The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-01-01
THE VERY WEE.EST MAN
Dwarf Who Would Have Been Bo.
nanza Had he Lived To-day.

Bebe is supposed to have been the
smallest man who ever lived. 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 BIB" The day
of his birth Bebe was smaller than his
mothers hand.
Ten days afterward he was taken to
the village cure, to be baptized. in his
mothers wooden shoe. because he was
too tired to be carried safely in her
arms. During the next six months
the same wooden shoe served as Bebe's
crib.
When Bebe was about seven years
old King Stanislaus Lescynski of Po-
land, who was then living at Lorraine.
heard what a wonderful little fellow
he was and ordered the child's father
to bring him to court. Bebe, Sr.. car
ried his son to the royal palace in a
small basket. Stanislaus said at once
that Bebe must become his court
dwarf. Bebe's father was induced to
accede to this proposal with Il good
bit of royal Polish gold. and Bebe was
made a regular follower of the King s
court.
At the time of his introduction to
court life Bebe was just twenty inches
tall aud weighed eighty pounds. He
never grew larger.
He had sweet little voice, good
ear for music and nimble legs. He
could dance aud sing with the best of
the Kings courtiers. He was useful
as a table ornament at all the Kings
great banGuets. His most famous APP
pearance in this rather peculiar role
took place at dinner which Stanis-
laus gave to the Ambassador of great
power in 1885. In the middle of the
table was an immense sugar castle.
Shortly before the guests rose to
leave, the door of the castle opened
and knight in full armor stepped out
with q drawn sword in his right hand.
All the guests thought the knight must
be some wonderful 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 hurried
at once into the castle, locked the door
mounted the tower and pretended to
return the fire by setting off lot of
perfumed explosives.
In 1913 the Empress Catharine, of
Russia, sent an enissary after him to
the court of the Polish King. Late
one evening when the royal palace
was almost deserted Catharine's ennis
sary snapped Bebe up and stuffed him
into the pocket of his great coat. Bebe
screamed so Justify that he revealed
the plot to the guard at the door. The
emisSary was arrested and Bebe was
rescued.
Not long afterward Bebe accom-
panied Stauislaus to the court of Louis
XIV. in Versailles, where he again mar
rowly escaped abduction. A lady of
the French court had been holding
him in her lap between the course of a
state dinner. Suddenly she rose to
leave the room. Her first step was ac-
companied by Il shril cry from the
folds of her gown. Your Majesty,
Your Majesty, this lady has stuck me
in her pocket and is running away
with me-
The voice was Bebes. He was i'm
mediately dragged from the court
lady'S pocket and placed under the
guard of two pages, who were in
structed by the King Stauis laus to
watch him day and night.
The perils through which he had
passed and the strict surveillance to
which he was now subjected depressed
Bebe's spirits and demoralized his
nervous system. He became melan-
choly, morose, round-shouldered and
haggard.
The King thought lie needed COM
panion TO cheer INN up. and the ref
cree married him. with great pomp
and ceremony, to Theresc Souvray. a
dwarf of about his own age and slight
~ greater stature. That was the last
drop in Bebe's cup. Two weeks after
his marriage he lost his mind. He
ceased to talk entirely, ate little, and
spent most of his time in his crib.
His honeymoon was hardly up when
he died, at the age of 81. His wife,
Therese. survived him forty-two years.