The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1878-01-10
Giants.

| Giants.
Capt. 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. chat
ting with his wife, the Nova Scotia
! giantess. The Captain is a grave gen
his boyhood he enjoyed a good common
school education, which he has since
supplemented with wide reading, es-
pecially on the subject of physical de-
velopment. His pet theory is that men
tai development leads to growth of body
and physical development to growth of
mind, always provided that the develop
ment is normal
The Captain is satisfied that the race
is not degenerating physically, and that
bigger men are produced nowadays
than ever before. Goliath, he says, is
described as six cubits and span in
stature, but who knows certainly how
much cubit or a span was? Besides,
the Jews were small people, and
would have regarded with wonder man
who, among taller race, might have at
| tracted no special notice. So of the big
Greek and Roman heroes; in the ab-
sence 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 consid-
cradle time tc an investigation OF the
legends of English giants.
First" he said, 81 went to the
| Tower of London, where [ found the
suits of armor CT the three giants. Og,
Cog, and Magog. They relieved each
other, you know, in guarding the gate
of the Tower, and were the Captains of
the guard that attended at State execu-
lions. The largest of the three suits is
that of Og. It is composed of steel
bands linked together to give opportun-
| ity for motion. It is all in one piece,
and is buckled together at the back. I
was accompanied by DIR. auckland, sur
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 1 inserted my arms into the
sleeves and tried to straighten my body,
but I could not do it. The armor was
too short for me. But the helmet and
the foot pieces were q little too large.
The giant must have been monstrous
fellow in breadth and weight, but not
! more than seven feet three or fou1
inches in height.
81 next went to the British Museum,
where hangs the skeleton of Murphy,
the Irish giant. It is suspended by a
wire inserted in the top Of the skull. ]
had taken a measuring tape with me.
did not measure the skeleton from the
top of the head to the bottom of the
feet b cause the vertebrae of the spine,
separated in life by layers of cartilage,
IN the skeleton were wired closely to-
gether. But I took the length of the
various parts OF the body, and especially
of the. legs, measuring them from the
ankle joint to the hip joint. I have for
gotten the exact number of feet and
inches, but when [ compared them with
measurements of the corresponding parts
of my own body, I found that [ was the
bigger man of the two. Murphy was
only about seven feet seven inches high,
| Unougn the stories make him nine 1eet
high. Either the system of measure.
ment must have been changed, or else
there was humbugging, as well as giants,
in those days.
81 next visited Warwick Castle, and
examined the arnor worn by Guy, Ear
OF Warwick. Guy is said to have been
nine feet three inches in height On q
measurement OF the armor, however, ]
found that its wearer was all Of five
inches shorter than [ am. / was shown
the Earls porridge pot with capacity
OF forty gallons, his sword five feet long,
his tilting-pole twelve feet long and
twelve inches in circumference, and his
two-tined iron fork with a handle as
large as crowbar.'
The Captain has noticed that the chill
dren born i'll this country, of. emigrants
from Europe, grow up into larger mer
and women than their parents The
cause he finds i'll the climate, and the
more general spread of intelligence
The children learn how to take care Of
themselves.
"In Spain and other countries where
L have Travelled" said Mrs. Bates, &c il
which there is great ignorance among
the people, the average stature is low. -
The Captain instances Wall stree
brokers, successful professional gam
blers, and Mr.. Bunnell, the proprietor
of the New American Museum. as peo
pie who had reached fine physical de.
velopment in consequence OF mental &C.
tlyity. He is opposed to the use oi
strong drink, but is not a teetotaler.
Mrs. Bates said that she had never
known the taste Of TEA or coffee, or any
liquid except water CT milk, up to hel
both year. She is now % years old and
seven feet eleven and a half inches in
height, being just as tall as her hus
band. The Captain is a broad-shoul
dered, finely-developed man 81 years Of
age. He was born in Whitesburg
Ky, but was brought up near Cleve
land, O., where he rolled logs in winter
He is of English parentage; his wife il
of Scotch.