Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1920-07-21
men OF STATURE Al |.
Only a Few Have Been "Giants
in the Land"
Johann Van NAlbert, Recent Importa.
tion From Ho#and, the Tallest
Specimen Of Humanity Ever
Seen in Modern Days.

When Johann Van Albert stepped
rival of the Mauretania he had the
distinction of being the tallest man
who ever entered the United States.
His s feet inches of height required
that special berth, made up of two
cots placed end to end in a large COM
panionway, be furnished for the trip
from his home in Amsterdam, Holland.
Since Johann has left his quiet home
but among tfiee nearby wi2dmills of
Amsterdam -'aiid ihteutis to enter the
show business ovif'nere, It will be in
teresting to dig up some giant history
and see how he' compares with previ-
Gus competitors who used to be great
attractions. Probably no living giant
in the UnitedT States ever exceeded the
8 feet attained by the late Captain
Bates who -u'tfS" native of Kentucky.
The word 'n1iving" lis used here be-
cause of the fact that for some time
during the year 1869 the famous Car
diff giant led many people to be-
lieve that a 10-foot man had once lived
in Onondaga County N. X. The story
of this monstrous fraud perpetrated 4l
the American public makes such I'M
usual and Interesting reading that 1T
will bear repeating. 2%
The idea had It's inception out In
Fort Dodge, Ia, when an adventurous
fakir purchased huge block Of gyp-
sum from qdarryman Of that place.
The block then was shipped to Chi
cago, 1t being taken In charge by a
sculptor, who chiseled 1t into q 10-foot
giant. The surface was pricked with
needles to give It the appearance Of
pores In the human skin, and then
treated with variety of acids which
made the entire statue appear OF
ancient origin. After completion the
giant was securely packed In an iron
box and shipped to Union, N. Y,
where the owner claimed ii, loaded the
bulky box upon a large wagon and
hauled it fifty miles to farm near
Cardiff. The giant form was then
removed from the box and secretly
buried, remaining under the ground
nearly year, until it was accidental
ly" discovered by some wOrkmen who
had been engaged to dig well by the
promoter of the fraud.
This great discovery was made on
October 49, 1889 and news Of the won
derful petrified giant spread all over
the country. The lucky finders cover
ed it with tent and put 1t on exhibi-
ton, while special trains were run
from New York city and other nearby
points so that the clamOring multitudes
could zee this sstnnishing remains at
the earliest opportunity.
Until the deception was discovered
1t il estimated that more than 50,-
600 persons jostled each other in
order to view Che wonder, paying
dollar apiece for tile remarkable priv
ilege. Hi
But, passing on from this greatest
hoax, it is found that Captain Bates
was the tallest of our modern Ameri-
can giants, although his 8-foot height
was Slightly exceeded by that of Anna
Swan, a native Of Nova Scotia. Going
further back into giant history we find
that Queen Elizabeth's head porter
was z feet 6 Inches high, probably be-
ing given this exalted position on ac-
, count Of his ability to see what was
going on at all times.
Among royalty itself 1t is claimed
that one of the Roman emperors was
nearly q feet high, but the measure