, 1890-06-13
BIG MEN AND WOMEN,
Some of the Giants and Giantesse. Of
Whom HIstorr Tell.

whom History Tells
At all times and in all countries
kings and mobiles had a fancy for in.
Guiding among their retainers either a
giant or a dwarf, sometimes both. as
Frederick the Great and his corps of
gigantic grenadier; and in the Tower
OF London may be seen a lance and
some enormous arnor of Sixteenth
century work, which doubtless belonged
to some giant knight or trooper of the
kings bodyguard. James \ had at
tache to his person a porter named
Walter Parsons, commonly called the
Staffordshire giant, a handsome, brave
and strong young man, who had begun
life as a farrier. His height was z
feet 2 inches, and his portrait e1-
lists, engraved by Glover. Parsons
lived on into the reign of Charles 1, and
was succeeded by another giant, Will
lazn Evans, two inches taller than his
predecessor.
1t is a curious fact that the popula-
ton of France has rarely produced a
giant; Great Britain, Germany, Poland
and Switzerland carry of the palm and
- pNALAhRo ~ AALADuIcu 10 Tie
prevalence 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 con-
temporary letters and newspapers,
seems to have been more than usually
prolific In giants and ginntesses.
Horace Walpole mentions a giant
and giantess who were on view respect
iUsly at Spring Gardens and Half Moon
Court, Ludgate Hill. They were both,
it seems, handsome and well proper
toned persons, and without the usual
awkward u~ngainliness peculiar to their
kind. At this time also appeared a
young Italian giantess z feet In
height, who was the admiration"
said the handbiIs, ''of the emperor of
Germany, of eight kings of Europe and
of h grand III of Moscow himself"
Her appearance seems to have been
followed in 1742 by that of Cajanus,
the famous Swedish giant, commonly
called the Giving Colossus, who came
over TO England and established him
self at a house opposite the Mansion
house. He was the son of a pastor OF
a little village in Finland and stood 8
feet 4 inches in his socks.
In 1755 London was visited by an
other Italian giant, named Bernardo
Gigli, or Gill, who measured 8 feet
In height, and seems to have created
an immense sensation by the colossal
proportions OF his limbs. But no giant
ever created such n Juror as did Charles
Byrne, the Irish giant, who was 8 feet 8
inches in height, and possessed of enor-
mous strength. He was clever and
shrewd, and full of the natural wit of
his mother country; but, unfortunate
ly, the large fortune he rapidly gained
by tho exhibition of himself led him
into habits of gluttony, and he died at
the early age of 90, leaving instructions
that his body was to be buried at sea
but the college Of surgeons in some
way obtained his corpse for the sum of
$500, according to certain reports, and
the skeleton was set up" in their mu-
scum by William Hunter, tho famous
anntomist.
Shortly after Byrne's death another
Irish giant exhibited himself in Lon
don, by name Patrick Cotter, alias
O'Brien. He was so attenuated that,
tall MS he was, he appeared even taller.
His height was 8 feet 7 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 a hand on the
shoulder Of each. Many amusing stories
are related of him. One evening at q
Masonic dinner he took out of his
pocket the celebrated dwarf, Count
Borulausld, and set him upon the table,
to the astonishment of all.
Some time after, while staying at
Bath, he nearly terrified a night watch
man out of his wits by taking of the top
OF n street lamp and lighting his pipe
with the fame. Hc was of nm amiable
and gentle disposition, but not remark
able for any intellectual capacity. Since
his day to the present time London has
only seen four giants of any abnormal
height or size, namely, James Tolees, 8
feet slI inches in height, in 1910; Scott,
Chang and Herr Wickelmcir, tho Bava-
rian giant.
OF giantesses, Miss Scott and Pauline
Marie Elizabeth Wedde nre the only
colossal ladies who hive astonished the
eyes of the sight seeing world. The
latter, called the Queen OF the Anna
IONS, was born at Ben-Rendorf, In
Thuringia, on the 31st of January,
1866, and introduced to the Londor
public at the Alhambra In a piece en-
titled "Babil and Bijou." She was
good looking, and Of n handsome, well
propcrtioned figure, and measured
about 6 feet 1 inches in height. OF her
subsequent history and career we have
not been able to trace my account
since her provincial tour in France,
after she had exhibited herself in this
country. 1t Is a curious fact that giants
rarely exceed the 6 of 40 or As, and
few among them ever show signs of
much intellectual capacity. They are,
as a rule, good tempered, indolent and
placid; their opposite extremes, the
dwarfs, being irritable, active, clever
and Ill tompered.-Irish Times.
Wire Fan Guard.