The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-03-20
PROGENY OF FREAKS.
SOME RESULTS OF RoMANcEs IN THE
SHOW BUSINESS.

The First Real Living Skeleton, His Wife
and Their Three Skin and Bone Sons.
An Old Museum and Side Show Man
ager Taps His Memory Tank.
According to Manager T. E. Sackett
of the Bijou theater, Isaac W. Sprague
was the first unnaturally or abnormally
thin skin and bones man to be exhibit
ed to the public under the title Of a
Giving skeleton" 1t was during the
palmy days of Barnum' g Greatest Show
on Earth, and while that celebrated
Snowman was raking the continents in
search Of curiosities in 1864. Incident
ally Mr.. Sackett was in those days with
Tony Pastor. Mr.. Sackett was acting as
doortender, manager and all around
man for Pastor. He had previously been
out with Mile Christine, the two
headed girl, and had an eye out for
freaks. When the Tony Pastor show
reached Florida, Stone & Murray's cir
Gus came there. The old inhabitants
will remember Stone & Murray's show.
1t was contemporaneous with Dan
Rice's, Thayer & Noyes' and afterward
with the John Robinson circus. With
Stone & Murray was Isaac W. Sprague,
the living skeleton. Mr.. Sprague had
been discovered by Barnum in Massa-
chusetts. He was the first living skele-
ton on record since the discovery of the
world by Adam. And Sprague was a
real living skeleton too. He was moth
ing but skin and bones, yet he was
healthy aud jolly.
In 1866 Barnum collected several Gu
riosities, including Sprague, and sent
them for tour of the world. Sprague
was the big card. Next to him was a
skeleton woman, nearly as attenuated
as Spraeue, whose name has escaped
the wonderful memory Of Snowman
Sackett. Among the other freaks with
which Barnum expected to and did as
tonish the world was Joyce Heth, the
colored woman he picked up in the
south, supposed to be 1875 years old; the
'twoolly horse,' and Annie Swan, the
first giantess ever on exhibition.
Sprague, on the steamer going over
to London, fell desperately in love with
the skeleton woman. She returned his
affection, and, according to Manager
Sackett, who was on the voyage, it was
sight for the sentimental to observe
the billing and cooling of these attenuat-
ed specimens of Pharaoh s clean kline" /"
The outre love affair gave Barnum a
business hint, which he was not slow to
take advantage of. On their arrival in
dear old "Lunnon" the Snowman adver-
tised and heralded the astounding fact
far and wide that on certain day there
could be seen at st. James hall (where
they were showing) something that the
world had never before witnessed, name
ly, the marriage of two living, breath
ing skeletons. He also announced the
fact that never before in the annals Of
show business had such thing as the
wedding of freaks been performed in
public. This was fact too.
Of the enthusiastic crowds which such
unique announcement drew, or the
interesting conduct of the living skele-
tons, welded in the presence Of "as-
sembled thousands" Manager Sackett
is silent. But he tells Of a fact, how
ever, which is of such interest that it
was recorded in medical works, but
never before has seen the light of news
paper publication. That was that a
year after the marriage Of the skeletons
the wife bore child which also was a
"living skeleton.
Stranger still to relate-but Sackett
stakes his fortune on the truth off it
two other children were also born to
Mr.. and Mrs. Sprague, and they were
also of the skeleton mold. For many
years afterward the parents travelled
with their unnaturally thin offspring,
and added to the stock of the worlds
astonishment, including both crowned
heads and those that were bald. The
original Sprague and his wife are dead,
but the three skeleton children, now
young men. are showing about the coun-
try, healthy, happy and rich.
This is the only case or succession of
cases in medical annals where father
and mother transmitted the disease Of
wasting atrephy to their offspring.
Mr.. Sackett also tells of another weird
case that came under his observation In
his peregrinating show days. Major
Burpell, celebrated Snowman of the
sixties, found pair of freak twins in
the south, the offspring Of colored peo-
pie. One of the twins, boy, was black
as Kongo stock. The other, girl, was
a pure albino, The major engaged the
twins for his show and exhibited them
for years. The albino girl grew up and
married an albino In the west. The
offspring of the marriage was baby as
black as the ace Of spades. Of course
this enhanced the showing price of
Charley and his albino wife, and Major
Burnell increased their salaries accord
ingly,
d. K. Prescott was the discoverer of
the far famed Sleeping Beauty, whom
he found in Tennessee in the sixties. He
brought her to st. Louis. She was a
young girl of surprising beauty, with
but one fault discoverable. She slept |
nine tenths of the time. She was the
greatest puzzle the medical men had
ever seen. 1t was one of these latter |
who deprived her mother of a fortune !
and Prescott of one of his most popular
Tie young doctor was left
alone in the showroom one day while
the beauty was sleeping as usual. His
prompted him to take out his
lancet and puncture her arm. The blood
started out and the beauty awoke with
a scream. Her mother rushed in from !
an adjoining room. Seeing the blood
flowing from her daughters arm, she