The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1878-10-02
THERE BE GIANTS IN
THESE DAYS.
And Two of Them are Quarter
ed at the Palmer HOuSe-An
Interesting Chat with an
Eight-FOOt Man.
From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.

The main parlor of the Palmer House
was yesterday the centre of curiosity,
| for there were quartered in it the big
! gest man and woman known on earth
| This is no idle talk, as any one who call
| ed upon the pair had ocular demonstra-
ton. Captain and Mrs. NJ V. Bates
they are called, and each lacks only half
an inch of being eight feet. They have
recently arrived from Europe and are
en- route to ST. Louis When one first
enters the room his first impression is
that tho tales of Jack the Giant Killer
and the adventures of CULVER quite pos
sibly had some more solid foundation
than mere fancy, for before you stands
two as formidable giants, physically; as
were even drawn by story-tellers Yet
they arc as gentle, as affable. as courte-
Gus, and as intelligent a couple as one
would care to meet Captain Bates Is a
native of Kentucky, is +? feet III inches
high, weighs 496 pounds, measures 65
inches around the chest, wears a No. 8
hat, 26 inch collar, 10 boot, and is 80
years of age. He dresses neatly in
black, wears a massive gold chain, at
tached to which is a gigantic watch, a
present from Queen Victoria, wears a
massive diamond in his shirt bosom, and
a fashionable collar and scarf; has asrud-
dy, healthy complexion, pleasant smile,
and is IL ready talker. Altogether lie is,
as the reader can very we'll see, an extra
ordinary giant, for your mammoth men
are generally slovenly, dull, ignorant fell
lows. Mrs. Bates is Il native of Nnvia
Scotia, of Scotch descent. Her height is
exactly the same as that Of her husband.
Her weight is 445 pounds. She is we'll
formed, and can hold her own in CONVEX
satiOn. For the benefit of the female
1.1c Il t1,a4 -
five yards of goods to make her IA dress.
The Inter Ocean reporter found her array
ed in a fashionably-cut dress of green
silk, and fingers, ears and neck orna-
mented with diamonds in modest guam
tity.
In course of conversation the Captain
expressed his. firm conviction that the
race was not degenerating physically,
but men to-day were more robust and
taller than they were several centuries
ago. He had come to this conclusion by
observation while abroad While in
London he visited the Tower, where the
armor of noted soldiers In English histo-
ry is kept, and he-is confident that not
one in ten of the average men of to-day
could get inside of the war-covering of
those military heroes who figure in song
and story. The Captain while in Eng
land devoted considerable time to an in
vestigation of the legend of English
giants. The gigantic proportions of Og,
Cog and Magog the guardians of the
Tower centuries ago, are matters of his
tory. Og was the tallest of the trio, and
his suit of armor lies in that venerable
and Interesting pile. Og is said to have
been eight feet four inches high, yet
Captain Bates tried to get into the de-
ceased giants fighting costume, but
found it entirely too short IL was wide
enough, however The Captain upon
investigation, found that the system of
measurement had been changed years
ago, and ten and One-half inches being
the foot of the period when Og flourish
ed, although he must have been ire
mendous fellow, could not have been
more than seven feet three inches, ac-
cording to modern measurements. Then
he visited the British Museum, where
the skeleton of Murphy hangs. He was
said to have been nine feet, but by Capt.
Bates calculation could not have been
over seven feet seven. Then Chang, the
Chinese giant, who was on exhibition at
Manchester while Potter Palmer's gigan-
tic guest was in England, was visited
vanity was taken down by the
Captain, who after diyesting him of
boots and high head dress,
measured only seven feet eight inches.
Chang announces that he is nine feet
high. During the conversation the
Captain gave some interesting facts
CLEANED from his investigations into the
history of giants and giantesses, and ex-
ploded many of the notions popularity
regarding them. These
wonderful people will be exhibited in
w. w. Coles Great Shows, which visits
Morristown Tuesday, October 10Th.