The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-11-08
s. IlLE. - 0F I'D
lbtorEVgo RTtiS ssEci M T
TOLD oF y

The Gsr0zigtoua Strengsth - AeolySl1-
mas, who ElEg.lesl IIeregil e.'e lste
of aInxiniil ~, the IraPesla1 Giant
Of the Tlslrd ceIstury.
II there Is one thing IN the show
business which can be depended On 10
draw # Is giant provided always.
that he be Bis enough
But giants existed long before this
profitable business was invented, and
the nameslof many OF them have been.
handed down to posterIty simply be-
cause they were OF huge proportions
and combined with their abnormal de
velopment d proportional amount Of
strength Thus It Is probable that had
Goliath Of Cath. whose height the
ologians place at over ten feet, not
been the strongest as well as the big
gest warrior among the Phllistfnes we
should never have heard Of him. The
same rg1lment-applies to Moab. king
of the Amorites. aud og. King OF Ba-
shan. Orcstes. too. was eleven and a
hair feet high, according to the Grecian
legends. and he. together with AjnS
the Greater had they not been gifted
with strength IN proportion to tlleir
bulk would have been only ordinary
Troy.
When history begins. hOweyer-that
is, when Rome began to reach its high
est point OF civilization in the time OF
Augustus and learned men began to
write about the times they lived IN in
stead OF the times that had gone by
long before they were born-ve get
authentic records OF giants, In Au-
gustus' time, for instance, there were
according to the authority OF Talerius.
two giants in Rome who were over ten
feet high. Their names were Itlusis
and SecuudIlia, and they were keepers
of the gates OF the gardens OF SaIlust.
Then again we have Al record in
Pliny Of one Polydamus, the son OF
Meas. who was over nine feet high
and whose strength rivaled that of
Hercules himself. Polydnmus used. In
fact. to boast his superiority to that
Roman deity and perform his special
tricks. For example. lie once slew Il
lion with a blow of his fist and scat
tered its brains about the arena. He
could with his hand stop tile swiftest
chariot dead and on one occasion
seized Il bull by the hnof in order to
carry it away. bat the animal strug
gIel so violently that the hoof was left
in his hand. IN che end he was killed
by the falling in OF a cave. When HIS
companions noticed that the roof was
l.
so vain nbout his strength that he
Thought lie could not he killed. So he
stayed and was finally crushed to
death.
The Emperor Nitellius sent to Darius
by way of q present Il jew named
E1eazer who was seven cnbits high
that is. reckoning the cubits Mt eight
cen inches ten feet six inclics-and a
giant who Is mentioned by the his
torfan Tncitus was over nine feet. His
name was CorbuIo. aud he lived in
Nero's time and was a more than usu-
ally skflIful general and soldier, be
sides being an enormously strong man
An account of the ancient giants
would be incomplete without mention
ing NIaxfminMs, the imperial giant of
the third century. The most extraor-
binary stories are told of this emperor
of Rome Ills height was eight feet
ten inches. he could draw naided n
loaded wagon which six oxen could
not move, while his appetite was so
great that his usual rations for the
day consisted of forty pounds of meat |
and Il whole amphora of wine, besides I
bread and dried and fresh fruits
AIcdiaeval giants are plentiful. but,
strange to say. the records Of them are
not so authentic as those of the times |
of the emDerors Funnian, Il Scottish |
giant who 1ourishcd III 1927, seems to |
be the most authentic Of these. but rs
he is put down as being over eleven !
feet high the statement should not he |
criticised too closely. still more stnr- |
Ting. however, is the following. which |
is vouched for by a monastery full of !
monks: In 1909 some worlimcn. dig /
cling near ROuen. came across II cave 1
IL, 1y-I,I,.h wore some. human homes; ana
n copper plate. bearing the words, |
Here lie the remains of the great and
mighty Chevaller Ricon lie Vullenont'' |
The skull was large enough to have
held Il bushel Of wheat ana the shin
bone was over four feet long. 1t (thc
bonc) was preserved by the above men
toned monks, and it was estimated
that the height of the dcfmct knight
must havc exceeded eighteen feet. A
stranger though somewhat similar
legend comes from Ireland, but in this
case the discoverers thought that they
would. 10 use an expression popular
some years ago, 70 the whole hog or
uonc." II happened in 1Gos. Some men
were digging in ireland when they
came across Il Brick tomb which con-
talned human skeleton no less Tran
100 feet long. But there is a ..raisou
d'ctre' for all these legends. accord
Ing to German professors these bones,
which We're supposed 10y Ignorant per
sons to be those of human beings, were
probably those OF mastodons or some
other fossiliZed remains which to the
uninitiated wouId look exactly like
those OF a man. London Stundartl.
An A1sInbIc Duel.
rIsfarfs yyns II fIuaI In E,t7iubnrsgh re-