Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-11-23
A BIG MAN.
Louis Cornelius, the Pike County 6Pa
Giant.

A BIG MAN.
Louis Cornelius, the Pike County fPa.
| Giant.
A monster of corporosity died j,
Milford, Pike County, Pa, on Sept. Q
1S41. His name was Louis Cornelius
and he was noted hotelkeeper in hi.
day. When in good health Corneliu:
weighed between seven and eight hun
dred pounds. His exact live weigh,
never was known, as he had an extra
ordinary antipathy to being weighed
After his death, which followed Short
but extremely wasting illness, he was
weighed and accurately measured b,
five of his fellow townsmen, whose
record Of that performance appears to
this day in the following quaint chron-
icle inscribed on the fyleaf of one Of
the musty record books in the County
Clerks office:
Louis Cornelius died Sept. q. 1871.
Dimensions are as follows:
Height, & feet.
Circumference below the waist. s
circumference at the waist. ..... 6 5. o.,
Circumference arm below elbow.... 9 So
circumference arm at elbow ..!.... 8
circumference wrist ................ 3
Circum, erence thigh ............,... 4 9
circumference Gulf of leg. ...........2 z
Circumference ankle. ...........,...
Weight, CASH. pounds without clothing.
We do certify that we were present and assist
ed in weighing Louis Cornelius after his death.
and thai the statement above is true ana cor
rect
Horace L. West John Schimmel, NJ. Dimmicl,
e. b. Eldred, o. H. Mott.
One day, according to the local
legend, some workmen were digging a
sewer in Main street. Among them
was a strapping big Irishman from
Port Jervis-a quarrelsome bully-who
had more than local reputation as a
pugilist. He had heard of the Pike
County giant, and made up his mind
that before he left town he would
measure strength with him. He did
not have long to wait. One afternoon
Cornelius happened to be in the neigh
borhood of the sewer, when he was esE
pied by the Port Jervis bruiser, who
hurried out of the ditch and confronted
him on the sidewalk.
"Stop," he shouted, as he faced him,
II want to spake wild We"
Cornelius halted, as he was babe.
$50 ye're the Pike County giant,
are YEP"
Cornelius was too much astonished
to reply.
"Weil, I'm the Orange County
bully, and I'm goin' to lay ye out afore
go back to me work"
II d-don't want to fight" stammered
Cornelius, his teeth chattering with
fright.
Eight We must, and quick, too, /"
continued the bully, feeling easy as to
the result of the scrimmage, as he adj
vanced ferociously upon his unwieldly
antagonist.
Cornelius was too big to run and too
cowardly to fight, but he had to de-
fend himself, so, doubling up his huge
fist, he struck one blow at his oppo-
nent and fed from the scene as rapidly
as his size would allow, without even
looking back.
The bystanders heard crunch, such
as battering ram might make as it
strikes board wall. Then they saw a
tall and angular Irishman spring back
ward half dozen feet into the air and
fall to the ground like log. They
went to him and found that his. face
had been crushed almost into pulp.
His nose was fattened and his Jaw
shattered. The bully had been alto
gether unprepared for the blow, and
the entire weight of the two giants
met at the end Of Cornelius arm. That
established the prowess of the Pike
County man, even if it did not do SO
much for his courage, and from that
time on he was never coaxed into an
other fight.
While he was extremely cowardly.
Cornelius would never allow any dis
turbance in his hotel. One day, when
he was sitting in his big armchair at
the open window, drunken guest be-
came unduly boisterous and refused to
go out when Cornelius requested him
to. Whereupon the host caught the
man by the nape Of his neck and seat
of his trousers and, without stirring
from his chair, tossed him through the
window, over the porch and into the
gutter on the other side of the pave
ment.
Cornelius suffered greatly from the
heat. In summertime his favorite
resting-place was in the hotel cellar
and in the severest winter weather he
was accustomed to walk around the
streets in his shirt-sleeves.