The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-08
THE HUMAN TELESCOPE.
So Called Because of His Peculiar
Gift of Personal EIOngafiOn.

Gift of Personal EIOngafiOn.
William Doss is frequently called the
| human telescope" and others refer to
him rs the SNAKE man" Either title Is
quite appropriate. Doss struck Rochester
| the ether day from California, says the
Rochester Herald. He walked into Rat
! tlesnake Pete's saloon and introduced
| himself to the proprietor.
Il heard of you out in Frisco" he said,
land I thought I would walk in and look
! about & little" t,-. s4s4-
Pete glanced at the man and then
drummed a little tattoo on the bar Spd
| looked out on the street. In a moment
| he sized Doss up again and nearly faint
| ed when he saw the fellow was shoot
! ing up toward the ceiling in a more
| mystical manner than the wonderful
beanstalk planted by one Jack in Mother
! Goose lore.
When Pete recovered and looked again
| he saw that the mans neck had extend
/ ed itself eight inches more than When
! he first observed the stranger Then Pete
! pincheG himself to see If he was awake.
/ The two talked for a few moments and
Pete bought a drink. The telescope man
/ said he would have a beer. The liquor
was placed on the bar for him about q
/ foot out Of his reach. Instead of step
ping over for it he stood perfectly still,
pointed his hand in the direction of the
/ glass ard caused his arm to grow about
a foot longer, when he reached the drink
with ease.
Pete began to get nervous. He watch
] ed the fellow narrowly and noticed that
he had big hump on his back. Sud
denly he of the snakes let a wnoop out
of him and was about to run for doc
tor. That ugly hump, half as big as
barrel, which moment before had been
on the strangers back, appeared bulging
out from his breast and his back was
as smooth as that Of any well formed
man.
Pete said he was a peculiar genius.
I Toss admitted it and he began to play
with his left hand He took the right
hand and twisted the left around on the
wrist several times as though 1t were
on a swivel, much as a nervous man
would twirl his lead pencil.
Doss is just twenty-five years old. He
has never had any educational advan-
tages and is very illiterate, He says 4e
was born with the big hump on his
back, and as far back as he can re-
member he has been able to reverse the
hump and put 1t on his breast. He does
not remember when he learned to grow
! or stretch himself at will. Every bone
in his body seems to be made of rubber,
and he can control his muscles at will.
DOss has not displayed himself and his
wonderful powers professionally, but has
frequently given private exhibitions of
his almost superhuman ability He cam
not explain his power, and he says that
he has never found a physician who could
explain 1t.
Many persons believe that when he
stretches himself from his normal height
of feet to Z feet inches it is due to the
Strengthening out of the hump on his
back. This is not true When he towers
to feet 6 inches the hump is as big as
hut Foil hi
rather his back stretches away from it,
leaving the hump resting almost on his
| hips. Most of the stretching is in the
| upper part of his body. When he extends
! his neck eight inches his body does not
move. He stands perfectly still, and his
| neck just grows toward the ceiling. The
! human telescope" extends his arm
| toward a wall with the fingers about a
| foot from the wall. Without so much as
the slightest movement of his body the
arm shoots out until it touches the wall.
Doss says the most remarkable thing
| about his strange physique is his ability
| to transfer the hump from his back to his
| chest. He says that many doctors have
| examined him to try to discover the man
ner of the change, but that they remain
as much in the dark as Doss himself does
In fact, the man is an enigma to the
medical profession as well as to himself.
| He knows that he can stretch himself out
like an India rubber man, and that is the
extent of his knowledge of himself. II
is favorite trick of his to stand talking
with a man who is as tall as himself,
and when the man looks away for mo-
! ment to stretch himself to such a height
that his companion can walk under his
| extended arm.
In addition to being abe to stretch him
self at will, Doss claims to be the cham
pion standing high kicker of the world.
The worlds record for such kick is 8
feet inches, but Doss has no~dificulty
in going eight inches higher He says he
does 1t by stretching his leg out about
foot, but the kick is made so rapidly
| that the manner of 1t canont be deter
| mined.