Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-08-06

NL7I y y Wv y t'NaILN NFL
MATT,

The papers throughout the country since
the debut of the strong doctor" in Boston,
have been teeming with records of the hercu-
lean strength of different persons. If these
s.o.ies can be true the degeneration of our
race is not going on as rapidly as some Of our
distinguished sons Of Hippocrstes would have
us believe.
Some of the strongest men that have lived
during the last twenty-five years, resided in
Cine matt.
Frank Buflalo.--First and foremost comes
the giant, lin strength) Frank Buffalo, col
ored man, who lived here about the time OF
old Tip and Ty. He was man of medium
height, with powerful shoulders, and his arms
reached, when he was standing erect, several
inches below his knees. This man once car
ried, twenty-three feet, load of 1880 lbs.-
AT another time, he carried IN anchor weigh
ing ITO pounds, from the waters edge, about
100 feet below the Uncle Sam coffee house,
and laid il in the doorway of the old Cincin-
ne j hotel, now the Spencer House. AT ano-
Their time two men OF reputed strength came
from the East with the expressed intention OF
having smill" with Buffalo. Frank being
of peaceabls disposition, endeavored to
avoid any difficulty, and actually suffered
himself to be knocked down several times be-
fore he would resent his injuries. They had
had their time and now came his. Delibe-
rately pulling OF his coat he said, $50 way,
white man, dis darRey cant stand dat treat
ment any longer, no how" Not needing his
warning, they struck him again, whereupon
Frank .'straightened out" on them with his
long arms, and one stroke was enough. He
stretched them both dead at his feet
Many time in sport he would so behind a
wagon drawn by one or two horses, catch hold
Of the back axle, and brace himself so as to
stop the horses. Many other surprising feats
are related of him. lie died in 1S47.
Sampson Kirby.-Another man whose name
will ever be remembered in the annals of ''rhe
Strong Men, was Sampson Kirby, member
of the old lnvincible Fire Co. No. 8. Kirby,
after performing various fcats of almost super
human strength, attempted to lift, and ac-
tnally did lift both hind wheels of the famous
fire engine Fame, which belonged to the above
company. Some idea may be formed of the
weight of this lift from the fact that the en-
CINE weighed over 1000 pounds.
Dr. Richard Lakewood, better known as
claw Bone Dick, the Herb Doctor" was as
famous as either of the foregoing for his
muscle.
When the workmen were engaged in build
ing the old Assembly Hall, on the south east
corner of Walnut and Pearl streets, Dick car
RED, in n hod prepared for the occasion, $50
brick up four ladders without stopping and
laid them down on the root. Estimating
each brick at weight of four pounds. and
the hod at twenty-five pounds, tho total
weight of the load was G25 pounds. But
Dick, as all other s'good darkies," could not
withstand the hand of time, as he was found
dead about a year since, in his cabin on
"Mllcreek's marshy marge.h
Ezra 0'fIa IA, who was killed in row ut
the Empire House in Sixth stree, YVES another
specimen of the ''half horse and half man,
some aiming for him grcater's.rength than
that possessed by Frank Buffalo.
Sore one or two Of his feats are worth re-
lating MANY times he for small wager,
would carry three bundles ofshingles up one,
two or three ladders AT arotl er time he and
Joseph Lewis, whoGtil ,esides here, lifted end
carried fey feet hogsl cad of sugar. An
other one of his comirol tricks was TO take a
barrel Of wniskey, 'aise it aboye his head,
and drink out of the blng-fo ole. He once did
this trick with a MAJ sit. rg astride of the
barrel.
John S. Powers.-0ur old and highly ro-
spected Flouf Inspector, John $. Powers, is
another model Of one nd muscle. When
the 'sCipcinnati Gray were in the zenith of
their popularity, trey hrd their cannon,
weighing 1000 pounds, down at the river fir
ing, as a tribute of respect to The II emory of
Tippecanoe, whose remains were passing on
steamer bound for North Bend. While
there, one Of the wheels of the gun
carriage sank several inches in the mud,
so that the gun could not be used. The hor-
SEES could not pull it out, but Sampson Powers
easily lifted the cannon off the carriage, while
the others were engaged in pulling out the
whpals