Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-10-29

mister" When q reporter was writing his
name one day, when he first arrived In the coun-
try, Chez Nah told him how to spell it and what
letters to capitalize, and cautioned him to leave
a space between the Chez and the NAH There
is no doubt that both he and Chang are
genuine Cinnamon. One naturally looks
with suspicion upon all these strange crea-
nearly all what they purport to be- Nearly. not
quite. The idiotic boys from Ohio are neither
Australians nor AZtecs The fat boy is fat
enough to satisfy the curiosity Of the most eager
spectator The living skeleton could hardly be
nearer to one Of the specimens hanging in the
medical schools. have had the pleasure of his
acquaintance for several years, and have been
told his entire history 1t is not specially inter-
esting up to the time he began to grow thin"
as he expresses 1t. This was more than twenty
years ago, and in all that time he has neither
died nor gained any flesh. He is the only one
OF the entire lot who does not seem satisfied
with his fate, and this, no doubt, is because he
was once an ordinary man, without any special
distinction. He says he lost flesh gradually till
he lost more than double the one-third Of total
weight that the doctors say a man can lose and
still live. There is something ridiculous and re-
pulslve in seeing parcel of bones thus defraud
the undertakers for score of years. He was at
one time the most widely advertised curiosity in
the country. When he was first drought out"
his exhibitor was sbrewd enough to get
some of tie prominent physicians interested
In his case, and their opinions were given wide
circulation in the newspapers. These opinions,
while they were Of intrinsic value to the skele,
ton, eXasperated him beyond degree. II
couldn't see" he said to me one day, latter
reading some of their remarks, how could
possibly live another day. When l read Dr..
IS opinion / was convinced that / was
already dead. But I still have pretty fair
appetite" What the skeleton calls pretty
fair appetite his shOwmen consider the most
vOraciOus one they ever saw. for he eats enough
in one ordinary meal to satisfy whole family
of giants for q week.
known Snowman one day. "YOu needn't write
it up, for it would make fool of me; but it has
made good deal of an impression upon me.
What do you think of Metempsychosis?''
There was only one answer to make: "All
bOsh."
81 am not so sure of that" said the Snowman.
when had museum in Louisville in 1859 1
had one of the best giants you ever saw. He
was over feet high, and weighed between 400
and 500 pounds He was the best card had.
but he died. and the only thing 1 regret in my
whole business career is that | made an adver-
tsement of his funeral. 1t was an immense
affair, and it paid. We had to make him seem
little bigger even than he was, and the coffin
was nearly II feet long, and was carried on a
lumber wagon, draped in black. That was
people in Louisville at this time who remem-
Der the giants funeral He was buried in a
grave IL feet deep, for effect. Well. one day
last spring l was in the museum in the
morning, when in came Tommy
and said he had a dwarf to let for SIS week
went back with him to his hotel to look
at the dwarf, and / no sooner set eyes on his
face than saw the face of poor old Donald the
giant we buried in Louisville. He had the same
hair, the same eyes, and the same features and
even the same teeth. Donald had one upper
front tooth gone, and so had the dwarf DON
aid had little nick in the top Of his right ear
and so had the dwarf. 1 saw the dwarf start
and grow pale when he looked at me. AS for
me. was in cold perspirati0n, and felt faint
There was Donald, the giant, standing before
me, only dwindled from eight feet to three. The
dwarfs manager saw looked sick, and we
went out together into the air. l have never
seen the dwarf since. He was in Melbourne
few months ago. and hope he will stay there
What made it all the more singular, Donald was
always so proud Of his size, and showed the
dwarfs around out of his way like so many cats.
The dwarfs all hated him, and he despised them.
1t may be the poor fellows punishment"
The amusements of these singular beings, as
may easily be imagined, are few. They dare not
show themselves in public, or they become too
familiar to the people Sometimes they live in
the museums where they are exhibited and
sometimes in clearinghouse When in the
latter place dwarfs and giants and skeletons and
fat boys are put together without ado, and those
of them who have ever heard it cannot fail to
realize that poverty makes strange bed-fel-
lows" They are only mortal, after all, these
people, and. hike the rest of u.s. they have their
little failngs. Some Of them have weakness
for gin. Hardly any of them refuse malt liquors
They have to be very careful in their drinking
for they are almost constantly on exhibition
Sunday is their only time, and they take advan-
tage of it. There may be seen select company
of curiosities. including hairy men, bearded wo-
men, skeletons, giants, dwarfs, musicians and
attendants, on Sunday afternoon, gathered
around the big bass drum stood on end, each
awaiting his turn to throw the dice. Whoever
makes the poorest throw is condemned to pay
for the beer. Thus they remember the Sabbath
day and keep it wholly.
There is sometimes an interesting history at
taching to the inanimate objects in these muse
ums. The wax figures for example. They
surely do not come under the Biblical prOhibi-
ton of idols, for they not likenesses of any
thing in the heavens above or the earth beneath.
nor in the waters under the earth. The eye of
the dashing country visitor is caught by them,
however, and they do duty till they are utterly
unable to stand up, or incapable of further re.
pair. l am on intimate terms with wax figure
now on exhibition in this city, that was made in
London, in 1887, according to the lettering on
corner OF the base Among the live inhabitants
OF the museum, the most remarkable attach
ments sometimes spring up. One recent in
stance will sufficiently illustrate. When GER
tain dwarf, still in New York, came to this cOun-
try less than six months ago, he was followed
in the next steamer by huge German giant,
who shed tears when the dwarf left Europe and
could not bear to be separated from him.
In these tidbits of information about Our big
and little and thin and fat and bearded friends,
it is sincerely to be hoped that there have not
been made public enough of the secrets of the
trade to injure the business in the slightest de-
gree. Above all, that nothing has been said to
offend any of the giants, or a certain reporter
will never dare to enter a museum again.-N
Y. Times.
Gen. B. F. Buffers Appetite.
Ben Butler is one of the biggest eaters that
visit the Fifth Avenue Hotel. He devOurs an
enormous quantity of meat, vegetables, milk,
coffee, salads and sweets. A chicken disappears
before him as though he was Methodist
preacher and it was a partridge. He doesn't
affect wines. At his home he has several varie-
ties upon his table, but he drinks only about a
tumblerful Of sherry. If he wants drink he
takes glass of Jamaica rum, or the statesmans
drink, brandy. He eats four meals day. and
Is never troubled with indigestion. He smokes
cigars that are strong enough to knock a ma
rine over. Yet he prides himself upon his tenn
perate life. to which he traces much of his pros