The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-03-16
MONEY VALUE OF 4 FREAK

said tine dime museum man >
I've had a liberal education III freaks
! I've zbeen right here in Fourteenth street
| Ior ffteen years and, take it all together
! I've associated with greater galaxy of
weird wonders than any other man
alive - -.
men was the Weirdest of them all ?,'
| - rather think it was the Tocci twins.
| l DID you ever meet them? MOI Well.
ti'sy got the biggest salary we ever paid
| to any freak. They got 500 a week,
| sItfat would be $3.50 apiece
aplece!s But there's only one of 'em.
| mat nat ls-yoal see-Well it's kind of connoli.
| csIed. You see, they had one pair of legs
ana one body UP to the waist. and from
ettece up they We're twins. OF course if
| you're going to divide the money between
| I1ean. why, I have known other frea ks
/ mat have earned more. But L guess If
| ssNortan,f have done to give the money to
en- anyway They'd have had "a quarrel
over it, sure
! Didn't they live together in brotherl,
| love ~ s ;
| WE'LL not always You see, their tastes
| u11Iered There was one of them thai
loved beer and the other wouldn't drink
| anythlngSbut mineral water. One: of them
2you see, was rather peaked and effeaninate
Wfale the other was hearty and strong
| he was the: one that liked the beer. vol
Know Of course when he drank his
beer it used to go to the other fellows
head and then there'd be trouble. / wa
Ter passing a prohibitory law. but thei,
ma mayer believed in local option, so OF
| course couldn't help it.
80 But the little ono need TO oo+
He had a mania for gambling and would
play cards every time he got a chance
No, they didn't play against each othe,
in private life. The big. one wouldn't
And he used to be madden than anythins
when he had to sit there and watch the
little one.s r.
beerSto get the little one sleepy, he coul6
break up the game, but one can't be
thirsty to order, you know It was q
very complicated case.
They were Italians, the Tocci twins
1talJ's about the best country for produc.
ing freaks. India produces a good many
too. guess India's crop is, the largest
hut India has an enormous popula ton
American freaks are the cleverest Most
OF the imported. ones are just born that
way and they let it go at that But the
American ones have more enterprise
Lots Of them aren't really born freaks
They achieve that state or they have il
thrust uCon them.
There was Jonathan r. Bass, for in
stance, He was known as the ossifed
man and I consider him the most inter
estiag freak | have ever seen. He WASH
born that way. He said he was all right
until he was sixteen years old when he
fell into the river where he was RAFTING
logs: -
He took cold, had rheumatism, ant
suffered circulating pain for a nurnbel
Of years. Finally the pain left him, bu
he became perfectly stiff. He couidn't
move a single joint with the exception Of
an occasional twitching of one toe. He
was blind, but he could hear and talk
though he had to talk through his teeth
owing to the stiffness of his jaws"
~"Didn't he want to die?''
4 "Die? No! He was happy. He loved
to have people read the papers to him
and he would talk politics by the hour
He was an ardent Democrat and would
argue questions of the day with as much
interest as anybody. He got from S3Ot
To $3.50 a week; but he had to have two
men to take care of him and of course
his travelling expenses were heavy
ellis brother finally got control of him
and was exhibiting him when someho"
they dropped him. He never got over
/. that He was under contract 10 play mere
(; hit he sent me word asking me 70 re-
lease him; said he hadn't felt we'll since
: they let him fall and he believed ne was
going to die. He wanted to go back. te
Z; his old home and die there. or course
! released him. They took him out there u
Western New York and he died two days
after he reached there. sq-.
- ct see that one of the Wild Men o.
Borneo died the other day. Those mer
were good attractions, though they didn
earn big money. They got from SO tt
j $50. They were genuine freaks Of
/ nature. but they never saw Borneo
They were born up in achusetts,
believe, and the man who travelled witt
: them at first was their father.
#"Later their own brother, who didn'
happen to be freak, went with them
Z You know they never spoke word wfer
on exhibition. I guess the only language
they knew anything about was Massa.
chusetts English, so they observed dis.
Greet silence"
'sIow about giants? Are they worth
much as freaks %
''No, not so very much nova days. Ella
Ewing got more than any other giant
know Of She got as high as 5000 a week.
The best male giant I ever saw was the
American Kansas giant, who measured :
! feet AZ inches in his stocking feet But
he only got from SIS to 800 a week.
People are suspicious of giants, for some
reason or other. OF course, the height
can be increased few inches by arti-
fetal means, but that's all
DWarfs are rather out of fashion, too.
They don't get very much unless they
can do something in what we call the
working line. Major Mite. who died not
lonS aSn. was one of the best of the little
,eopIe. He was bright and Intelligent
sou lli give good song and dance and
mt rtain a whole audience He earned
rom $40 to 5000 a week, but there are
not many dwarfs who are worth that
saucn. He was an interesting little chap.
" QUO smoke cigar like man and
,otad drink as much as can. He drank
loo much, unfortunately, and that really
caused his death.
He was an exception, though. Most of
tne freaks are well to do. The dwarfs
especially, are very thrifty and yo1,,r
ind ind that almost all Of them have their
money invested in real estate. It seems
70 appeal to them somehow.
Il One OF the biggest salaries We no ua
mol nEs1p cz. n.