colonel Goshen is now in
California. He is very clever. intel.
ligsnt fellow. but cal .,ck salt off the
top OF his head. l have met several
other so-cailed giants. but they wers
slender fellows, saplings that have sho,
up without proportional development.
One of these is Col Noah Orr, who now
keeps . restanrant at Marysville. Ohio.
where he is very popular. He is over
seven feet high"