HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1999-03-17, Page 5Arnold and. Clare Westcott, The Sutherland Twins and The Larkin twins were three of seven sets of twins living in
Seaforth in 1908. The photograph, provided by Clare Westcott, is about 90 years old and was taken on Church Street on
the lawn opposite the Kilbarchan Nursing Home Main Street entrance.
There were seven sets of twins
living.in...S..e.af..rth in 1908
What did Elvis Presley.
Ann Landers. Bing Crosby.
William Shakespeare and
Arnold Westcott have in
. common...? Thcy were_ all
twins. As was TV star Ed
Asncr. baseball's -Albert Bell.
the .Shah of Iran and the-
- founders of Rome. Romulus
'and Remus. • -
In 1908-Seaforth had seven
.sets of twins. -Maybe it was-
- something in the water...?
My father and his -brother
elarcncc were -identical
. twins: Many people in town
could not tell them apart.
They walked and talked the
saint. and- were always•
dressed exactly alike. They
liked the .same sports,
attended church together and
neither drank alcohol In fact -
,.
act•. at -16 they joined the
temperance league together.
According to my grandma
.he could recall only. one
time when everybody in
town could tell them apart..
When they were about eight
Clare sported a black eye.
identical twins happens
w hen a single fertilized egg
divides into iwo - with
identical ge-nes. But there's
chore. It is more than skin
deep. They are iiientical
inside,as well as outside. The
blood pressure in their reins.
---- and -,arteries is the same and
their heart% heat at exactly
the _same rate. Their brain
waves are the'sarne - and
even their Teeth. Often they
go to the doctor • at the same
tithe with the same ailment.
Identical twins' have the
same habits and mannerisms.
habits.
good and had. They
' )rare a kind of magic that.has
-puzzled doctors for a century.
Although sitting far apart in
class they have been known
to get exactly the same marks
in an exam. Cases of mental
telepathy have confounded
• scientists when it Was proven
they 91w• _eeach others
• 'tltotights. identical twins
have been found to
communicate with each other
in•a language they deseloped
and speak - and they
understand. -
Then there-is-ihe ' c4ttende.r-
in-the-head" twins: They are
said to he -mentally
handicapped geniuses.` They
don't know how to divide or
multiply and struggle with
. •simple addition - but they
hate a mysterious power
bordering • on the
supernatural. Gine them a
date thousands of years in the
past or in the future and
almost instant)\ they will say
the day of the week it was.
Somehow they have
catalogued c'.cn day of their
lives in their mind. Pick a
day. any day in their past.
and the o ill instantly tell
you .what the weather was on
that dad
When 1 ‘; a. a teenager. dad
told me about going out on a
date with his brother's
girlfriend. 11 was 1912. Dad
visited my uncle Clare who
was going to business college
in Stratford. Clare wanted to
study so dad showed up at
the girl's _house and took her
to -•a hand concert. When he
told nic the story he didn't
'volunteer any details except
to say. with a grin. that the
young lady didn't notice any
difference. However she did
make one comment about his
head. When he ,removed his
hat she said something like,
"i didn't notice that spot on
your head before." Years
earlierdadwas.kicked by a
hdrse knocking apiece of•
skull from his head. He
almost died. It left a slight
'depression on the left side of
his head. However. my sister
claims that years later dad
admitted :the girlfriend
:suspected something - for the
:boy who took her 10 the band
concert smelled of cigarette
smoke.'Uncle Clare never
smoked.
Fraternal twins are
biologically no different than
their other brothers."and
sisters. nor do they look
alike. They_ are simply
siblings horn at the:same
time. Or.more simply `- a
litter of two.
1 grew up with the Dunlop
twins. Annis and Betty: Our
properties adjoined and for
the first dozen years we were
constantly in each others
house as if it was our own.
Betty was darker and taller
than Annis...l had a.crush on
. Betty all the young years 1
was growing up. Annis did
better in school, in fact she
advanced a grade on her
sister in high school. Betty
was more athletic and loved
to play softball. Annis had
enper, tanTrums if she didn't
get her own way Betty was
happy-go-lucky. fraternal
twins- like the Dunlops •
outnumber identical twins
about -two to. one. Thcy.are as
srimslar441..thcir-.hcuthcra n .-
s.isters, as they arc to each
other. Oddly enough.
sometimes when •triplets are
horn two arc identical twins
and one is fraternal.
My father's sister had twin
girls..tThcy are now -87 and
live in Kitchener). My
sister's daughter had tt'ins
and my daughter has teenage
twin boys. How far this, will
continue through the
generations is anyone's
guess. Thc odds of having
twins in North America arc
about 1 in 188. For whatct'er
reason in Japan it is one in
150 births - in China one in
300. Again. maybe it's thy
water. Or maybe only swcd.
potatoes. A tithe in West
Africa had twins in every 22
births. h was found they had
a heavy diet of yams. 1t's
unlikely we will ever run out
of twins. For at the- moment,
scattered around the globe
are 70.000,000 sets.
This past summer 3000 pair
from around the world
gathered in Ohio for the
annual "Twins Festival". A
weekend of fun. Meeting and
socializing in a small town
-south of Cleveland. And the
name of the town:.:.? Why,
"Twinsburg" of course. •
Quintuplets are rare
' enough. but what happened
in -Calender on May 28th.
1934 was incredible. The
Dionnes were identical and
they all -lived. Together they
Only weighed II pounds. The
record stands. They arc still
the world's only identical
quintuplets - for the odds arc
beyond calculating: Even
fraternal quints come only
once in 100,000.000.
•The Bunker twins were
horn in Asia. They:visited
Canada hut spent most of
their life in the United States.
They were quite famous.
They married sisters and
between the two families
they had 22 children. One
thing distinguished -them
-from other twins - and was
the reason for their fame. Thc
two couples had houses close
together in Carolina and the
two boys would spend three
or four days with one of (he
wives and then three or four
days with the wife of the.
other. ' -
. Seems like an odd
arrangement " and a bit "off -
the -wail". But it was
necessary. They had to live
this way for the Bunkers. a
name they used when they
came to America, were born
in 1811 in what is now.
Thailand. -They- were the
original Siamese twins.
joined along their sides, with
a common navel and sharing
internal organs. -On January
12th. 1874 Chang Bunker
_died in his sleep .of
pneumonia. He was 6 15—
the morning when his brother
.Eng saw his twin was dead.
he said "1 will go now ,too"
and died an hour later. Today
there arc thousands of
descendantsfrom the
child.ra.n fathered by the
Bunkers...the original
Siamese twins.
Thc modem world's record
for giving birth to multiples
is held by a lady in Chile
whose 55 children included
three sets of triplets.
However an all-time
historical record' is claimed
by a Russian woman who is
purported to have given birth
to 46 children in the mid
1890s - and not one at a time.
An astounding 4 sets of
quadruplets, 6 sets of triplets
and 6 pair of twins.
" Which reminds me of the
story 'they tell about
President Roosevelt's wife
...—
anda high ranking Russian
diplomat. They were seated
next to each other at a state
dinner in Washington in the
late 1930s. When the Russian
heard Mrs. Roosevelt say -she
had six sons he proudly
produced a photograph from
his pocket. He had eight
children - four sets of twins. •
• Admiring the photo of his.
children Mrs. Roosevelt said -
''Yo.0 and your wife had
twins every time". The
diplomat answered. "Oh. no;
hundreds of timeswe didn't.
have anything at all". -
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