Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-10-29
THE DwARFS AND GIANTS.
Who Some Of Them Are. and How
They Live.

They Live.
QUEER INHABITANTS OF THE MUSEUMS AND SIDE
SHOW TENTs-MIDNIGHT TALKS WITH THE
MoNsTRosrrIES-A TRANSFORMED GIANT-sUN-
DAY AMUSEMENTs.
While our granaries are full, our markets
overloaded with Injuries, and every pantry in
the land well stored with provisions there is
one crop that seems likely to fail us-a crop Of
some Importance, too, as our Barnums and our
Bunnells and our Hamiltons are sure to think.
Every one who ever visited Barnum's Museum
when it stood at Broadway and Ann street and
astonished Young America with It's real and
stuffed wonders, must note with aston
ishment and alarm the great falling off
in the production Of natural curiosities. The
stock that Barnum collected 20 years ago
is still doing duty in the museums Of the coun-
try without half dozen additions worthy of
note. Without stopping to think with horror
of the lives of these people who have been ex-
hibiting their deformities since the early Bar
mum days. it is evident enough that the supply
of bearded women, tattoOed men, dwarfs,
giants. living skeletons. and fat men and women
is altogether inadequate to the demand. That
there is law of supply and demand governing
even the production of these monstrosities is
equally evident. Up to the breaking out of the
war Barnum kept his name before the public
and his museum doors continually open. He
had no difficulty in securing all the cufiCsities
he wanted, He was so well-knOwn all the
world over that every new freak of ma
ture was offered him for price, and the
price never stood in the way of his securing
anything worthy of exhibition. With the
breaking out of the war the museum business
fell into decay. There was period of 10 years
when there was not in this city museum wOr-
thy the name. Within the last five years such
shows have sprung into new life, and New York,
Brooklyn. and Jersey City, all have their col
lectiOns of curosities. But they have opened
again with the same old stock of wonders.
There is Capt. COStentenus the tattOoed man.
Barnum brought him out years ago. and any,
body in the country who has not seen him must
live far in the backwOOds. The living skeleton
still one of the heavy attractions, was another
Of Barnum's men. The three dark-skinned peo-
pie, without fOreheads, who masquerade some
times as Australian children and sometimes as
Aztec boys, were found by Barnum in an
Ohio alms-house before the present gen.
Grafton of boys were born. The bearded woman
but it would be ungallant to make any re-
marks about her antiquity. Barnum had her,
and she still draws her share of custom. All
the dwarfs, with the exception of two or three
recent little people, were prOteges Of Barnum.
So were the giants, with the exception of Chang,
the Chinese, and a recent German arrival. There
is Capt. Goshen, the giant, and as big speci-
men of humanity, perhaps, as the middle states
have ever produced. He was one Of Barnum's
IL
Newark. He entered car one day coming up
to the city. The car was in the condition half
filled cars will sometimes reach-wth one man
in each seat looking out of the window. The
giant looked slowly around the car, saw no
whole seat vacant, and then going up to one of
the single occupants of a seat said:
eff two of you little gentlemen will sit to-
gether we can all get along comfortably. Ifany
of you sit with me you'll get squeezed, that's
ALL
TT
and Goshen sat down, filling the entire seat,
without two inches to spare on either side The
fat boy was another of Barnum's pets, and SO
was the man born without hands or feet.
1t is not, however, to gossip about the anti
guilty of the natural curiOsties of the present
day that this article is written, but rather to tell
of some of the personal peculiarities of the
well known legion. For within the last few
years l have had the pleasure of the ac4uaint-
ance of nearly all of them. This is an honor
not easily attained, for they are shy of max
ing friends, being duly impressed with the
lesson taught by Dickens in the "Old Curiosity
Shop" that they must not make themselves too
common, for fear of spelling their business. But
it is entirely another question when the seeker
after an Introduction is newspaper man.
Nothing delights the average dwarf so much as
to see his name in print, and reporter is to
him an angel with quill WINGS putting" every
one with whom he meets. To fall in with these
generally amiabe and always interesting peO-
pie, certain reporter has braved the foul OdOrs
of BOwery museums, been squeezed and stepped
on and elbOwed by unsavOry crowds, has run
the risk Of pickpOckets, and incOmmoded him
self generally. But the result is his reward.
He knows six separate and distinct dwarfs, (not
including the Midgets at least three giants, the
bearded woman, the tattOOed man, the living
skeleton and any number of fat people.
In one of the best of the museums in the bow
cry two or three years ago, the manager took
me about the premises and introduced me to all
the aristOcrats. One of the attractions of the
place was representation of Dante's Inferno
This was given in the cellar Of the building at
the conclusion OF the regular performance, and
a real inferno it was. Hades was a Sulphurous
place in one end Of the cellar, full of red and
green fire and suffOcating smoke. Old Nick
himself sat on fiery throne in the center, and
an assistant imp handed up all the fresh arrivals
on red-hOt pitchfOrk. AS fast as they arrived
Old Nick inquired who they were, and assigned
them places accordingly. The men handed up
for Judgment, Of course, were dummies. AS
the imp handed over one of the largest of them
Old Nick inquired who that was.
''This," said the imp, lis Times reporter"
"Ah, said the old boy, "give him to me. I
have fine hot corner for him."
After being thus prematurely consigned to
blazing den, and being in reality well smoked
and smOthered it was no little relief to reach
the comparatively pure air of the BOwery.
Just as the Centennial Exhibition was about
to open invitations were sent out in Philadel-
pha to visit one of the parlOrs of the Continent
tai Hotel and see one Of the greatest curiosities
ever exhibited. What should be there, standing
on the top Of a strong table, but my old friend,
Capt. COstentenus, the tattooed man, looking
as if he were preparing 20 attend his own fun
eral. He took immenselyin Philadelphia, never
having been seen there before, and all the little
Quaker lads were tattoOing their arms with pins
and writing fluid for weeks after he left HeWas
at his best, physically, at that time. and was
a fine specimen of manly form. He was clad
rather scantily. having nothing on but
a pair Of swimming-t But he did
not look like a naked man, for the
blue tattOOng had the appearance of
tight-fitting clothes. He was Greek sailor, Cor
a solder,) and, together with half dozen Of his
was captured by some savage tribe,
and they were all tattOOed. He was the only
one, according to his story, who outlived the
exceedingly painful operation. The color of his
tattCOing is tOning down with age like an old
Turkish rug. There was suggested to him once
the prOpriety Of having himself skinned, in
small sections at a time, but he did not take
kindly to the idea He is advertised now as 'the
tattOOed Greek nObleman." He is very reticent.
speaks English badly, though he was i'm America
before some of us were born, and is rather in
clned to be surly. He was promenading. few
days ago, in front Of the Brooklyn City Hall.
Though it was warm day, he was well muffled
up, and wore great astrachan cap, with the
front pulled far down over his face to conceal