Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-03-14
DWARFs IN The PYRENEES.



There has long dwelt IN the heart Of
the Pyrenees on the Old Catalonian Dor
der Of Spain curious race of dwarfs.
supposed by some to be of Tartar origin.
A writer in a recent issue Of Cosmos
describes them and advances theory of
their origin in consonance with modern
anthropology.
They inhabit the valley Of the Ribas
IN the northwestern part Of the Span
ish province now called Corona. They
never exceed oh inches in height, and
have short, Ill formed legs, great bel
lies, small eyes, fiat noses and pale, I'M
wholesome complexions- They are usu-
ally stupid, often to the verge of iliocy,
and much subject to goiter and scrofu-
lous affections. The chief town of the
Ribas valley is Ribas. place Of 1900
inhabitants. about 500 feet above sea
level. The mountains rise about the
town to height of 6. 600 to 5000 feet,
and command an amazingly beautiful
panorama of mountain, plain and river,
with Spanish cities visible upon the one
side and French upon the other. The
region is rich, both agriculturally and
minerally, and is famous for its medic
inal springs IN this paradise dwell
the dwarfs. perhaps as degraded a race
of men and women as may be found in
any civilized community. They are
almost without education and inhabit
wretched hnts when they have any shell
ter. The most intelligent are employed
as shepherds, and in summer they live
for months at an elevation of more than
5000 feet without shelter. Here they
see NO human creature save some of their
own kind, often idiots, who are sent up
every 15 or 20 days with supply Of
food
1t is said that formal marriage is al
most unknown among them. The wom-
en- in some instances are employed in
the village of Ribas as nurses for chill
dren, and as such are found tender and
faithful. Before communication through
ont the region was as easy as it is now
it was thought lucky to have one of
these dwarfs in family, and the dwarfs
were hired out and even sold to be used
in beggary in neighboring cities. There
are somewhat similar dwarfs in other
valleys of the Pyrenees, but the number
is decreasing, and those Of the Ribas
valley are reduced to few individuals
The writer of The Cosmos article re-
jects the theory of a Chinese origin for
the dwarfs, and believes that they are
merely the degenerate descendants of
the ordinary natives, i'll nourished for
generations upon diet of potatoes and
black bread The fact that with i'm
proved means of communication the
dwarfs are decreasing helps to confirm
the writer's theory, and he believes that
with proper nourisbment and decent
shelter their descendants would gradu-
ally return to the normal type. Mean
while the neighbors of the dwarfs look
upon them with curious mixture of
feelings. The fact that the dwarfs drink
much at a particular mineral spring has
given rise to superstition that who
ever drinks of it will become deformed,
and the normal natives are Mortified TO
see visitors experimenting with the
dreaded waters. There is reason to be-
lieye that the waters Of the spring are
beneficial to the stomachs of we'll nour-
ished persons, but injurious to these
who are accustomed to an unwholesome
diet, and it is entirely possible that the
Ill fed dwarfs have been injured by
drinking of the spring. New York Sun.