The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-15
SOMEWHAT UNEXPECTED FEE.
Paid Consul in Belgium by the
TwO-Headed WOman's Husband.


From the Chicago Record.
Speaking of my recent letter regarding
fees of consulates. a gentleman who was
in the service many years said:
Your article reminds me of the largest
fee ever received and a remarkable ex-
perience / once had when l was a consul
in Belgium. l was sitting in my office
one day when a stylish trap, drawn by a
spotted tandem team. stopped at my door,
and rather fiashily dressed individual
jumped off the box, and, leaving the
horses in charge of a liveried footman,
introduced himself as Mr.. Smith. That
was not the name he gave, but 1t will
answer as well as any other. He said
that he wished my assistance and inter-
Vention as the representative of his coun-
try to assist him in collecting the salary
of his wife, who was known as 1.-THE Two
Headed Nightingale and was connected
with a travelling show then giving per-
formanceS in that town. l had seen the
play bills and the advertisement in the
newspapers, but Ibid not know she was
an American. He explained to me that
his wife was under contract with Jew
ish impresario of the name of Solomon
AbrahamS at a salary of 1000 francs a
week, and that she had not been able to
collect cent since they left Vienna, two
or three months previous The manager
had paid her expenses according to con-
tract, and had given them notes of hand
as compensation, but no cash, and as the
back pay amounted to a large sum they
were afraid he would leave them some
fine day and skip out
II told him. that / was not in the coll
lecting business, but l would do what l
could for him, and as there was no bust
ness at the consulate and nv time being
heavily on my hands / welcomed an adj
venture with eagernesS. L promised to
look up the laws and regulations concern
ing my powers in such matters and call
at his hotel later in the day, where he
wanted me to meet his wife. AS soon as
he left me l went directly to a friend
who was a very shrewd lawyer and laid
the case before him. He said the remedy
was simply and easy to secure. All we had
to do was to get a writ of attachment
and seize the whole show baggage, re-
ceipts and everything, which we could hold
until the settlement was made. So we
drew up the papers, and that afternoon
the lawyer and / went around to the hotel
10 pay our respects TO the doub.e-h headed
nightingale and get her signature to the
paner.
She was a light mulatto born in South
Carolina, | think of slave parents and
Mr. Smith, who pretended to be her hus-
band, was the son of her former master
She had two heads and four legs. but
only two arms and one body. She could
talk several languages, was reasonably
well educated, and both heads had a dis
unct and a separate consciousness. One
could carry on a conversation i'm English
while the other would he talking in
French on a different subject, and the
Belgian lawyer and l sat and conversed
with the double woman in that way. One
OF the faces was quite pretty; the other
was plain. one of them had very cheer
ful, sanSuine disposition. The other was
morose, jealous and disconnected and it
was a curious fact that one-half of the
body OF this peculiar creature was ieal-
Gus of the attentions received by the other
half one could have a headache without
affecting the other. but aside from the
brains there was only one set of vital
organs-Onc pair of lungs, one heart one
liver, etc. Two ncCks sprung from the
same trunk, and four legs at the bottom
The food consumed by two mouths went
into one stomach although their appetitcs
were different, and one might be thirsty
while the other was not. | had read about
such things, but IL was a most remarka-
bile combination, you can imagine, and
Of course we enjoyed the novelty OF the
thing
MIR. Smith and his two-headed wife
were in town for "A week or ten days and
we saw good deal of them. She, or they
W YOU please, was or were very agreea-
bic TO us. We dined with her, spent tho
evening with her several times, and heard
her sing both in her parlors and al the
show. one of the heads had a high so
pranO voice. and the other a rich, deep
cOntralto. They had natural musical gifts
but very little cultivation, and sung duets
very well in two or three different LAM
guages. IL was an astonishing sight 10
see a woman sit down al a plano, sing a
duet with herself and play her own ac-
compartment. My lawyer friend got out
the necessary papers, seized the show and
compelled Mr. Solomon Abrahams 90 set-
tie in cash to the uttcrmost farthing, and
at the same time to give bonds 90 nav the
salary of the two-hcaded nightingale ev-
cry Saturday night thereafter NV friend.
Mr.. Smith was profuse in his expires sione
OF gratitude, and gave the lawyer and
myself each a fee of loo francs. which
We thought WAS very liberal"