Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-09-11
GIANTS OF HISTORY.
M0narchS and Mobiles Who Had a
Fancy for Large People.
individuals of WOnder0us Height
Who Have Been Exhibited-An
Irish Giant Who Carried a
Celebrated Dwarf Around
in His Pocket.


and mobiles had fancy for including
among their retainers either giant or a
dwarf, sometimes both, says the Irish
Times friedrich the Great had his corps
gigantic erenadiers; and IN the Tower of
London may be seen a lance and some
enormous armor of sixteenth century work,
which, doubtless, belonged to some giant
knight or trooper or the Kings bodyguard
James l. had attached to his person a
parter named Walter Parsons. commonly
called the Staffordshire giant, handsome.
brave and strong young man, who had
begun life as farrier. His height was
seven feet seven inches, and his portrait
exists, engraved by Glover Parsons lived
ON into the reign of Charles | and was
succeeded in his Office by another giant,
Williams Evans, who was two inches tai
Ter than MS predecessor.
It is curious fact that the population
of France has rearly produced a giant:
Great Britain, Germany, Poland and
Switzerland carry off the palm; and this
may, perhaps, be attributed to the pre-
valence in France of a vegetarian diet.
which does not tend to develop, to so great
an extent, the growth of muscle as does
the stronger diet Of meat. The eighteenth
century, to Judge by contemporary letters
and newspapers, seems to have been more
than usually prolific in giants and giant
esses.
Horace Walpole mentions giant and
giantess who were ON view respectively at
Spring Gardans and Half-moon Court.
Ludgate Hill. They were both, il ssems,
handsome and we'll coroportioned persons,
and without the Usual awkward ungainli-
ness peculiar to their kind At this time
also appeared young Italian giantess
seven feet In height, ''who was the admir-
alton said the hand-bills-"of the en-
peror of Germany, of eight kings of
Europe, and of the grand czar of Moscow
himself. " Her appearance seems to have
followed, in l742, by that Of Cajanus, the
famous Swedish giant, commonly called
the Giving Bollossus." who came over to
England and established himself at a house
opposite the Mansion House. He was the
son of pastor of little village in Fin
land, and stood eight feet four inches in
his socks.
In 1856 London was visited by another
Italian giant, named Bernardo Gigli, or
Gill, who measured eight feet in height,
and seems to Lave created an immense
sensation by the colossal proportions of his
limbs. But no giant ever created such a
Juror as did Charles Byrne. the Irish giant,
who was eight feet eight inches in height,
and possessed of enormous strength He
was clever and shrewd and full of natural
wit of his mother country; but unfortun-
ately the large fortune he rapidly gained by
the exhibition of himself led him into
habits of gluttony and intemperance. and
he died at the early age of two-and- twenty,
leaving instructions that his body was to
be buried at sea; but the College of Sur
geons in some way obtained his corpse for
the sum of $500, according to certain re-
ports; and the skeleton was ''set up in
their museum by William Hunter, the fam
Gus antomlst.
Shortly after Byrn's death another Irish
giant exhibited himself in London, by name
Patrick Cotter alias O'Brien. He was so
attenuated that, tall as he was, he appear
ed even taller. His height was eight feet
seven inches Feeble and debilitated in
health. he could only walk by supporting
himself on the shoulders of two tall men
walking in front of him, resting hand on
the shoulder of each. Many amusing
stories are related of him. One evening at
a Masonic dinner he took out of his pocket
the celebrated dwarf, Count Borulauski,
and set him upon the table, to the astonish-
ment OF all the guests.
Some time after, while staying at Bath,
he nearly terrified a night watchman out
of his wits by taking off the top of street
lamp and lighting his pipe with the fame.
He was of an amiabe and gentle dispos-
ition, but not remarkable for any intellect
uaI capacity. Since his day to the ptesent
time London has only seen four giants of
any abnormal height or size, namely:
James Tolees. eight feet six inches in
height, in 1919 Scott, Chang and Herr
Wickelmeir, the Bavarian giant.
Of giantesses, Miss Scott and Pauline
Marie Elizabeth Wedde are the only colos
sal ladies who have astonished the eyes of
the sightseeing world. The latter, called
the Queen of the Am. IONS, was born at
January, 1866 and introduced to the
London public at the Alhamba in place
entitled "Babii and Bijou." She was
good-looking and Of handsome, weIl-pro-
portioned figure, and measured about
eight feet four inches in height OF
her subsequent history and cereer
we have not been able to trace
any account, since her provincial tour
in France, after she had exhibited
herself in this country. It is a curious
forty or forty-fve, and few amongst them
ever show signs of much intellectual ca
pacity. They are, as rule. good-temper-
ed, INDECENT and placid, their opposite ex-
tremes. the dwarfs. being irritable, active.
clever and ill-tempered.
The American Nomad.
Scribner's Magazine.