Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-11

~Rtk IN ~Sfa the opinion OF those
| members of the public who have any such
| opinion about the value of really star
| freak, while as a matter of fact the weekly
| salary of such attraction ranges from
| $50 to $500 a week. Equally vague are
| most persons ideas about the lives of
| freaks outside of the museum. Who they
are, where they come from and where they
| go are questions about which most people
| never bother themselves yet some inter-
esting stories are found in the lives of
these people: stories of a change from lives
| of the most abject poverty to that of COM
parattve wealth. and from being objects of
pity. and in many cases of contumely, to a.
position in which they able to dictate
| terms to successful business men, and to
| feel the power that money alone gives.
Freaks are the cards which a wide
awake dime museum manager wins or
| lcses. This is not because a great deal of
money is made from them, the contrary
| being the case, when the freak in question
has become standard attraction and COM
| mandS large salary. In this case with
| the extra expenses of advertising and pro-
| viGing special surroundings, the cost of the
attraction runs up to something like 81 300
| a week, and after this is paid there is little
left from the extra receipts. But the pub
lie is so skeptical of everything shown at
| dime museum that unless a number of
y
year the attendance will fall off.
Discovery OF New Freaks.
1t is in the discovery and presentation Of
entirely lew freaks that the money and the
glory lies, for when one of these is shown
| at a museum it not only greatly increases
| its reputation, but is a source of large
profit. for few freaks have at first any idea
of their value. and they usually be en-
gagged for a comparatively small salary.
For this reason the manager of one of the
large museums will travel almost any dis
lance and so to almost any amount of
trouble to secure genuine novelty il this
| line, the more as new freaks are Jecom-
ing rarer and rarer every year.
Freaks are, as a rule, persons of a quiet
and retiring disposition, which is probably
| due to the fact that almost all of them
came from country places. This seems
rather strange, the popular idea being that
| life in the city is not 50 wholesome as that
| in the country, and that the former ought
| to result in more distorted forms of life.
| 1t is also true that nearly all of them have
gone back TO the country, usually to the
places from which they came, where they
enjoy the prominence that their rise in
| life mas given them among their old neigh
borS. Many, after making a comfortable
competence, spend nearly all their time on
these country places, leaving them. per-
haps, for only two three weeks in the
year. much to crafty a desire to see
little of city life for awhile as from any
wish for gain. Even for so short a time as
this, however, some of them will not leave
their homes, and none of them will do so
at all unless they get about their own price.
wild Men of Borreo.
Perhaps the best-known freaks in this
country are the Wild Men of Borneo, who
were brought here nearly fifty years ago.
In the interim between that time and the
present they have rolled up fortunes for
| The several who have eyhilit cd
them, and have lived to see most of them
dead and buried. AS nearly as can be as
certained they were brought to this coun-
try about 1850 by a Capt Hammond, who
found them on one of the small islands in
the Pacific. He called them the Wild Men
| CT Borneo because every was ac-
Quainted with Borneo as the largest island
| in the world. Capt. Hammond died. and
| they were taken charge of by Henry Har-
vey of Boston. After his dccease, H. A.
| Warner of Waltham, Mass, took them,
and he has now become blind from ase, so
that his son Ernest has to take them on
| the road, although they still live with his
father In spite of their age, the little fell
| lows are as cheerful and full of life as
when they first came to this country. Their
| eyes are bright, their hair shows no signs
of gray, and the only signs of approaching
old age are "A slight deafness and dlminu-
ton of their enormous strength. When
| they were in their prime one of them could
| lift two good-sized men with ease, although
| they stand only about three feet in height
ard weigh but forty-five pounds. Even now
| they are extremely strong and active, but
| do not lift these great weights, while their
| whole life is much more quiet than it used
| to be.
wild Men at Home.
| When they were first brought out they
created a tremendous sensation, and were
| shown all over the country at a salary of
$3.50 to $4OO a week. At that salary they
| had continuous ngagements, running two
or three weeks in one town. and then going
directly TO another engagement. Now,
| however, they have become so well known
that they do not command much of a sal
airy. and Mr.. Warner will not take them
on the road for small one.
| They have a pleasant life at Mr.. War
ner's fine place, where they have the best
of care. and are given about everything
| they want. Their desires are few and sim
| pie, and they seem to find the most enjoy
ment in helping to take care of the place.
! Although they seem so bright and quick
| they have never mastered the English Ian
| guage. but understand simple things that
Mr.. Warner says to them. In speaking to
strangers they converse al most entirely by
| sign language. but they have language
of their own which Mr.. Warner has never
| been able to understand.
|. The Big-FOOted Woman.
One of the most interesting cases of the
rise of freak from poverty to affluence
is that of Fanny Mills, the big-footed wo-
man, who was discovered by Frank Stone,
the Boston dime museum manager. He
heard of her through the postmaster at
Sandusky, Ohio, and after a little CORE
spondence determined to go out and see if
| she was all that she was represented to
| be. The farm on which she was living with
her parents found to be the most mis-
| cradle place imaginable, the house and
building out of repair, the ground poor,
and everything indicating a hard strug-
gle for bare existence The girl herself
was half clothed and fearfully thin and
worn looking. Her work was to milk the
cows and then carry the milk for a dis
lance of five miles to the houses along the
road. She carried two large pals sung
on yoke across her shoulders. and with
her huge feet the daily toll was so severe
that, coupled with miserable food, IL had
| worn her almost to skeleton
Mr.. Stone took her to Boston on a SAL
airy of $50 a week, and billed her as 1.-The
| big-footed woman from Chicago She ere
| ated great sensation, and was drawing
card for long time. When she arrived
she had on her feet pair of boots that
showed how primitive had been her mode
OF life. They were made throughout of the
tops of farmers heavy cowhida boots and
| mad been manufactured at home nv frat