The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1878-01-15
TALL AND suORr MEN.
Mig and Little Wen and women
over Eight Feet the Maximum,
and Twenty two Inches the MIn-
imum.

The New York Times says; At one
of the public halls are now on exhibit
ton a couple of the tallest human be-
ings in the civilized world. At anoth-
er public hall not far from the first
mentioned one, are two remarkably lit
tie human beings, who arc believed 10
be the smallest couple ever exhibited
in any country. Martin Van Buren
Bates, who was born in Kentucky, is
81 year, OF age, weighs nearly 500
pounds, and is feet / inch IN height.
His wife was born in Nova Scotia, is
2S years of age, weighs 4l3 pounds.
and is : feet inches IN height. When
but years old she was as tall as her
mother, who was 5 feet high. Her
father was only feet 4 inches in
height. This loving couple may be
said to represent 'linked sweetness,
long drawn out" Gen. Mite is turned
l3 wears of age, weighs but pounds,
and is only % inches IN height. His
hands are smaller than those OF any
known living baby. Miss Minnie
Obom, who stands beside him on the
platform, is in her thirteenth year, and
is but % inches in height. Either of
man race is supposed by most persons
who have seen them % be the smallest
human being living. This, however,
is not true, if vi may believe the To
kio (Japan) Times of Oct 90, which
says that dwarf, said 90 be 81 years
old and only ! foot 3 inches high,
named Sato Yukichi, is about % be ex-
hibited in that city. This is a depth
OF diminutiveness truly wonderful. IL
would hardly be more surprising to
read the announcement Of n giant
years old and 81 feet high, The irreg
ularity of proportion for which Mr.
Yukichi is conspicuous is not less re-
markable than his cOndense compact
ness. His head is seven inches and
half long, while all the rest of his body
measures only seven inches.
The height Of men, according 10 Vii
lerlne, varies from feet % inches TO 8
feet ten inches, aud thus gives an aver
age Of feet 3, inches. Taking the
extremes of individuals known, being
II inches for a dwarf spoken of by
Burch and Button, and 9 feet inches
for a Finlander mentioned 10y Sapply,
the medium would be . feet inches.
But those cases may be regarded as
quite abnormal. The Esquimaux were
long considered the smallest race OF
men on the face of the globe. Heru
de Paw has asserted that the men do
not exceed feet inches and the wO-
men 4 feet inches. Subsequent in-
vestigation by Drs. Bellebon aud Cue
rault has, however, proved that the
average Of the lowest tribes is feet p
inches, and that some others attain
feeth g. inches. The smallest family
of known men is the Boschmans, OF
South Africa, whose medium height is
given as 4 feet inches. Some other
tribes OF that continent rival them.
but are not quite so short. Henry NJ
Stanley, the explorer, mentioned IL
one Of his letters having come across
race Of dwaris OF most minute stat
ute, bat the details have not reached
US. As for the tallest races, they are
the Norwegians in Europe, the Kaitirs
in South Africa, some Of our North
American Indians. the Polyneslans,
and, finally, the Patagonians, whose
average height is given by numerous
travellers worthy OF credit az five feet
ten inches. Taking these last as the
highest, and the Boschmans "a the
lowest, we obtain an average Of feet
. inches. But the savants who have
studied this subject, considering the
small proportion OF very short races,
have decided on fixing the medium
height Of the human race at . feet A.
inches. The average OF the four per
sons now on exhibition IN this city Is
precisely . feet.