The Alaska citizen., 1914-06-01
STRANGE FAMILIES.

There is at the present time liv ing at Bilbao, Spain, family of seven who between them possess ne fewer than 164 fingers. One of them has 23 fingers, another 21 while of the remaining five each can boast couple of hands with F fingers apiece, say the New York press.
 The last surviving member of what was perhaps the record family with regard to weight was Charles Atkins, who died few years ago at liar row He weighed 476 pounds, his brothers, who predeceased him, be- ing no less than 504 pounds and 560 pounds Another heavy family was the Dudfields, one of whom, Robert, a brewers drayman, weighed at his death AS pounds. 2S pounds heavier than his twin brother, whose APO pounds was equalled If not topped. by their two sisters
 For loftiness of stature the family of Hassan Ali, who some while since was on exhibition in this country, would be hard to beat. His grandfather, the tallest of the fam inches more than his father, whose height was s feet 4 inches; Hassan Ali himself being content with a modest 8 feet inches.
 The family record for longevity has not been beaten since Robert Parr, the great-grandson of the celebrated Thomas Parr, died in 1757 at the age of 124 His father lived to celebrate his 1O9th birthday ami versary; his grandfather reached 113, while his great grandfather was 152 at the time of his death If a long -liv- ed family of Wisbech, named Stock dale, cannot in the mere number of years compete with the Parrs, it as suredly holds the record for golden weddings, of which five have been celebrated in the family within com paratively recent years.
 One of the most notable instances of prolificness is that mentioned in the Harleian Miscellany of a Scotch weaver and his wife, who were the parents of 62 children, 50 of whom reached their majority. Fortunately, four men of the neighborhood each adopted 10 children, the remainder being brought up by their parents.
 Large as this family was, it's fame pales before that of a Russian, Ivan Wassilif, who was the father of S7. He was married twice. By his first wife he had siXty-nine children in the following order: Four times quadruples at a birth, seven times triplets and sixteen times twins. By his second spouse he twice had triplets and six times twins.
 Undoubtedly the record for mis- fortune belongs to Belgian fam fly named Adnet. The father, Jean Adnet, was drowned; his wife com mitted suicide by throwing herself from the roof of her house, while of his two sisters, who lived re- spectively at Ghent and Paris, one was killed by the kick of horse and the other by blow received from a falling scaffold.
 Jean Adnet had six children, four sons and two daughters. Of these the latter perished through the over- turning of a pleasure boat. One of the sons was stabbed in a drunken brawl, another was crushed to death by heavy wagon, while the remain ing two, who had emigrated to America, were slain in 1891 while fighting for Balmaceda against the Congressists.
 But of peculiar records the strangest was that held by family nicknamed the odd Family" that lived at Ipswich at the commence ment of the eighteenth century. The names of the father, mother and seven sons each contained an odd number of letters.
 The youngest son, named Ez- ekiel, enlisted as grenadier in 17O3, and was wounded 23 times. Five other sons-Roger, James Matthew, Jonas and David--died in different places, and, by an extra ordinary coincidence, were buried on the same day in the year 1713. Ten years later another son, Solo, mon, was, with Ezekiel. drowned in