The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-15
POINTS ON FREAKS.
SOME BORN TO THE PROFESSION,
OTHERS THRUST UPON 1T.

Hirsutc Aeornments Where They Ought
"Any one who has remarked the
gregarious element in human nature,
which makes every one eager to SEQ
what tho other has seen, will not mar
vel ut the success which notoriety has
attained i'll the show business said
the manager of Il popular museum.
"Notoriety, no matter how and where
obtained, is Just SO much stock i'll
trade, and people i'll our line of work
are willing to pay any price for it. To
make no account of the money value of
the advertisement, they are delighted
to know that they are being talked
about and speculated about, and to see
their names in the newspapers. You
see how high that dome isl" he contin-
ued, pointing to the arched space far
above the ropes and bars stretched
across for acrobatic performances
well, man came i'll here, offered to
jump from its highest point down to
the floor so rs to make name for him
self. 1t would have been certain death,
you know, to attempt it, but he said lie
had practiced jumping, knew how to
manage and would escape injury. He
begged to be allowed to make the Jump
and was much cast down at our refusal.
"That man only expected to jump
once. After having performed the feat
no felt that he would be curiosity
worth money to sec.
Anyway, we business people see
that the public crave amusement of this
kind, and we are delighted to crafty
them.
cat the time of tho white Cap agi-
tatlon, when there was SO much talk i'll
the papers about their outrages, a man
offered to exhibit himself rs tarred
and feathered victim just returned from
the west, and we let him do it. More
over, tho public encouraged him to do
1t, for they came in flocks to see him.
The tattooed woman who was paid 500
day was tattooed right hero in New
York, but the work was marvelously
we'll done, and the fairy tale about her,
as told by tho Snowman, only height
ened the crowds interest and harmed
nobody. She was represented in the
story as having been stranded on one of
eAAN eSSAitNAIA SllliJMGcCkcu,
with her husband, who was put to death.
Her life was spared, but sho was put to
torture, having these extraordinary char
acters tattooed all over her body. There
were from 800 to 700 people at each
one of tho 21 daily performances at
which that tattooed woman was cxhib-
tied, and all We're pleased at the show,
for which they paid o cents.''
do many of these freaks, remark
able for various reasons, get fine sala-
RESP
"Indced they do. We paid a certain
midget 500 Il week Her father and
tho family Travelled with her, and got
rich out of it. Then that wonderful
Oregon horse with tho trailing mano
and tail was paid 5000 week for sew
eral months. The two headed negro
girl, or girls, has mado fortune, and
L could mention any number of cele-
DRAFTED freaks who have profited finan-
cially.
Each day wo get letters from all
over the country-all over the world
Offering rs freaks of nature This ono
sends - photograph of Il sheep having il
fifth leg and hoof growing ont of his
shoulder. This one sends COW with q
horn projecting from her back Hero is
a letter from Il handless man in West
Virginia. He writes with his toes and
writes "a very good letter"
That box of photographs unearthed
from little used recesscs to refresh the
showman's mind! What y galaxy, not
OF beauty, but of tho bizarre and the
grotesque! Bearded women taken in
decollete gowns, their masculine faces
III revolving contrast to the feminine
neck and arms; men without legs or
arms; tremendously fat men, and men
so thin that they were photographed
prone upon couch, limp and helpless;
men who had starved themselves in Or
der to live. The strong woman is there,
and her remarkable sister, with yeri
table horses name growing upon her
back.
"That was q clever scheme this fell
low devised" said the Snowman, ad-
justing his glasses so as to view a like
ness. HE represented himself as hay-
ing Il gunshot wound through and
through the body, and then he fixed M
an optical dclusion apparatus which
made it appear that people could look
straight through him. We displayed
colored photograph at the back, and the
people could SEQ that picture on the
other side of tho man. You have no
idea what furoro there was about it.
That was down on the Bowcry. Every
body wanted to look through tho man
with the gunshot wound. Then, finding
that the man was such bowling sue
cess woman fixed herself up us having
been spearcd through the body with her
husbands bayonct, the victim of cruel
" and brutality. We fixed it for tho