The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-08-09
Tom Thumb and His VIE

lsoslicnce Journal.
Tom Thumb, or Charles Stratton,
as lie was called in his baptismalnamc,
was, at his birth, as all the world
knows, an understood specimen of hu-
manity. If he was not put into Q
quart pot, he might have been, accord
ing to what was said by his mother,
who avcrrcd that no hardly measured
r pint. lie grew up in strength OF
brain and in physical health, but with
only q small development in anatomi-
cal structure and adiposc tissue
Barnum found him in his rural home,
and after some pleasant negotiations
with his progenitors, brought him in
to notoriety among the curiosities Of
the celebrated museum. 1t was forty
years or moro ago when the great
American rcpcrtory WAS at the corner
OF Ann street, ia New York, that wan
'dering through the shadowy and II IS
tcrious halls, and wondering over
birds, and beasts, and wax figures,
monkeys, and relics of the revolution,
We first made acquaintance with tho
little imam Of bridgeport. lie was in
the prime an beauty Of q black
coa'cc. tapcrlna t like the tail OF q
y.tntis swallow, willie his trowscrs,
,i.9cf the ministerial hue, and fault
4. 3 u. sst, Meln strapped under boo !
nat n Chinese princess might havs
orn, and that glistened like polishct
mirrors. Small in size he wac, yet
great in his adopted name, because his
measure was advertised in inches
And so he continued increasing in
fame, but not in stature, for many
.....t L. kal oas,.I N rrn n rfa~
BILE portion of this worlds goods, and
felt that he might retire from the gaze
OF admiring eyes to the quiet fields
and forest shades of his birthplace. ;
Lavinia Warren was also small and
under-sized at her birth, and grew
but little up to the time OF her maid
cnhood. happy thought OF Bar
mum led him to seek an interview with
her parents, and to engage her as ono
of the stars Of his museum. She took
her position among the orbs Of his
celebrated armament and held 1t for
several years. 1t was here that she
found her Thumb; it was here that
her Thumb found her. Under the
tapestry of the museum walls, be-
meath tho gazc of revolutionary wor-
thics peerfng from worm-eaten can
vases, companioned by Daniel Lam
bert and tho stuffed tiger from Bengal,
and encouraged by the voice Of the
parrot and the chattering OF the mor-
KEY, the romantic passion warmed up
and scethed and bubblel, and two
young and fond hearts, as q poet has
said
Like snow ,faiis. meeting
Meilowsds Into one.
There was q 1amo of love, notwith.
.i.nding the GOODNESS of our similc,
"a it leapcd and dourishcd until La.
mia and Thomas wero sct Into .
laze.e 1t gave NEW ornament to the
. rcen curtain, IL spanked in the chan
dciicr, it added q Ulster to the foot
lights, and it sounded wedding pre-
lutles in the inspiring hnrmonies Of
the Amazonian bass-viol and other in-
struments of the customary band.-
And in proper time, after all profess
sional engagements had been fulfilled,
Lavinia and Thomas were married.
There were wedding presents, and
sports and junketin2s after the solemn
ceremony, but the bride and BRIDE
groom, in that modesty which always
marked their character, retired from
the festive scene to the valley In Mas
sachusetts which they had selected for
their future home. And thore evor
since they have lived, u~ndisturbed by
tho illusions Of the public stage, AZ
cept in occasional dramatic episodes,
and perfectly contented in their se-
questered dwelling among wood and
streams and towering hedges. II tho
famings Of remembered chandeliers
have occasionally blazcd in upon them,
they have Illuminated the delights Of
their pleasant retreat, and the visions
of the polar bear in his stuffed integ-
ument, the happy family, and the pa
,thetic seal in his tank, have only added
to the pleasures Of . quiet abode.