The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-06-26
TALLEST PAIR IN TIE WORLD.

TALLEST PAIR IN TBE WORLD.
Captain and Mrs. Bates-How They Live,
and Other interesting Particulars.
In the st. Paul (Minn.) Pressis found
interview with the two largest peo-
pie in the world, which, for the pecul-
iarity of the details and the vividness
with which they are given, is quite in
teresting:
Captain Martin Van Buren, Bates was
born in Whitesburg, Letcher county,
Ky., November 9, 1916. He ia seven
feet eleven and one-half inches in
height and weighs. 47S pounds. His
father was about six feet tall and his
mother was a lady of ordinary stature.
He was the youngest of twelve children,
seven boys and five girls, and the tallest
of his family, except himself, was n
during the war, and who wal six feet
and two inchesin height. No cases Of
extraordinary size have ever been known
Il any of his ancestors, and his extraor-
binary development must be viewed
simply as a freak Of nature, as it cannot
be accounted for on any scientific
grounds.
Nature, as usual, did not propose to
do things by halves, and in 1849 Miss
Anna 81. Swan was born in Colchester
county, Nova Scotia, and, as the sequel
shows, she was intended as companion
for the big boy. Her parents were
rather small-sized people, her father
being but five feet and four inches in
height anG weighing las pounds, while
the mother was five feet and two inches
and weighed 40 pounds when in robust
health. She had three brothers and
five sisters, all of ordinary size, and no
other case of remarkable growth has
ever been known among her progeni.
tors. Mrs. Bates was as tall as her
mother when six years, of age, but she
continued to shoot upward until to-day
she is exactly the same height as her
husband, seven feet and eleven and one
half inches, her weight being 413
pounds. '''''<'
Both the lady and gentleman are per-
fectly proportional. every member cor
responding and aiding to produce a SYM
metrical but colossal figure. When the
reporter called Mrs. Bates, who is an e1-
ceedingly fne-looking lady, was dressed
in q handsome blue silk, cut in the most
fashionable style, with bands of delicate
white lace at The throat and wrists. She
wore a quantity of very elegant iewelry
and her hair was dressed high. thus
making her appear taller than her state
ly lord.
Captain Bates is a perfect Apollo in
figure and quite q Chesterfield in man
ners. He has q frank, pleasant face,
giving clear indication Of the massive
heart within him. His garments are
all of the latest style and 6t perfectly.
He affects only a neatly waxed mus
tache, his broad cheeks giving evidence
Of a close intimacy with a keen razor.
Captain and Mrs. Bates are people of
more than ordinary intelligence, and
show that they have improved, the op-
portunities they have had for acquiring
information of people and places during
their extended travels.
.Do you think you have stopped
growing, captain ?" asked the reporter.
Captain-Well, I hope I have. I have
reached the height Of my ambition and
have got things pretty we'll fixed to en-
joy life as I am now.
Reporter-Were you brought up to
any businessP , ,-l...
Captain-I am q thorough granger.
I was brought up on a farm and now I
own one myself at Seville, Medina oun
ty, Ohio. have 161 acres in fine shape
and take great pride in it.
! -Reporter--You have a giants castle
on it? "
- Captain Yes, we have pretty good
house; the lower story is twelve and
one-half feet in height and the upper
one twelve feet; u doorwaysf are eight
and one-half feet high, while ordinarily
they are seldom over six and one-half.
Reporter-Of course your furniture
compares with the building?
Captain-In every room we have chairs
for my: wife and myself, but of course
we have ordinary furniture for our friends
and servants. Our own furniture was
made expressly for us by Herndon, OF
Cleveland. The bedstead is eight feet
and four inches long and five feet six
inches in width. The chairs, bureau,
washstands, and in fact everything, cor
responds. we experienced a good deal
of inconvenience when travelling on &C.
count Of the diminutive size of the ordi-
nary furniture. I took a fancy to a
spring bed, and had one made at Hart
ford. It is a big thing.
Representatives, you have been since
you left the FARM?
Captain-I served in the Fifth Ken
lucky infantry dnring the war. Confed-
crate, you know; but I was in one of the
bravest hrigades the world ever saw.
Since then I have been amusing myself
mostly by travelling about looking at
little men and women.
Reporter-The ready-made goods
stores are of but little use to you, cap
tain. - go
Captain-Not a bit. There is not a
single garment or article I use but what
has to be made especially for me. Ny
boots are about No. II, and are made
for me by a man in Seville. My hats
are nearly a nine, my collars twenty-five
inches, and I guess if my gloves were
gagged they would run up to at least
fourteen. have the most trouble with
my clothes my trousers, in fact. You
see the cloth is made narrow, and while
il is all right for men of ordinary size, a
pair of pants for me consumes an i'm
mense quantity unless the nap runs both
ways. My wife says it takes just about
three times as much cloth for my clothes
as for men Of the usual size.
Reporter-Oaptain, does your strength
correspond with your size?
Captain-I think it would if I devel-
oped it. I have raised lap pounds,
square Lift, which looks small beside the
$500 pounds lift of Winship, but You
know he did that in harness. have al
ways feared training myself, and hence
have never made any great efforts. In
my present course Of life of course I de-
velop no muscle.
Reporter-Did you ever hear of any
person 80 large as yourself?
Captain-No, sir. I am satisfied that
I am the biggest man in the world, and
probably as large Is ever was born. [
have devoted much time to studying the
subject, and I am satisfied that there
never existed a race of giants, Is is
claimed. There is actually nothing to
corroborate the theory. They claim
that men of gigantic stature are vouched
for hu tho Pib1a pIoipo tbot pra bnow