The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17
THE WILD MEN OF BoRNEo.
Barnum's Famous Two stiII in the
Land of the Living.
(From the Boston Transcript

(From the Boston Transcript
Everybody has heard Of the Wild Men
of Borneo. BaFnum and numberless years
OF circus. museum, and side-show have
made their names household words. They
have been SO long before he public that by
now they must be heavy with years; hence
there was no surprise when 1t was an
nounced, a short time ago. that one Of
them was dead. Never theless In spite OF
their age one of them Il not dead. One of
them Is seriously crippled, but still able to
appear on the stage; ard in fact. both are
now spending their third year In the Euro
pean equivalent for dime museums Henry
! Warner. Of Crescent Sect, Waltham. who
exhibited them for long time, hears from
them every week. His son Is now in
charge OF them for Mr. Warner himself is
almost stone blind.
Though the two lit lie wild men are
known widely througt nut the country 1t
may not De known s ldely that their
home-to which they a. -ysys return with
glee-is not Borneo, but has been for
long time within a few miles Of Boston
at Weston tnear the Lincoln line). and
then at Roberts, just above Waltham.
At Roberts, where the Warmers lived for
eight or ten years in Il house just be-
meath a hill near the railroad station.
everybody knows the two little men. To
Roberts people their squat and muscular
forms, their wiZened. yellow faces Gov
cred with a struggling growth of hair,
ana their long untIdy locks are no strange
sight. The Warmers used TO bring them
ther" for Il few weeks in the winter.
when the circus season was off. and
museum engagements failed They would
take the journey by rail in heavy wells
of cheese cloth (which would be removed
once they got of the train. and the little
men would run eff to their home fun of
delight at the holiday When their older
friends in town came tc see them the
Wild men would remember and greet
them with handshales. They never
I learned 10 talk. but unders God what Mr.,
Warner sald 10 them: and We're very
3
Some there are who say that their lik-
ing for New England soil is based on good
I reason, that they We're born here. of
Yankee parentage; but by some strange
freak of nature with the faces of old men
and understood bodice that developed ire
mehdous strength with maturity The
people OF Roberts, hOwever-at all events
the younger OF taem-believe implicitly in
| the story of their capture by odd Cap
tain warner, who landed on the Island
| OF Borneo many years ago. they say, and
with MS entire crew gave chase to the
little fellows.
Many are the tales of their prodigious
strength which the farmers of Lincoln
and Roberts will tell one tall, lank Yam
kee tnow a greyrbearded grandfather; his
muscles hardened BY a life in the OPEN,
in his pl0wman days became angered at
one of the dwartish wild mems pranks,
and struck at him with the handle of
spade. The tnturiatcd little fellow made
after him with his bare fists, and soon
had the plowman at his mercy
tame that the children of Roberts have
found them pleasant playmates) are now
of great age. no one seems able To say
with authority how great, only that II
must be nearly a hundred years. The
surprising lifting feats which they used
to do on the stage together they can no
longer do, for one of them met his Wa
terlo0 in a Boston museum. He used to
make a specially of lifting heavy men
who volunteered from the audience; he
would take a short running start, tackle
low, and up would go the fat man. gasp
Ing at the suddenness of his elevation,
Petite zone OF the two tried II some years
ago on IA large girthed Bostonian weighing
very near the 3O1-mark: the fat man was
unnerved when he felt the tight clasp or
Petito's muscular arms about his legs and
bent his whole weight back. The little
wild man struggled for an instant ana
then fell over. the unwieldy mass or nesh
on top OF him. The injury was perma-
nent; he has never lifted another obesity
patient.