The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-06-24


 She was an inquisitive woman and was taking in'' the freaks at Madison
 Square Garden the other day. She watched the peculiar gyrations of the
 Imperial Russian troupe of dancers,
 she had puzzled her brains over the
 awesome feats of Tomasso, the human ] pin-sushion: and she had wondered
 how on earth Beautiful Marie, the fat lady, managed to get around comforta- bly, with her four hundred and six
 pounds of solid flesh. Presently she stopped before the platform of Tripp, the armless wonder.
 Pardon me- she said, but how on
 earth do you-er--freaks. manage to
 get any good out of life? Seems to me l you must be either in here exhibiting yourselves, or else hiding away some
 where for fear some one will see you without paying the price of admission. :"
 Tripp had listened patiently, in spite
 of slight elevation of the brows at the
 use of the word freaks" But the armless wonder is gentleman under
 any and all circumstances. and he an- | sWered courageously:
 We have many ways of enjoying 1 life. Even sitting up here on plat l form to be stared at has it's compensa-
 tions. Just think what a wonderful op- portunity we have for studying human
 nature. Every kind and condition of men and women pass before us. We l look down and we see courtesy, kind
 ness, rudeness, selfishness, hate, love all the peeuliarities of human nature pictured before us as on screen. Why, madam, what could be more in- teresting to an observing man or wo- man-and I assure you there are many such among the prodigies-tha to run
 the gamut of human passions as depic-
 ted in the faces and by the manners of l the thousands who pass before us every day"
 But when you are not on exhibition what then?'
 We have our means of personal en- joyment. Of course. it depends upon the individual, just as it does in the un-
 professional world. The human pro
 dizzy has the same feelings, the same sentiments. the same sense of pleasure in pleasurable things as the rest of hu- manity. But, it is as you say, much of the time we are compelled by the very nature of our profession to keep aloof from the public. If we became too common in the eyes of the public we would undoubtedly lose our value. Nevertheless, we have our enjoyments. Miss May, the giantess, for instance, is an expert need1ewoman. That occupies many spare hours. Lionel, the lion faced boy, strange to say, has a great eye for beauty in nature, and makes many pretty sketches from nature. He is learning to paint in water colors, and that keeps him busy during hours that would otherwise be idle. The Korean Withstand, by the way there is the most remarkable exhibit since the days of the Siamese TWins-are learning photography. I am myself an enthusi- astlc amateur photographer, and I am teaching them the mysteries of the ca mera. Like myself, they develop and print theih own pictures. I have col lection of nearly five hundred photo graphs taken during the Barnum & Bailey tour of Europe, from which we have just returned. I also take all my own photographs. I pose some other person in order to get the correct focus; then take the position myself and allow my companion to press the bulb. All the personal photographs l sell are made in this way"
 How do the midgets enjoy them- selves during off hours?"
 '.They probably get along better than some of the other 'prodigies.' There are five of them and that makes plenty of company for all. At the hotel, how ever, and also on the road, they have to be retired to a great extent, and they are consequently thrown upon their own resources for entertainment. This summer will probably find them busy with their English dictionaries. The Howarth midgets are Hungarians-al- though, like most of the Magyar peo- pie. they also speak German fiuently. MT. Bailey discovered them in Vienna, in a little midget theater. Their great objection to coming to this country was their unfamiliarity with the English language. Now, notice, they spend all their spare time studying the pecu- liarities of American speech, and before the season is half over they will be able to converse fluently without an inter- preter. Apart from this, the young wo- men, particularly Anna, who is only twenty-six inches tall and is approach ing her twenty-second year, is a great needlewoman, and. with the assistance of her mother. who travels with her, makes all her dainty little gowns. Anna is very much in love with a cer- tain little midget, only an inch or two taller than herself, and a marriage in Lilliput may be looked for before long"
 "What monstrous man that giant is! Would you call him freak?"
 The eyes of the armless wonder flashed a little.
 Madam" he said. "there are no freaks with the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. That was de- cided at a meeting held in Olympia, London, three years ago. Canon Will berforce named us 'prodigies,' and pro- digies' we will remain until the end of time. The use of the word freaks on the signs in Madison Square Garden was without authority. Of that we are assured by the management. On the road we are 'prodigies.' Mons Hugo,