St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-13
GIANTESS At eleven.
A Girl Six Feet Eight Who Is
Still Fond of Her
Dolls.
Growing an Inch Every Two
Months Without Making
an Effort.
She Weighs Three Hundred
Now, and Some Day May
Weigh a Ton.
The Mammoth Child at Whom
London Is Gazing in As
L
Pail Mall Gazette.

| Prof, DIR. Virchotf, and Dr.. Schmidt
wrote scientific treatises concerning the
| enormous size Of her bones: the comic
and theatrical papers had their say
about the gigantic woman sitting Oh the
| floor and playing with dolls and toys,
and the daily press brought many tale
and many an anecdote concerning
Elizabeth, the infant phenomenon. A
| few weeks ago this girl arrived in
London, and walked for the first time
about among the astonished crowd Of
comparative pigmIes at the WestMin-
Ster aquarium.
Gan hour before her first public APP
| pearance (WriteS lady representative
| of the Gazette) l made my way through
thick black fog. overhanging the
region OF st. Stephens, to pay call of
| welcome to the Russian gianteSs. She
was not in, | was told; had gone home
to get something to eat but would be
| back in few minutes. How does she
! manage to go home without being
m0bbed?' asked the secretary, into
whose office l had been led, through
labyrlnthine rooms and passages. She
drives was the reply, for it would
never do for her to show herself in the
Streets
"'But can she get into cab, the en-
| trance to which is SO very straight?' [
continued, remembering that had seen
portly old ladies and gentlemen, who
made no pretence whatever at being In
any way gigantic. gain the inside of the
elegant four-wheeler in manner which
is vulgarlY termed .broadside on
"'She does not go in cab, but in
large brougham,' | was informed, and
| then we chatted on about Aquarium
entertainments, of which as yet knew
| only what l had seen in passing
through The large hall below, which
looked the more cheerful, with
its hundreds of gas frames, for the
| funereai gloom outside. Occasionally
wave of music came up to the quiet lit
| tie back room, or the voices of the BIZ
joux singers. whose small. glittering
figures were fitting across the stage.
| Presently the Swedish nightingale came
in with fluttered little speech, half in
German and half iii Swedish, and few
minutes later her glorious voice "a
nightingale'S voice indeed) was heard
as she delighted the audience with her
rendering of Home, Sweet Ueme.'
Then the door was thrown open, and a
youthful buttons announced in some.
what awestricken voice, The Russian
Giantess.'
"a gentleman entered, as l found
afterWard the interpreter of fIiZ beth,
and her two relatives, neither of whom
knows a single word of any language
but Russian. thought he was rather
fine-loOking man, the clever linguist
who talked Russian, French, English
and German with perfect ease and
1uency, but his figure seemed to shrink
and shrivel up before that which next
appeared in the doorway. Ie gods,
what woman! thought. as in dumb
amaZement sat and gazed at the tower
Ing figure before me. She was wrapped
in q long, brown ulster, and her face
was overshadowed by broad-brimmed,
simple felt hat, an enormous hat
as | noticed when afterWard she had
put it on q table beside her. B hind
her came two more men, the uncles of
the girl, both typical Russians who only
wanted a sheepskin and top boots to
represent the cars faithful servant,
the humble mouliek. She looked shy
and awkward, the giant child. as she
stalked about the room, divesting her
self of her coat and hat and somewhat
nervOuoly twisting a red silk handker-
chief between her great Shapely hands.
What band of dwarfs we looked as
we gazed up at her, though there was
not a person in the room who. except
considered of at least medium height.
"When she had settled down to a
wide armchair brought my chair next
to her and quietly addressed a few
words to her. | meant them to sound as
if [ were speaking to small maiden of
twelve, but [ am afraid [ did not quite
succeed However. at the sound of her
native tongue. a spark came into her
dark eyes, and she turned quickly to
me with a sweet. shy smile, while her
two friends also drew nearer, with evil
dent delight at hearing their own
tongue through the confusing Babel of
sound.
s'You have been out" 1 began for
want of better subject: ''out in the
fog. have you not?'' Yes she replied,
out ill carriage
do you ever walk Out?' NO: why
should l? | can drive she replied, and
as she said SO she began to frown and
pout. Evidently it was not a eongenal
subject. Consequently tried another.
what q charming dress you are wear
ing; did you do any of the embroidery
y0urself?' | said. touching the sleeves of |
her picturesque national costume. She |
shook her long auburn curlS-naturai |
curIs they are, and of a very beautiful |
color.
'''But you want some beads and a /
headdreSS, a kokOshnik. to complete the |
costume, kO you notv Yes. my beads |
she cried, in childlike excitement, as |
the idea of her finery flashed across her |
head, and Immediately they had to be |
produced and tied round her neck.
"'And do want q kokoShnik: but |
they won't give me one she said, her |
red lips forming again into 'pout'-a |
real childish pout. which has nothing |
whatever OF tine affected mannerism |
which goes for childlIke behavior on the |
stage. Nonsense, nonsense interrupt
ed the uncle. who evidently |
stood in wholesome dread of his
fair niece'S temper. of which he |
told me in murmurcd aside: '.She is
a good girl. but she is obstinate, fear
fully obstinate. How can a child wear
k0koshnik?' he went on. 'Youa are not
woman; you are only a little girl.
shall have kokOshnik like other
women
"'But why do You not wear your
hair in pIait, as all the Russian girls
do. and have it tied at the end with
ribbons, red and blue and white?" Il
have not enough hair she said, and it
looks pretty with curls.' 1t was here
suggested that she should let her hair
hang quite loose when she went down
into the nan. NO she cried, ITS ugly:
1t hangs over my face; want ribbon:
| won't have it all down.
"'But look into the glass, it looks |
we'll like this, was urged: and again, as
any child would do, the towering woman
gave over our heads shy. quick glance
at erimage in the glass, aud then. as if
ashamed of such vanity. the blood
rushed into the clear, olive skin of her
face. and she put her two big hands be-
fore her eyes. l have never seen such
hands; when presently, she became a
little. more confidential, she held one of
of them out to me for friendly
shake; it lay like lead between my own
hands, and felt as if. with quite gen
tie pressure, it might break every bone
of an ordinary human hand. The feet
are more enormous still and not as we'll
shaped as the hands. Looking down at
them could not help thinking that