Actual delivery

The following account of the twins appears in the Philadelphia Inquirer. " Since the first announcement of the death of the Siamese twins, the following facts relative to their social ways and mental characteristics have been published. Barnum got the twins in 1850, and for several years they were shown in his old museum. At that time they spoke English very imperfectly. They were below the medium size. Change was larger than Eng and looked several years younger. He was, too, the mental superior of his brother although both were ignorant, and had intelligence that scarcely rose above low cunning. Their faces were particularly rebelling, yellow in hue. CHange was the most robust and good natured. Eng was often sick, and always morose and peevish. They had a sleeping room in the museum as had the the curiosities, and one night a rumpus was heard in it. On breaking open the door the twins were found fighting- Eng was on the floor, underneath Chang who was choking him. Their pay was 100 dollars a week at the beginning of this engagement, which they equitably divided and put into saving banks. They never visited their home and seemed to have no care for their family. When Eng was sick, Chang nursed him; but perhaps did so from selfish motives. Chang had something of an appreciative vein of fun, and liked to give senseless answers, in his broken English, to the numberless questions of the visitors. They remained with Barnum until 1855 and it is believed they had been saved abut 40,000 dollars each. Growing tired of show life, the decided to settle down in a warmer part of the United States. In their travels they had been in North Carolina and its climate had pleased them, so they bought two plantations and secured wives to complete their domestic establishment. Here they took the surname of Bunker. They were then bachelors of 44. They married English sisters, aged 26 and 28. The girls had been servants and it is said a Lacanshire dialect still clung to them. The making of the double match involved much trouble, for although the twins were not unduly exacting, it was hard to find women who were both willing and at all desirable. There was no love- making before the engagement; the courting was done by proxy and correspondence; and the ladies had seen their future husbands only at a show in London when they accepted the offer of marriage. The twins based their choice upon likenesses forwarded by their agents who gave assurance of the respectability of the girls. All having been arranged, they were brought to America, the twins bearing their expenses, and the marriages were solemnised quietly at Salisbury. The wives were not beautiful, but they were strong, healthy, English working girls. The domestic lives of the couple were peculiar. Each family had its own house, servants and domestic establishment. The plantations were owned and managed seperately, although in matters of consequence, Chang was usually the master. Each looked after his plantation and other businesses during the weeks of living at his own place, and the visiting brother was not supposed to interfere. The wives did not agree very well, and the strangely tied families quarrelled so seriously that the sisters frequently had periods of complete estragement, lasting for weeks at a time. So although Chang and Eng were rich, they did not live happily.

September 9, 1874