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iO EAIFIMUM'S First FREAKS Oirlgiimalls of ttlhi® Eerily Ssdle=Slhi©^y IN the world of amusement enter prises the circus "freak" alone seems certain of lasting popular ity. The elevation of a giant, the size of a mid get, the figure of a human skeleton or a fat girl, are literally their fortunes. A play or a performance of any kind soon becomes monotonous, and loses its attraction — a "freak" never. It is now more than half a century since the first exhibition of freaks was collected and exhibited by P. T. Barnum. These celebrities were photographed as early as 1858. In their quaint, old-fashioned clothes they ire figures of actual historic interest. The original freaks in nearly every instance were native American pro ducts. The great drag-net which the showmen have since spread to gather freaks from all parts of the world had not yet been set. In comparison with the most cosmopolitan of modern freak shows, however, the original Barnum forces will l.c found to compare very favorably. And an absolute compan son is possible, for the various dimen sions of the freaks, the height of giants and of midgets, the weight of fat girls and tat boys, are carefully preserved in the annals ■•!" the circus, much the same as tin- past performances of horses are recorded at the race-track. * Patrons of the circus of the last generation will remember the once famous \"-..i Scotia giantess, Annie Bates Her figure looms up big in the memory of all survivors of the circus and museum audiences of half a cen tury ago. for obvious reasons. Annie (the diminutive was always added to her name) was •■ sweet young thing, seven feet and eight inches in height and large in proportion at the time of her wedding, which was the season of her greatest popularity. Her' was a large, motherly figure; her nature was simple and wholesome. Her photo graph suggests the matron at th<- head of a large family on a farm, rather than the great attraction at a side-show. Annie traveled about the country for several years, and finally mci her fate in the person of Captain Van Buren Hates if Kentucky. They were married in London, and on their wedding tour traveled on the conti nent. Bridal couples, it is - ,•,! are usually easy to recognize: certainly no young couple ever attracted more at tention. The husband was a large man, measured by ordinary stand ards — only about eighteen inches shorter than the bride. In later years Annie biilt'> ..ml llo|)-o'-My-Thuinb SUNDAY MAGAZINE, for MAY 22, 1904 By HECTOR ROSIENFEILD the conventional size of houses and furniture proved so irksome to Annie that she built a home to lit her proportions, with furniture and everything to match. The house stood for many years near Cleve land. Ohio. There was not a door in it which I need stoop to en- I, Ohio. There was .1 door in it which iir need stoop to en ter. She died in iS§3, after traveling for ten years with Admiral Dot. Every country in the world has been since ransacked to discover some gi;.ntess to replace the robust Annie, but without success. Ella Ewing is tiller, but not nearly so ponderous, nor so pleasing. In discovering mere giants the showmen have been far more for tunate. No h Orr, who was from ( )hi< >, was for many years the tallest and bulkiest tallest bulkiest km >wn giant in the world. His height was not remarka ble in comparison with modern standards — he was a trifle over seven feet high — but his en«>r- Oions bulk corrected the impression and chal lenged respect. He tipped the scales at five hundred sixteen p minds. He was wt-11-propor tio ned, broad-shoul dered and well set-up, ..r.d was employed for years to serve as a foil to tin- famous Mrs. Tom Thumb. The extremely ! I-m:.tched pair st 1 together at perform ances throughout the country for years. Sub sequently he appeared with Admiral Dot in "Jack be Giant Killer." Orr amassed a consid erable fortune, and fin ally retired to a firm that he had bought in the centra] part of New York state, where he died many years ago. Measured merely by Pliin.M- T lii.ri .,. W.-<l«li»|S <>f T..m Thumb The l)..llinu.i,- Ci.»!it ■extreme altitude, the tallest ol the giants lit the old days was the famous Baltimore giant. He rose to a height of seven feet one and a half inches, in recent y«-.ir.-~ showmen have discovered and imported giants nose than nine inches taller th.n the giants of fifty years ago, over whom the whole country marveled. Chang, the Chinese giant, was the forerunner of a number of these gigantic importations. # What the giants have gained in height in the mod ern circus the midgets have lost. There are several so-called midgets connected with the same circus today who would have been dwarfed beside the little people of half a century ago. Public taste in these matters has become more critical, and yet the midgets of a past generation attained a fame unrivaled in our day. The name of Tom Thumb, lor instance, is a house hold word. It is an interesting lel that although he was a "bouncing boy" at birth, tipping the scales .: nine and a half pounds, he did not continue to grow natur.: ly after he was seven months old. From that time on his growth was so slow that it was abm st imperceptible. Even at the time of his first engage merit with Bantam, in 1542, he was not more than two feet t .1 and weighed less than sateen p w But at the time of his death, which was caused ! y a Stroke of apoplexy, he Weighed seventy pounds, a :. < measured forty inches in height. His •:.::<■ ..' 0 added to her proportions with succeeding year-, being a little shorter than her husband at her marr-. | : :: increasing to his exact height in Liter life, weigl •• _■. however, only fifty pounds. Two jeen after ha death, in ISB3, she married Count Primo Sfcgri, an Italian dwarf, but survived her first husband oolj five years. Tom Thumb's unusual success seems to hare 1 ■ • a increased by his charming little personality. 11. ■ - telligent. active, full of plea>ing little mannerisms . i winning ways, and it is related ol Km th.it at tl t'f nineteen he had kissed one and a half million women. But, most noteworthy of all the inciden *- C : nected with the lives of these little peopk was wedding, which took place in Grace church, Xew 1 on I'-'--- 1?. 1863. Xo wedding has evei seen in this fashionable church in which the C ' 0 w«re more elaborate and the conventional tails oi the occasion more rigidly observed. It was descril • '. as the "grand marital event of the week, anil ■ 1 lifetime." for not only did it unite the two SB people then known, but two other Lilliputians. Mil 1 ie Warren, sister of the bride, and Commodore N ". graced the occasion by acting as the attendants ol the bridal couple. Then", the "immortal I. T. !• 1 and other dignitaries" were present, and th ■ - prising the congregation of the church were ai society's elect, the women "in full opera COSi while the men wore "dress coats and white neck cloths." It must have been a sight worth seeing !•■ the dainty little quartet upon the platform, three fe< : high, that had been erected in front of the all to 1 hr Si., mot,- Twin) Nooh O.r ...ul Mr*. Torn Thumb