The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-03-16
$40 PER YEAR.

the way. They get bigger salaries and
longer engagements over there Here we
rarely play a freak longer than four
weeks, but over there they stay months
in the same place.
The interest in freaks isn't what it
used to be in this country The present
generation has been most of the speci-
mems and we must wait a few years for
a revival of interest.
Or course novelty in freaks is al
ways a good attraction. There was the
man with the broken neck, for instance
lie was a good attraction when he first
came out. He had sort of framework
which supported his head in place b,1t
when that was opened in front his head
simply fell down onto his breast It
would almost make you faint to see him
do 1T ~
es he was genuine. They had him
UP at Bellevue and all the hospitals and
examined him. That fellow dies hard, 7
tell you. He was in the Galveston cyclone
and got through with his life all right.
He lost everything else, T guess, for he
wrote and asked me for money, which 7
sent him.
Il say he lost everything else He didn't.
He lost his child, but not his wife. Mar
woman. separated from her and married
another. You can't break that mans
spirit by breaking his neck
'Spe alling of 1lecks reminds me of an
other good freak I know. That's the
Human Giraffe, or Original Rubber Neck
Joe. He could stretch his neck out to a
phenomenal length but that wasn't so re-
tnarkable as the elasticity of his skin.
You could take the skin of his cheek be-
tween your thumb and finger and pull it
out several inches just as if It We're of
rubber He got about $50 week. which
wasn't bad for simply rubbering. BY the
way, it's interesting to know that the
original rubber necker came from Jersey
'"Fhen there was Wilson, the man who
could expand his chest twenty-four inches.
He was the original expansionist in this
country Poor fellow! He's in Boston
row. and L understand he's pretty dis
sirated. I suppose there are so many an
tleXpansionistS in Boston that they've
driven him to drink. He ought to have
known better than to try to introduce his
speciality up there
How about Albinos?'
"Ch, they're not worth much They're
too common. They don't draw unless they
can Go something In the working line
For instance, that man out there with
the trained canaries is married to an AL
blno who sings and dances. Here's an
other -Albino," showing picture, "who
Is married to the King of the Broom Max
els. They work together. She sings and
dances, and he gives exhibitions of broom
:.rrsaking. = .ss 80 .s'
Here's a souvenir have of one Of our,
freaks. He was called the Human Os-
trich, and he fed, apparently, on nails,
taclSs, knifeblades and other rather indi-
gestible articles. See that broken blade
in my knife?f He jtist bit it off one day.
That was his playful way. Then he said
he swallowed 1t.
mo, I don't believe he did, but he used
to put those little delicacies on his tongue,
apparently swallow them. drink glass of
water and nobody ever could find them
He would let you examine his mouth, but
nobody eper found anything there except
his tongue and teeth. ----
II always found the Human Pincushion
interesting, too. You could stick pins into
him by the paperful. He must have been
Invaluable to his wife I do think he
ought to have gone on the police force
though, for a hatpin hadn't any terror
for him.
eve used to run a hatpin through his
cheek. and he'd only smile the brighter.
We drove nails into him. too, but he
didn't mind It. Bleed? No, there was no
blood-ror saWdust either. He was A.
Quaker product. Came from PHILADELPHIA
The Human Ostrich New Yorker.
mat isn't so strange as some other
things, is it?
''Ihere was one class of freaks we used
that W. hoI p1o
some time. They were the fasters. There
was Stratton, the only man who actually
went over thirty-six hours without eating
a thing. He tasted forty-two DAYS. then
the police interfered and took him to a
hospital. They didn't believe there tina,
he hadn't eaten anything. and they gave
him whisky and champagne. They had
to put him in the alcoholic ward and he
promptly died. They performed an au.
topsy on him and found out that he ac-
tually hadn't eaten anything.
He didn't get regular salary He got
a percentage Of the receipts, the percent
age being increased every week he con-
tinued to fast. He began with perhaps
500 and went up from that. When he
died the money was paid over to his
mother
How about armies freaks?'
"They are too common to be worth
anything unless they can do things. II
an armless man can draw or paint, sew
write and do other things of that sort
with his feet, he can earn perhaps $50 per
week. OF course Juggernaut, the arm
less and legless boy from India was
worth more than that. He had him with
Laloo and the orange-headed girl and
we paid the three about $500 week
1T pays better to be long than short
when it comes to freaks. For instance.
it's bettertto have three legs than none
at all We had a three-legged Italian
boy who was one of our best freaks.
But. then, he was bright and attractive.
There is still another class of freaks
and that is the animal freaks There are
six-legged horses, three-legged hens.
two-headed calls, albino possums and SO
IN. These freaks aren't worth much
lot more than a few dollars, especially as
we don't care 10 Keep them in the -nl-
scum long
But UP in Essex county, where have
! farm, there ism a freak ANNA whici
he Inhabitants do not think ought to
ply and at a big price The best animal
tttraetion we ever had was the horse
With a great name and TAIL. But that
was peculiarity Of that particular
ace of horses. It ran in the fam
ly."
Do most of the good freaks find
heir way into the museums ~
No, indeed. Many of them are never
cen Tie friends will not allow their
shibition, sometimes even when It
you'd mean escape from real poverty
n other cases the law will not permit