Protected his Whiskers
Valentine Tapley, owner of the longest beard in the world, died Saturday, April 2, 1910, at his home, Spencerburg, Pike County, Missouri. He was eighty years old. It is said that when Lincoln was a candidate for the Presidency, Mr. Tapley, who was a Democrat, made a vow that if Lincoln was elected he would never cut his beard. The length of his beard was 12½ feet for several years prior to his death. This is said to be longer than any other beard known. Mr. Tapley took great pride in his whiskers, and wore them wrapped in silk and wound about his body. During the latter part of his life he was apprehensive his grave would be robbed for his whiskers, and in his will he made provision for a tomb of extra strength to guard against this. Mr. Tapley declined several offers to exhibit his beard. He was a large owner of Pike County farming land, and died wealthy.
Dastards and Fools
In France, not long ago, died an eccentric Frenchman who declared the French to be “a nation of dastards and fools.” For that reason, he devised the whole of his fortune to the people of London, and directed that his body be thrown into the sea a mile from the English coast. An attempt was made to have him adjudged insane when he made the will, but it failed.
Recipe and Restitution
Another Frenchman directed that a new cooking recipe should be pasted on his tomb every day; and still another Frenchman, a lawyer, left fifty thousand dollars to a lunatic asylum, declaring that it was simply an act of restitution to the clients who were insane enough to employ his services.
To the Four Winds
A queer request was made by a German who died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1887. By his will, he directed that his body should be cremated and the ashes forwarded to the German Consul at New York, who was to deliver them to the captain of the steamship Elbe. When in mid-ocean, the captain was to request a passenger to dress himself in nautical costume, and, ascending with the funeral urn to the topmast, to scatter the ashes to the four winds of heaven. And these strange directions were literally carried out.
Their Ashes into the Mississippi River
During the last twenty-five years, the great Eads Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri, has been favored as a spot by those who desired that their mortal ashes should be scattered to the winds. On more than one occasion, could have been seen unusual gatherings on the bridge, and after certain religious formalities, human ashes have been deposited in the river.