The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-10-06
ASAaexSua gatelGSgsaesE
GIANTS IN THOSE DAIS.
oa of Basham, Goliath Gath and our
cwn wilkins.
IMjadeiphiG Times.

lN5adciphia Times.
NaSIhere any giant for Jack to
N course, in our childhood days we
TaYo hecn delightfully."- tcrrorized by
visions Of mammoth men against
whom Jack-deaI, ncver-to- be-forgot-
ten, indomitable, invincible Jack
made his never-failing onslaughts.
But modern scientists cast the legend
Of Jack, the Giant Killer, into the
limbo Of nursery fables and tell us
that there were no such men, Of the
stature ascribed to the gigantic kings
against whom Jack struggled with in
variable success. The scientific con-
clusion recently advanced leaves no
giants to disturb the nursery imagina-
tion, and, therefore, inferentially
proves that there was no Jack to kill
them. The statement has been seri-
ously made that no man ever lived,
and no man is alive to-day, who ex-
ceeded or exceeds eight feet six inches
in height. A complete refutation Of
this is presented by Copenhagen
Colossus, one Lewis Wilkins, who
will appear at the 9th and Arch
Streets Museum next week, and who
is automatically the tallest mar on
earth. This is no advance agent
story, but Wilkins is such renaarka
bic piece Of human statuary that he is
worth talking about as an illustrative
refutation of scientists conclusions
and delightful confirmation of tales
Of the cradle. Lewis Wilkins meas
ures eight feet six and three.quarter
inches-the advance agent says ''in
his stocking feet-but we will elimi-
nate that customary proposition as to
q mans stature and give him that
altitude regardless Of the stockings.
He wears 12 7,S hat, a 16 glove, a
26 shoe, q 26 collar and weighs 465
pounds. 1t is true that these meas
urements do not size up wish the
giants Of the pages Of the Bible and
~of fcss;on, but tits also true that there
is no crediSfe,o- eIn!thentic I!th record Of
there ever haviiRssslly aviiRss LIVED man Of the
stature credited to Tssklns. Tsaa -
We are told in the Bibfe=attsst the
bedstead of Og, King Of Bashanl, Wassss,
9cubits long, which in English meat
ure is 16 1-2 feet. Goliath, Of Gath,
who was slain by David, stood 6 eubits
and sDan tall-about II feet. The
body Of Orestes, according to the
Greeks, was IL 1-2 feet long. Pliny
describes Gabbaras, who was brought
to Rome from Arabia by Clardius
Caesar, as being between 9 and 10 feet
in height, and adds that the remains
of Posio and Secundilla, found in the
reign Of Augustus Caesar, in the Sal
lustian gardens, measured 10 feet 9
inches each. Herodotus says thai the
shoes OF Perseus measured an equiva-
lent of about 3 feet, English standard.
Josephus tells Of Eleazar, who was
nearly II feet. Saxo, the graD1ma-
rian. mentions giant l3 l-2 feet
high. Ferragus, who was slain by.
>Rolar4 sle; resA 6GaSleeHmsyne,
was SAID TO have been nearly II feet
high. There are fabulous stories CT
the Emperor Maximilian. Some ac-
counts say that he was between 8 1-2
and feet high, and used his wife's
bracelet Cor finger ring. The En-
pscors Jovianus and Charlemagne are
:are also credited with great height.
The naturalist Turner says that on
the 2lger Plata, near the Brazilian
cogsg, nc saw naked savages IL feet
h;ga, and il his description of Amer
ics Heyenot confirms this by saying
that he saw the skeleton of savage
gent she Has II feet inches in
haight.
There have been numerous accounts
Of the finding Of human bones which
belonged TO giants ranging from 20 to
36 feet in height, but comparative
anatomy has punctured the stories by
proving conclusively that the bones
were those of mastodons, elephants
and other animals. Modern scientists
are slow to believe that any men ever
existed who measured over 9 feet,
and comparison of the stature Of
Giant Wilkins with those of whom
any authentic record exists reveals his
supremacy over all other giants, an
cicnt and modern. In fact, Quetelet
considers that the tallest man whose
stature is authcntically recorded was
the Scottish Clan" of Frederick the
Greats regiment Of giants. He waB
not quite s feet 3 inches tall. From
vhe original estimate of the height OF
Adam (Henriot once calculated that
adam S height was 1913 feet and that
Of Eve 113) we gradually come to 10
feet, which seemed to be the favorite
height Of giants in the middle ages:
Approaching this century, We still
have stories Of men from to 10 feet
high, but no authentic cases. 1t was
only in the latter part of the last CEN
tury that we began to have absolutely
authentic heights Of giants, and to-
day the men showing throughout the
country as measuring s feet generally
cxaggerate their height several inches,
and exact measurements would show
that but few men commonly called
giants arc over 7 1-2 feet or weigh
over $50 pounds.
Dana says that the number of giants
figuring as public characters since