The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-08
ALIKE IN ALL THINGS.
THE REMARKABLE RESEMBLANCE
BETWEEN TWO BROTHERS,
Their Many Amusipg Experiences.
Curious Mistakes That Grow Out
of the Great simiIarity-Comedyi in
Real Life

Ihere are living in Michigan to-day two
men so alike in form and feature that
their wives and children have great diff
Guilty in telling them apart. For this rea-
son their lives have been filled with Incl
dents that it is the privilege of very few
persons in the world TO experience, and
every day adds to the queer happenings.
These men are William Hisey of Sparta,
Mich, and James Hisey of Yale, Men
Each is in the milling business, and, oddly
enough, each has achieved the same degree
of success in life.
IL is often the case where nature plays
so queer a prank as to make children ex-
actiy alike that as the years come to
them and environment differs the faces of
the two become dissimilar to such an eX-
tent as to render ii comparatively easy TO
distinguish one from the other. In the case
of the Hiseys, however the lines of their
lives have fallen in almost similar places,
and their tastes being largely the same,
their characters have developed in much
the same fashion. The result of all this is
that the resemblance of childhood rs just
as strongly evident in the years of ma
turity.
The following narratives, written by the
twins, are unvarnished statements of fact.
They are given just as the writers penned
them. The first is that of William Hisey
of Sparta.
MY twin brother and | look so much
alike that not one person out of a thousand
can tell us apart We were born near
Stouffville, Can, on farm. We were all
ways together, both at home and at
school, always dressed alike and weighed
the same. We were exactly alike, and, TO
make the resemblance more perfect, 50
far as other people were concerned, we
each had a peculiar cough
when we were boys our ambition was
to learn the miler's trade and we have
both gratified it. We remained at home
until 1873, when we went to the town of
Ingersoll, Ont, 10 learn the millers trade.
We began work the same day, but in diff
ferent mills. and there was not soul in
the town who could tell us apart Farm
ers would go to one mill and then to the
other and would be puzzled to find what
seemed to be the same miller in two diff
ferent places, each of whom told them he
had been there at the same time.
when we went out in the evening in
company we had more fun than ] can tell
you. Even our most intimate friends in
Ingersoll could not tell us apart. 1t would
often happen that each would take n
young lady 10 a party. After we were all
i'm one room, neither of the girls could tell
which one of us she had come with. Often
we would make some excuse and leave the
ladies we were with for a moment and
change partners. The girls would not know
it, and one of them would talk on SUBJ
ject to me which 1 knew nothing about, as
it was something she had been discussing
with my brother. l would carry on the
converse ton as best l could, and then
1ot tba GIRL a : sweet to
she wanted to- After awhile l would tell
her of the change.
'In 1877 left Ingersoll and settled down
at Memphis, Mich. l soon got acquainted
with the young people, became engaged TO
with the young people, and after being
there a year or more, became engaged 10
a young lady. A few weeks before the
wedding my brother paid me visit, and
for the life of her my sweetheart could
not tell us apart at all, nor could her peo-
pie When she wanted to talk over the
ARRANGEMENTS for the wedding, she would
talk with my brother almost as often as
she did with me. She used to try to
make me promise not to let her make
such mistakes and in some way let her
know which was which But it was too
much fun for us. The evening of our we'd
ding day we had a large company, as
our guests. and my wife was in perfect
misery because she did not know which
was her hubby when she saw him.
1--WE have had three children. Our little
boy was years old when he died, and
he would often make mistakes when my
brother and 1 were together, for since We
have been men we have dressed alike, just
as we did when we wer boys My little
girl was six years old before she could tell
which of us was her papa when we were
together. Each of us would say, Come to
papa, and she would have to look and
study to find out which was really papa
and then would sometimes make mis-
take.
MY wife had an aunt living near us,
who had known me for four or five years
My brother came 10 visit us, and we ali
went over to see the aunt. My brother
went into the house first, and introduced
me as the stranger. My aunt inquired
how l liked it in Michigan, and about
things in general, and did not know the
truth at aha AT the same time l had a
bad TOOTH and went TO a dentist to get
il filed. After he had examined the tooth
he went into an adjoining room 10 get
something, when my brother and I
changed places. When the dentist came
out again, and started to fix the tooth, you
can imagine his astonishment TO find no
hollow tooth there at all.
Both my brother and myself are afflict-
ed with rheumatism in ovr feet, knees,
hands and shoulders. In the winter of 1892
we went to Hot Springs, Ark, for treat
ment The doctors there made many mis-
takes in making examinations and even
the colored attendants in the bath houses
would often declare, when one of us asked
attention, that he had already been at
tended to. A curious fact about this rheu-
matism is that while we are two of a fam
lily of twelve children, we are the only
ones afflicted with this trouble Our moth
er has it, and my brother and | think it
must be joint inheritance from her.
"A few weeks ago my brother paid me
a visit here at Sparta, and whenever he
went up town people would stop him and
ask him questions about my business and
other personal matters, people who never
saw him before When we are talking and
my wife is in the adjoining room, she has
to come into the room where we are 10
know which of us it Is that is talking. so
near alike are our voices. A suit of clothes
made for one of us will exactly fit the 9TH
err. Both of us are turning gray exactly
alike. Both of us walk exactly alike, and
even to-day our older sisters can hardly
tell us apart, sometimes utterly failing to
do SO.
THE only thing that we differ in is pol
tiles. ] have always voted the straight Re-
publican ticket, while my brother is a
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