The St. Johns herald., 1889-09-19
WELL PAID FREAKS.
Large Salaries Earned by Living SIzole-
 tons, Dog-Faced Boys and G,ants.

Large Salaries Earned by Living Skole- tons, Dog-Faced Boys and ants. The freak of nature possesses a yer itable gold mine in itself. All prodi- gies, whether they be great or small, one-eyed like the mythological Cyclops. or possessing as many heads as a hydra, can fill their purses. provided they muster enough courage and strength to sit in gaudy dresses loaded with tinsel on museum stools. The salaries of some ot these freaks are enormous, and not a few make as much money in the course of q year as the hOnored gentleman who occupies the Presidential chair. Their saiaries range from $25 to $1,C0O q week. and are determined by the relative eccen- tricitieS CT pecu,iaritie5 Of the freaks. For instance. A,biuos with pink eyes and silken white hair receive from S4C to $50 per week, while those with eyes and hair of th3 s;,me ruddy hue are valued at S100 week because of their rarity.
 Among the high-priced freaks are the so-called skeletons. or extremely thin persons, whose weekly salaries range from S25) to $500 To be a proper skeleton freak one must have bones. skin and-a little blood. with all the vitals. but no flesh to speak of Bow-legged ske eton freaks are pref erable to those who are knock -kneed, simply because they are scarcer. Such prOdigies as woolly babies. or infants with a remarkable growth of hair all over the body, face and limbs. are worth a great deal to the museum manager. They receive compensation of from $500 to $700 a week to sit on a museum stool. Rare curiosities like dog-faced boys also come high. They. or rather their parents, guardians and owners, receive for putting them on exhibition salaries ranging from $400 to 5000 per week. Those having faces re- sembling pug dogs get &50O Q week. while others who more fortunately possess shepherd dog or greyhound faces bring $750.
 The star freaks in dime museums are, however, midgets, and Mexican ones like the famous Lucia Zarato. who has maid and interpreter to ac company her around the country. draw salaries ranging from $750 to $900 week. Good midge weigh from ten to twelve pounds. There are so many fat people that there is a general inn pression that prodigies in this direc- tion do not command large salaries. This is not the case. however. They are paid as high as $6)0 a week. but to earn such a valuation they must weigh at least GOO or 700 pounds. Giants are paid about $375 week. Those from Japan. for some unaccountable reason, are the best drawing cards. and are consequently the highest priced. Aztecs receive the cumpara lively low compensation of $l75 weekly.
 Big-footed girls are much-needed curio;itie5 at museums. To possess large enough pedal extremities to be called a freak. however. it is neces. sary that each foot shall be three times as large as tho owners head. For such a mOnstrosity $45O is the price paid weekly. Arm,ess people who do all manner of work with the feet are paid $1O0 or more, according to the skill which they may have acquired in making their feet do the work of their missing hands. There are so many "wiId' girls that freaks of this class receive on!y $l25 week Ossifed men arc pald from $2)0 to $500, and are considered very profita- ble freaks in well-cOnducted museums Genuine HindoO snake charmerS re- ceive about $75 week. Glass eaters draw weekly sd aries ranging from $75 to $l25 Twins and trlplets re- ceive 500 for same length of time. Men with remarkable memories. boomerang-throwers and such Ordi nary cu.iosities get from $25 to sl00 a week.
 Freaks are rarely kept in any dime museum over two weeks at a tune. Managers find that if kept longer than this they hardly prove sources of profit. Philadelphia Record.