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The Tallest Man in the World.
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CHANG, THE FAMOUS CHINESE GIANT, WHO WAS NEARLY EIGHT FEET TALL. HE IS WELL REMEMBERED BY THE ELDER GENERATION OF SHOW-GOERS |
Chang a Chinese giant, arrived in New York on an ocean steamer recently and was immediately pounced upon by the newspaper men. A reporter called at the hotel where the giant lodged and saw, sitting on an improvised seat of two chairs with heavy boards laid across, a presence which seemed to fill the whole room. Chang is unquestionable the largest man in the world. He is gigantic. As he sat there smiling and nodding, his thoroughly Chinese face looked fully as broad as an ordinary man's shoulders, and as long, it not longer then a flour barrel. His cheek bones bulge out and are as large as a full-sized orange. He is thirty-three years old, is the son of a wealthy silk and tea merchant in Peking, where he was born, is well educated, speaks, reads and writes English, German, French, Italian and Spanish, and is thoroughly courteous "secretary," a bustling, busy, earnest little Frenchman name Neaud, who looks upon the giant with admiration and delight.
"What is your exact height, Chang?" asked the reporter.
"I have never been measured, monsieur. With our people it is a superstition which takes the form of a religious creed, that no man must be measured until dead. I would rather die than to allow myself to be measured. In fact, if I were measured I would die at once, I fear. I am, however, somewhere in the neighborhood of nine feet. |
I will stand up and you can stand
beside me and judge for yourself."
Chang rose, and rising, it seemed as
though he would never stop. The
reporter stands six feet three
inches in height. He, at Chang's
suggestion, put on a high silk hat
and walked under the giant's
outstretched arm, near the shoulder,
without coming with two inches of
his sleeve. Then fixing the height
of his head about half way between
the giant's waist an neck, the
reporter checked off three feet at a
guess and found that the crown of
the Chinaman's head was surely nine
feet from the floor. His hands and
feet are comparatively small and
vary well formed. He has exhibited
before all the renowned heads of
Europe and Australia, and has been
the pet of several sovereigns. He
wears a solitaire diamond ring,
given him by the emperor of Russia,
which is valued at $1,400. Attached
to his chain is a gold medal given
him by the Berlin exhibition, which
asserts that he is the largest man
of recent times. He also has half a
dozen immense diamond rings given
him by rajahs in India, mayors in
Australia and potentates from all
quarters of the globe. While
talking to the reporter he suddenly
dived into his vest pocket, which
was large enough to hold an ordinary
man's head, and brought fourth a
ring with the official seal an
monogram of Francis Joseph inscribed
to "Chang." he also has a watch
given him by Queen Victoria, which
weighs two pounds and a half, and
has a chain nine feet long, which
barely reaches around his neck and
down to his vest pocket.
Marion Daily Star, December 23,
1880, Marion, Ohio
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