The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-07-03
TO MAKE RACE OF GIANTS
COUNT LEFT A MILLION DOLLARS
FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Men Must &c Six Feet and Women Five
Feet Ten inches-,The Movement
Inspired BY CarclUs Duran.

New York World.
Paris-Tae late Comts de st. ouen de
Pierrecourt. who left bequsst Of 1000
Go francs ls1,eooc0O 10 encourage the
breeding Of giants. was prompted 70 in
corporate that provision IN his win by read
ing In French papers a translation of an
ariicle first published In the editorial see
tion Of the New York World.
That article had been written especially
for the New Century number by Carolus
Duran. an artist Of universal fame
10 IL tails c0nuolsseur IN beauty made the
startling assertion thar IN France, as IA
the United States and ali civilized conn
tries 20 or - per cent Of the population
Is hideousiy malconforlne1"
The artlcle attracted great attention In
America, judging from the hundreds Of let
tiers Of Inquiry. protest or Endorsement
which reached lis author from across the
sea. In Europe. too. 1t was widely trans
LATED and gare rise to many other articles
pro and con.
Among those most deeply interested in
the maIter was the old Comte de s. Ouen.
de sought cur the writer. consulted phys!-
eians. and hnally two months ago. shortly
before his death. sent 10 the cabinet OF
Ministers a petition signed with many
powerful names. Ia IL the aid Of the State
Was demanded for Z systematic physical
1eFe4Ypment Of the French peoples Here
document.
The breeding Of the human race. ae-
corning 10 the LAWS Of heredify, health and
common sense. ) certainly more import
snt than the perfeetlng 81 horses. cows and
pigs. Yet, while the state yearly gives
millions 10 buy and maintain dne breeding
specimens Of these animals. sther millions
support model breeding farms. and 10 re-
Narn private exhibitors Of fast horses.
sood cows ana lat pigs. 10tllng Is done
race"
The state was busy Otherwise and made
40 response. Daspairlng 81 aid 10 this d.
Erection, The noble sgltat0r, bound 70 do
something for the reform Ia which be was
enlisted. Inserted the clause IN his VIII b.
which his native city Ronen, Is intrHsted
win the capital Of 1O00o.ol9 francs upon
condition that 10000 francs If The TearlF
during her lifeline. and the rest applied
e annual prizes for married couples DE-
ylaIed most r Tor the purpose q repro
Z Keeper her share Of the income IS 10 90
Z ia prizes, too.
+ p his testament the count goes into de-
( prizes must be worth whlie-S30 0p0 Is the
mialinum. TAe fortune being invested AZ
z ths average Of per cent there is enough
J mcrey 10 provide Tor such prizes resrl 8
afler the housekeeper's demise
n the couples competing the men can
not be over % years old or under SIX feet
three inches % height the women not
4 over o in age OF under ave feet ten inches
/ N height. The features X the women
tense * pretty, provided they are AZ least
Pleasantly satisfying 10 the eSrhefic sense.
hH' me general physical. DEVELOPMENT o.
the body must be as perfect as possible.
4 a commission 81 five composed ~ me
PHYSICIAN one surgeon. two artists ard
the mayor 81 the city VIII examine the
candidates and award the prizes on Nav
OF each year.
In order. : says the WILL 10 guard
a. f. fHNNa
IariiY CONTRACTED TO get the. prize. and also
~ gn4aIq AGAINST ne possibility Of my pnr.
I O. wlluul steTlllty Of the winners, no can-
I didate couple VIII be admitted 70 compete
I Unless accompanied by at least one child
{ Jc!hty oesoUcn in m9rriag g.
The municipal authorities Of Rouen q
sedaie, ploddiGg crowd NJ old bourgeois
arc sorely embarrassed AZ the counts he
quess and the mission thus forced npOn
them. AZ least two aldermen have already
Z expressed themselves as opposed 70 ac-
! cepting the gift under the existing con8i-
tons. But public opinion In Franee-Aalf
seriously, half because Of the humor Of the
{ thing j. 20 overwhelmingly In favor OK
me experiment. being made that there Is
/ resign themselves To their fate.
Several French papers point ont that this
IS not ioe hrSt time the Improvement OF
the race has been attempted by q syste-
rnatic selection OF parents In Greece at
he period when physical perfection con
( surUted she main endeavor Of rile Sparyans.
cel raiu inferior men aud women were for
hidden marriage under penalv OF death.
ara beautiful males and females endowed
?nl hor0re5 II they consented 10 be mar
lied. The law against diseased Of weak
ClFlNenS errcring wedlcck w9s so easily
I cvaded. however, that there Is no record
J az SIS h2Ving ever been applied seriously.
EEi there are records that about q cen
fury ago q certain ruler of Persia provided
I each 81 his taliesr, handsomest soldiers
I y i'm a large harem Of fne women. In or
der that 2 stronger ana more beautiful
( race should be produced There Is nothing
20 show whether ct not the experiment was
tcallv made.
The ancient chronicier of the doiu.s al
the French courts, Braniome, hsseris In
one If his books thar Il was a tradition
vigorously maintained for ages in certain
feudal houses Of Avergne and Gascony
fhst the sons and daughters Of lords should
offspring was mercilessly slaughtered Ol
secretly exchanged az birth. As a result
q this practice. which was kept up several
hundred years, these provincial mobiles
proudly lowered above all their contem
pcrarles IS though OF a different more
Comte de St. ouen himself must have
! considered this point, for he expressly
recommends 10 his commissioners that
fheS shall take the trouble TO assure
with 81 least "a fair amount Of intelli
/ gence"
The donor Of the $4,000. Conts Alley
andre louis de st. Ouen Dc PleTrecourt
belonged 10 one Of the oldest and noblesj
families In the world One Of his ancestors
was the companion Of William the Con
querer and accompanied him from Nor
mandy 20 England.
COME Alexandra Louis. a giant himself
vas vas = Years Of age wne ei-, he died few
never had any children.
I