The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-07-26
Confessions OF IA sword SwaIIOwer.
[ From thk London Chronicle /

lTFOHt me f~OJuOH
have been connected with the conuring anc
tumbling professions, and every branch of them
Tor forty-si years. ] lost my mother when child
and my iather was a carpenter, and allowed me to
go with the tumblers. continued tumbling until
my feet were knocked up. ] tumbled twenty
three or twenty four years. twas never what you
| call good business, only living. got E3 a
week certainly, at one time, and sometimes "a
but you had TO live up TO il, or you were nothing
thought of; that is to say, if you kept good
pany." Now there Is not living To be made at the
trade. Six and twenty years ago began to prac-
tise sword swallowing against the celebrated Ramo
Sainee, who was then getting i25 or ESQ week.
hrat practised with cane, and found it difficult
to get the cane down. When first did it with the
cane thought was dead man. There's aper-
| iure IN the chest which opens and shuts; and it
keeps opening and shutting, as j underestimate
but know nothing about what they call anatomy,
and never thought about such things. Well, if the
cane or sword goes down upon this aperture when
IT Is shut 1t go further and the pain is dread
iul ii ITS open, the weapon can go through the
aperture closing on the weapon. The first time
put down the cane got it back easily but put my
head on the table and was very sick, vomiting
dreadfully. tried again the same afternoon, how
ever, three or four hours afterwards, and did il
without pain did it two three times more, and
the next day boldly tried il with sword, and sue
ceeded The sword was blunt, and was thirty six
| inches long, an inch wide, and perhaps a sixth OF
an inch thick. felt frightened with the cane, but
not with the sword Before the sword was used, il
was rubbed with handkerchief, and made warm
At one time used to swallow three swords, a
knife, and two forks of course keeping the handles
in my mouth, and having all the blades in my
stomach together II felt no pain. No doubt many
oi the audience fet more pain in seeing IL than in
doing 1t. wore Turkish dress both in the streets
and the theatres. never ladies faint at my
performance no, there was no nonsense of tbat
kind. Gentlemen often pulled the sword and
knives by their handles out of my mouth, to con
vince themselves that il was real and they found
1t was real though the people to this day generally
believe II Is not. Ive sometimes people shud-
der at my performance, but / generally had loud
applause. | used TO hold my head back with the
swords in my stomach for two three minutes.
I've had guinea day for sword swallowing.
This guinea day was only for few days at fair
times. i was with old ''salt- bux' Brown too and
swallowed swords and conjured with him swal-
lowed swords with him thirty times day-more
than one each time, some times three or four. |
had third OF the profits; Brown had two-thrds
We divided after all the expenses paid. My
third might have been thirty shillings a week. but
1t wouldn't be half as much now if could swallow
swords still. II ! could swallow tea kettle now
the people would hardly look at me. Sometimes
indeed, a great many times-say twenty have
brought up oysters out of my stomach after eating
them, just as | swallowed them on the end of the
sword. At other times there blood on the end
OF the blade always felt faint after the blood, and
used to take gin any thing could get hand to
relieve me, which it did for a time. AT last ] in
Jured my health 80 much that ! obliged to go
10 the Doctors. used to eat well and drink too.
had lost my appetite, and the doctor advised me
10 take honey and liquids, tea beer, and sometimes
a drop OF grog. At three months end, he told me
II swallowed swords II would be my death; but
for all that was forced to swallow swords TO get a
meal TO swallow. | kept swallowing swords three
or four years after this not feeling any great suf
iering. | then thought | would swallow a live
snake. I'D never heard OF any one, Indian any
body, swallowing a live snake. Ii came into my
head once by catching a grass snake in the fields
in Norfolk. said 10 myself, as | held il by the
neck, "Thcre seems no harm this fellow; I'll try
/ If can swallow him." tried then and there and
did swallow him. Ii felt cold and Shiny as il
went down. i didn't feel afraid, Tor kept tight
hold OF him by the tail; and no one has any right
| to be afraid OF grass snake. When brought the
snake up again, IN about three min utes il seemed
dead After that introduced sna e-swallowing
INTO my public performances, and did so for about
four years. have taken five shillings and as low
AS one shilling, when swallowed snakes in the
streets OF London. lcatched my snakes a few
miles from London, and killed very few through
swallowing on EN-. Six snakes properly fed ON
milk, lasted me year. The snakes never injured
me; and shoudn have given it up, but the per-
iormance grew stale, and the people wouldn't give
me any thing for 1t. have swallowed swords in
the streets thirty 10 forty times a day. and snakes
as often, beth IN town and country. thought once
couldn't have followed any other sort Of life; YOU
sec I'D been 20 long accustomed to public life; be-
sides, may have liked II far better than labor as
most young men do, but no labor be harder
than mine has been.
~ hdu Dtcn Wndt nc ought, ne might
have checked my childish doings aud wishes I
have tried other things, though, the hope of bet
tering myself have tried shoemakinR for five or
SIX years, but couldn't get a living at It, WASH [
competent for it-thats two years ago-so now
I'm musician 10 a school of acrobats. Very many
like inc remain in the street business because they
can't get out OF IL; that's the fact Whilst | swaE
lowed swords and snakes played the fre-eater.
did II once or twice last week. eat red-hot Gin
ders from the CRATE; at least put them in my
mouth, really red hot cinders. have had melted
lead in my mouth. J only use bit of chalk !
chalk my palate, tongue, and fingers; il hardens
the skin OF the tongue and palate, bot that's all
Fire eating affects the taste Tor time or rather il
prevents one tasting any thing particularly I've
eaten hre for twenty years in the streets and in
public places. IL HASN'T brought any money of late
years. wasn't afraid when first tried il by eat.
lug lighted link-a small fambeau. felt no in
convenience. The chalk did every thing that was
right. You may stroke red-hot poker with chalked
hands and not be burnt. ! make the same as the
acrObats; perhaps average LIS a week, and have
a wife and six children, the oldest under eleven TO
maintain out Of that. Sometimes we're obliged to
live upon nothing. When was slipper making
had from 5s bd. 10 +s. Dozen the grindery cost
ing me ls. Cd, leaving me 2s for a dozen. | could
only clear 6s. week by 1t; that's all ! could get
out OF the sop- shops. There's ono thing coming
from sword swallowing that ! ought to mention
I'm satisfied that Ramo Samcc and | gave the doc
tors their notions about a stomach pump.