The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-08
IRISH GIANT A FAKE
Carved Out of Stone for Exhl.
bition Purposes.

What is declared by the only living
man who says he knows to be the
greatest fake" that was exhibited is a
remarkable curio that has been in
charge Of the London & Northwest
ern Railroad company for the past
thirty years.
1t purports to be the remains of an
Irish giant twelve feet high which was
dug up near the Giants Causeway, aft
er having lain there for countless CEN
turtles.
The "only survivor of the history of
the fake" declares that the giant was
carved out of the rock at Carrickfergus
and was exhibited by two enterprising
showmen named Dyer and Kershaw.
By them he was exploited as the cell
ebrated Fin Macoul, the Irish giant,
who, after his death, they said, had
been marvelously ressurrected.
Dyer and Kershaw exhibited the mar
vel over thirty years ago at Liverpool
and Manchester.
His story was to the effect that he
had discovered the stone giant while
prospecting for iron ore. He took
Kershaw into partnership and they
made great deal Of money by exhib-
iting the curio, and for it's part it Gre
ated a sensation.
Then Dyer wanted to take the giant
to Australia and had it sent from Man
chester to the London depot at the
Northwestern railway, from where 1t
was to be placed on a vessel lying in
the Thames.
The Australians were never aston
ished, however Kershaw did not wish
the giant to be sent out of England, so
he and Dyer went to law to decide
who was its legal parent, and, as such,
entitled to control it's movements.
The railway company which had
transported the giant from Manchester
in huge coffin shaped packing case
appealed to the court in order to secure
their charges, but they were dismissed
from the case, and ordered not to move
the giant. He was now, in a manner
of speaking, sub JUDGE.
The outcome of the action between
Dyer and Kershaw was that the giant
was thrown into chancery-surely the
strangest ward in chancery on record.
What became of the two showmen is
not known, but it is believed they are
both dead.
The railway company has held the
giant for all these years in case Dyer
or Kershaw, or their heirs or assigns,
walk into the Broad street depot one
day and claim their property. 1t looks
as If the company will have to wait a
good while for that to happen. The
charges on the giant now amount to
nearly 500.
His precise height is twelve feet and
two inches, and he weighs near three
tons. He feels like soft gray stone.
If he were what he purports to be-
the fossilized remains of a once living
mamie would be one of the marvels
of the world, infinitely more wonder
full than the bismuth man In the British
Museum.
Regarding his genuineness and the
sincerity with which Dyer is said to
have exhibited him as Fin Macoul, it is
said that Dyer, who was not an expert
on antiquities, may have been misled
by his enthusiasm into believing that
his rock giant was really the marvellous
Irish giant.
The 12-foot fossilized remains of a
man who never existed would be the
most extraordinary thing the world
has even seen.
Various scientific men have visited
the freight yard at different times to
look at the giant, and some have been
half inclined to believe that he really
the head of the British Museum, was
asked to go and see the giant, and give
an expert opinion.
IT did not think it worth WHILE" he
told the writer. laughing. Il am afraid
1 am a confirmed skeptic in these mat
ters. Many years ago similar lind
was made during some excavating in
Piccadilly. 1t was suggested that /
should go and see 1t, and if 1t was a
fraud expose IT..
81 am afraid that if I inspected ev-
cry curio of this kind I should have
rather busy time"
A remarkable thing about the giant
is that he has six toes on the right foot.
This has been held by some to prove
his genuineness. If he were a fake
they say, his manufacturer would have
been accurate in such an elementary
detail. Possibly the manufacturer
foresaw this argument.
In the railway yard where he sleeps
the sleep of the stone age the giant
is regarded with pride and the rail-
waymen hav echristened him Father
Peter. Until recently he inhabited the
yard at Broad street, but he and his
packing case were rather in the way
there, so he was removed after twenty
seven years to the Worship street
depot, where a huge crate has been
stored on top of him lest he takes 1t
into his head to come to life.
Even though the "petrified Irish
giant is a fake" he is pre-eminent
among fakes and can boast history
stranger than fction.-Philadelph
Press.