Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-08-14
LIVING IILIPUTS. E
Interesting Interview With General
Tom Thumb" He Talks Freely Con-
cerning limeeif, His Wife and Poor
- Minnie Warren"
Boston Herald.

- Minnie warren.
Boston Herald.
The recent death, at the home OF her
parents in Middleboro, Mass, OF " MIN
ME Warren" the brightest and sweetest
member of the little family Of hllputlans
which Barnum introduced to the sight
seeing world, has drawn anew to those dl-
minutive people the affectionate and
sympathizing gaze, through the mlnds
eye," Of thousands who III years past
have viewed their tiny figures and
listened to their clever stage perform
ences with ever-increaslng interest
and delight; and the question has
been so frequently heard since the an
nouncing of Minnie's death, What
have tom Thumb and his company
been doing, lately, and how is he getting
along ?"-that representative OF the
Herald, day Or two since, found him.
self slowly moving out of one OF our
CITY railroad stations, towards the md
die of breezy, sunny afternoon, With
a ticket for Middleboro tucked In his
Maitland, bound for the home OF the
diminutive general, with a view to
obtaining from him such information
regarding himself and his little friends
as could be gained from an hours con-
yersation. y Before pulling the
bell, and while the writer was taking
brief exterior view Of the handsome
house and neatly trimmed lawn, short
stout little vest pocket edition OF an or
binary man, wearing clean starched,
light brown linen coat, and a round,
fat-Crowned cap, trotted rather than
walked around the corner OF the house,
upon the plaza, and bestowed a cues
tioning glance upon the reporter. 1t
was Tom Thumb; not the slim-tgul ed,
boyish little fellow whom the ladies
used to pet so much thirty years ago or
so, but stouter, broader-chested, more
manly looking person. with a closely
clipped moustache and goatee, though
still of the same dimuntlve stature
which has made him an object OF so
great interest to thousands of people all
over the world. An explanation of the
writer's indemnity and the object OF his
call elected hearty welcome, and an
invitation to step indoors, where IN the
parlor, were found Major Newell, the
late husband of Minnie Warren, and
Mr.. Sylvester Blocker, who for fifteen
wears has been Tom Thumbs business
manager.
"Of course everybody knows a good
deal about me already, SO III just give
you what may be, perhaps, new to
most of your readers, without going
into any detailed statement of my life
experiences, which would fill dozen
books" said the general, sitting on a
lounge IL the parlor. 4" might say,
however, that was born in Bridgeport,
Conn.,, January 4, 1888. being the third
Of four children-two boys and two girls
all but myself being of ordinary stature.
[ weighed nine pounds when [ was
born, within half a. pound Of one OF my
sisters, who has since attained a weight
IN the neighborhood Of two hundred
pounds; SO you can see how the gap
has widened between us. My father,
Sherwood E. Stratton-my name is
Charles S.-was a carpenter by trade
until after Mr.. Barnum began to eX-
hibit me. when he travelled with us.
My mother is now alive, at the age of
81, [ think, and is residing at West
Haven, Conn. My eldest sister died
two years ago, but my other brother
and sister are both married and have
families. It was in the latter part of ~
that Mr.. Barnum first began to exhibit
me. At that time / was really but 4
Years old, instead Of IL, as [ was called
at that time During all these thirty
six years have been almost constantly
travelling On Januery Is, 1914, Mr..
Barnum and [ sailed for Europe, and
our great successes there are matters of
history which you would hardly be in
terested in my detailing to you.
Il have often wondered how you re-
ceived your famous nickname-if you
will excuse the term-of General Tom
Thumb'og TEi1 Nr8; =tGG-} Ugt5
"Well.',' said the general, loosely,
. [ suppose that Mr.. Barnum and Queen
Victoria divide the honors. Previous
to my presentation to the queen, at
Buckingham palace, in "A, / had been
known simply as Tom Thumb, but the
queen, when I had been presented to-
her in that form, said with a smile
You ought to have a title. Think /
shall, have to call you General Tom
Thumb The Duke of Wellington and
several others Of the nobility were pres
ent at the time, and Of course her
maiesty's words were. instantly adopted;
and became general from that time
forward. Speaking of the duke" said
the general, breaking off, reminds me
Of the time when he first came to see
me at one of my public levees in Egypt
ian hall, Picadilly, London, in 40. |
was personating Napoleon Bonaparte
at the time of his entrance to the hall,
marching up and down my little plat
form, and apparently, taking snuff and
meditating deeply. The great duke,
his attention probably drawn by my
costume-my coat was of the we'll
known regulation dark green, with red
trimmings and brass buttons my
preoccupied air. asked me what [ was
thinking of. For a momenb0I knew
not what to reply, but almost immedi-
ately a happy thought occurred to me,
and replied gravely: " [ am thinking
of the loss Of the battle of Waterloo"
This neat retOrt was of course too GOOD |