The Anaconda standard., 1899-12-31
TONGUE DOS WORK OF ARMS.
Pathetic Afdiction Relieved by Lingual
Accomplishments.

Accomplishments.
Miss Fannie w. Tuntson of Sag Har-
Dor. l.. T., has the most accomplished
and remarkable tongue in the world.
Thirty years ago Miss Tun!son was
born and to the grief of her parents
she was found to be suffering from
form OF infantile paralysis which total
~ incapacitated her from using either
her upper or lower extremities. Her
parents were only poor farmers. in
small way OF business, and Fannie's
affliction not only weighed heavily
upon their minds, but upon their pock-
cts as well.
But Miss Tunison has turned her
shortcomings to good account. De
prived of the use Of her limbs she gets
along perfectly well with her tongue
and paints, embroiders and writes
better hand or rather mouth, than
most people who are BILE sed with the
use Of their 10 digits. She makes more
money, too, than the majority Of her
earned more than $1,000 by executing
orders for pictures given to her by
summer visitors at Sag Harbor.
Miss Tunison's work is Of no mean
order. The pictures she paints COM
pare favorabiy with any amateur art
ists', and she paints with considerable
| welding the brush with her tongue
that she excels at copying and she
possesses several canvases that would
| bring credit to any copyist. She Is
especially good at painting pictures
Of Montauk Point lighthouse, and the
little pictures. which takes her less
| than 20 minutes to paint, she sells to
visitors for the price of 81.
But 1t is not only as an artist that
Miss Tunison shines, She Is expert at
| fancy work as well and wonderful as
| it may seem, she Is perfectly able to
| thread her needle and use the scis-
| sors She never requires the assistance
| of anybody and all the work she turns
out Is done strictly by herself.
When Miss Tunison Is at work she Is
| seated in chair which has been spe-
cially made for her. From the arm of
the chair rises metal rod, which sup
ports small wooden table, and itais
upon the table that all the work ls
done.
| In spite Of her affliction Fannie al
ways has a cheerful word for visitors.
| Indeed, it Is her greatest pleasure to
| receive company and she Is never so
! happy as when she can show off her
wonderful powers. 1t Is during the
| summer season, when visitors and holi-
that Fannie Is really busy and the num-
Der of orders that pour in keep her at
| all times fully occupied.
In appearance Fannie differs some
what from the ordinary mortal. Owing
| to the excessive use of her tongue the
muscles of the neck are extremely well
! developed and stand out thick and
| prominent. Her eyes, too, have Ian
guid look about them and roll when she
| speaks In a peculiar manner. Her
| speech is thick and heavy, no doubt
being due to the excessive size Of her
| tongue.
| The way that she threads needle is
peculiar. She first holds the needle In
her teeth for the purpose of planting 1t
firmly in the wooden table before her.
She then takes up the cotton, biting
off the length she requires. The next
step is to hold the cotton with her
lips, which she screws up in pecu-
liar manner. Then in trice, before
one can say Jack Robinson" she
takes aim at the eve of the needle be-
fore her, and, ten chances to one, the
needle is threaded.
/ She handles the scissors In the same
dexterous manner, but the act IN which
she is really astonishing is the way in
| which she ties knot. She places the
cotton in her mouth, chews on it seem
ingly for little while, appears to
swallow 1t and then opens her mouth
aud puts out her tongue. Upon the
tongue, If the little operation is success
full, Is the piece OF cotton with two or
three knots tied In 1t.
Miss Tunison was taught entirely by
her mother, and it is to her mothers
love and care that she attributes all her
skill. She has had many tempting Of
fers to exhibit herself in museums, but
she is perfectly content with the life
she leads and does not care to make a
change. She has lived all her life a:
Sag Harbor and has never had days
sickness in her life. She Is a good cor
respondent and writes a good mouth
and has written letters to ard received
letters from most of the prominent men
throughout the union.
1t is her sincere wish to visit Paris
and see the great exhibition next year
and efforts are being made to have hel
invited over as an exhibit. AS an ex-
hibition of what can be accomplished
by born paralytic Fannie Tunisor
cannot be surpassed.