AN IRISH' GIANT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1185, 21 July 1911, Page 5

AN IRISH' GIANT.

TALLEST MAN IN THE EMPIRE. Patrick O'Connor, who arrived in Melbourne a few days ago, looks down upon the rest of his fcllow-tuen from a height of Bft. 3in. ho comes into tho room, bending instinctively to pass the door, tho startled beholder's first impulse is to hide. But a glance at his good-natured face is reassuring. O'Connor, who comes from Tipperary, speaks with a soft and engaging Irish brogue. At the sound of it the last vestige of uneasiness disappears. "Yes; I am Bft. Din. I weigh 22sf. (21st. now—l put on 2st. on board). My chest measurement, uncxpanded, is sGin., my neck 21in., biceps lflin., calf 20Hn. "I went over to England to para<?o amongst the tall men cf tho kingdom in Hie Festival of Empire. The next man to mo was Gft. Tin. I think I must bo the tallest man in the Empire, or pretty near it. "Yes, I'm used to being stopped and asked how tall I am. But a few years ago 1 came over to London, and was walking across Bond Street, when a motor pulls up at the kerb, and a littlo stout gentleman puts his hand out and beckons. "'Excuse me,' ho says, 'how tall are you ?' "It was on the tip of my tonguo to answer sharp, but I looked down ut him, and saw it was King Edward. It .struck me all of a heap—me. a raw Irish lad talking to the King. But I managed to stammer out: 'Bft. 3in., sir.' "'And a very good height, loo',' said he as the car drove on."