Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-04-21
Mistellaueuns &eadiug.
FAT AND MUSCLE.

FAT AND MUSCLE.
A few years ago Banting and his "pro
cess" were familiar terms to the public. Nov
they are so pearly forgotten that, in con
versation the other day between half dozel
well-informed men, as information in New
York goes, not one could give any clear ide'
of who the great apostle of flesh reduction
was, or of what he had done. Mr.. Bantin&
was an English gentleman, five feet in neigh
and weighing over two hundred pounds Hi
appearance with these proportions was natu
rally quite comical, and while his adipos'
was great personal inconvenience, since i
prevented his tying his own shoes, forced
him to walk downstairs backward and dc
other uncomfortable things. 1t also led to his
being jeered at and secuted by the stree
boys, to his great mental pain. Consequent
ly he tried every possible means to reduce
himself. He took ninety Turkish baths il
succession, drank mineral waters, walked ano
otherwise exercised himself, and lived on six
pence a day, but all in vain. Finally he hi
upon/a doctor who investigated his case
and prescribed a certain regimen by which
he was soon reduced to reasonable proper
tions. This regimen has been published fol
the benefit of the public. 1t was simply to cal
nothing but meat. Avoid the fat-producing
vegetables, milk and the like, of which Bant
ing was so fond, and you will be spared his
unpleasant fate.
1t is question, however, if Banting' 8 regi
men would have any effect on Daniel Lam
bert. With him fat seems to have been q
disease. Lambert was born of ordinary pa
rents, at Leicester, England, on March 13
1770. Up to the age Of nineteen he was
simply muscular fellow, able to lift great
weights and carry FIVE hundred pounds with
ease. Then he succeeded his father as keeper
of the prison, and the sedentary life thus ue
cessitated began to tell upon his bulk.
In 1898 he walked to London from Wool.
wich, to reduce himself He weighed at that
time 448 pounds. The attempt proved un.
avaiing. He grew so fat that he could no
longer attend to the duties of his office, so
the magistrates, in consideration of his hu-
name treatment of the prisoners and his gen.
eral efficiency, retired him on $3.50. Fat as
he was, or rather because he was so fat, he
was all excellent swimmer, and taught that
art to hundreds of young people at Leicester.
In consequence of his immense bulk he could
swim with ease with two men on his back.
After his retirement he became such a pub
lie show that he determined to 60 to London
and turn his misfortune to account. He
went in 1906, unable to walk at this time, in
a vehicle which had to be built expressly
for him. He lived at various places in Lon
don and was assisted by every one from the
king down. Then he made tour of the
country. He enjoyed good health, ate mod
erately and drank nothing but water; was
an intelligent and well informed man, and,
wonder Of wonders, was possessed of o beauti-
full, clear and melodious tenor voice.
In June, 1909, Lambert was weighed. He
tipped the beam at 739 pounds. His meas
ure around the body was three yards four
inches, and he was one yard four inches
around the leg. Each suit of his clothes
cost $l00. Seven ordinary-sized men were
buttoned under his waistcoat with
out straining button. He died on June 20,
1909. His coffin was six feet four inches
long, four feet four inches wide and two feet
four inches deep. 1t took one hundred and
twelve superficial feet Of plank to make it.
Its form was that of a packing case. 1t was
built on two axeltrees and four wheels. The
wall of the room in which he died (for he had
long been incapable of walking upstairs) was
taken away, and he was thus haulded to his
grave. Twenty men worked half an hour
getting the colossal corpse into its last resting
place by sliding it down an inclined plane.
Lambert's fatal disease was dropsy.
Another monster was Edward Bright, a
miller of Maiden, who died on November 10,
1850, at the age of thirty. He was an active
man to within couple of years of his death,
when his corpulency weighed him down and
made life misery to him. At his dsSaise
he weighed GIG pounds. When he was
twelve years old Bright had weighed 144
pounds.
James Mansfield, a butcher, died at Dib.
den, in Essex, on November 9, 1862 in his
eighty. second year. Though not above the
ordinary height, he measured nine feet
around, and weighed 462 pounds. When
sitting in his chair, made expressly for his
use, his abdomen covered his knees, and
hung down almost to the ground. He could
only lie on his side, and his head had to be
bolstered in certain way to prevent suffoca-
ton. In 1851 London went to see him as
the greatest man in the world" in Leicester
square. He was hale and hearty, merry and
good-tempered till his end. 1t was he who,
when he went on journey by rail, had to
register himself as freight, and pay by the
pound, travelling in the baggage car.
The famous Irish giant was born in Kin
sale in 1850. His real name was Patrick
Cotter, and he originally labored as brick
layer. He was eight feet seven and one halt
inches high at the age Of eighteen, when he
ceased growing. Before that age cunning
Snowman, who had stumbled across him, had
hired him under three years contract for
$3.50 year and his keep, to be exhibited.
This fellow took him to England, where he
sub-let him to another speculator.
The giant, who had come to discover what
he was worth as an investment, resisted, and
the precious pair locked him up in spong-
ing. house in Bristol for breach of contract.
A Bristol gentleman who discovered the out.
rage secured his release and gave him money
enough to set up in booth for himself at St.
james fair, near Bristol. In three days he
took in $780, and thus commenced regular
exhibitions, which continued to within two
years of his death. He made money, lived
in good style and kept his carriage. He died
on September 8, 1906, at the Hot Wells,
Bristol
In order to prevent the gathering of a
crowd he was buried at six in the morning,
and then at least 1000 spectators witnessed
the ceremony. He had horror Of body
sna,chers, So his grave was made twelve feet
deep in solid rock. His coffin, of lead, was
nine feet two inches long and three feet across
the shoulders. No hearse could be procured
lonn ennnnh to hold the coffin il took four.