Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-06-18
BEBE, COURT DWARF.
Queer Career Of the Tom Thumb
Of the Last Century.
The Dlminutive Creature Owned by King
StanIslaus of Poland-NumerouS Perils
to Which the Little Fellow Was
Exposed-Hls Last Days.

Z
to which the Little Fellow Was
Exposed-Hls Last Days.
The story of Bebe is quaint bit of
last century's history, which has just
been rescued from oblivion by Conti-
mental Dryasdust. Bebe is supposed to
have been the littlest man who ever
lived, says the New York Sun. He was
borne by peasant woman in Lorraine
just $50 years ago, and was called Bebe
because the first few years of his life he
could articulate only "b-b." The day of
his birth Bebe was smaller than his
mothers hand. Ten days afterward he
was taken to the village church to be
baptized in his mothers wooden shoe,
because he was too tiny to be carried
safely in her arms. During the next six
months the same wooden shoe served as
Bebe's crib.
Bebe's early childhood was unevent-
full. He did not grow and he did not
talk. He was famous throughout
Lorraine, however, as the cunningest
and tiniest bit of humanity ever seen.
He was perfectly proportioned, had
wonderfully large and beautiful brown
eyes, and was remarkably active upon
his diminutive legs. When Bebe was
about seven years old King Stanislaus
Lesczynski of Poland, who was then
living in Lorraine, heard what a
wonderful little fellow he was, and
ordered the child's father to bring him
to court. Bebe, Sr., carried his son to
the royal palace in small basket.
At time of his introduction to court
life Bebe was just twenty inches tall
and weighed eight pounds. He never
grew larger. At first the King tried to
teach him jokes and fairy stories and
bits of questionable poetry. Bebe's in
telligence, however, was not equal to
the demands thus made upon it. His
memory was so weak that he forgot one
hour what he had learned the hour be-
fore. Reading and writing were for him
| quite impossible. With all these fail
ings, however, he was by no means a
| failure as a court dwarf. He had a
sweet little voice, good ear for music,
and nimble legs. He could dance and
and kick and sing with the best of the
Kings courtiers. He was very useful as
| table ornament at all the Kings great
banquets. His most famous appearance
| in this rather curious role took place at
dinner which Stanislaus gave to the
ambassador of great power in 1855.
| In the middle of the table was an i'm
mense sugar castle. Shortly before the
| guests rose to leave, the door of the
| castle opened, and knight in full arm
or stepped out with drawn sword in
his right hand. All the guests thought
| ;rrhf F,,1
automaton which the King had obtained
from the skilled mechanics across the
Rhine. He wasn't, however. He was
none other than little Bebe. He walked
around the table, shook his sword in the
face of every guest, saluted the King,
and then turned back to the castle en-
| trance, where he assumed the position
of sentry. At signal from the King
every one at the table began to lombard
him with small sugar balls. Bebe hur-
ried at once into the castle, locked the
door, mounted the tower, and pretended
to return the fire by setting of lot OF
perfumed explosives.
Within ten or twelve years after
Bebe's appearance at court he was one OF
the most celebrated persons in royal So
|
however, came to him numerous perils
ALI the sovereigns of Europe were covet
ing him, and many of them tried hard tc
steal him. In 1853 the Empress Cath
crime, of Russia, sent an emissary after
him to the court of the Polish King
Late one evening, when the royal palace
was almost deserted, GATHERINGS ennis
sary snapped Bebe up and stuffed hin
into the pocket of his great coat. Bebe
screamed SO Justify that he revealed the
plot to the guard at the door. The ennis
sary was arrested and Bebe was rescued
Not long afterward Bebe accompanied
Stanislaus to the court of Louis XIV. IL
Versailles, where he again narrowly es
capped abduction. A lady of the French
court had been holding him in her lal
between the courses of a court dinner
Suddenly she rose to leave the room
Her first step was accompanied by
shril1 cry from the folds of her gown
Your Majesty, your Majesty, this lad.
has stuck me in her pocket, and is run
ming away with me-" The voice wa
Bebe's. He was Immediately dragget
from the court lady's pocket and place,
under the guard OF two pages, who wer
instructed by King Stanislaus to watcl
: him day and night.
| The perils through which he ha
passed, and the strict surveillance t
| which he was now subjected, depresse
, Bebe's spirits and demoralized hi
nervous system. He became melan
choly. morose, round -shouldered AM
} haggard. The King thought he needle,
} a companion to cheer him up, and there
) fore married him with great pomp AM
} ceremony to Therese Souvray, dwar
} of about his age and slightly create
J stature. That was the last drop il
, Bebe.s cup Two weeks after his mar
, riage he lost his mind. He ceased t
talk entirely, ate little, and passed mos
of his time in his crib
His honeymoon was hardly up whe:
he died. Shortly before his death hi
: clouded mind was cleared in most re
: markable manner. His memory, whicl
had always been weak and after hi
marriage had vanished, suddenly re
turned. he reeolleeted all the Incl
dents of his early childhood, hi
mothers face, which he had not seel
for fifteen years, and all the songs whicl
, had been taught him since his adven
to court. Bebe was just twenty-on
years old when he died. His wifi
Therese survived him forty-two years.
------------
Russian Remedy for Foothache,
i A Russian practitioner recommend
q tho 1fsa of hvoscvamus Saada for tooth