The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1859-08-27
Who is the Strongest Manp

Il
| our exchanges of the celebrated DR.. Win
ship, claimed to be the strongest man in tn,
world. At public lecture. he performed
ers that of lifting e96 pounds. This b,
says, ls.l26 pounds more than any man ev
er raised before. Topham, the stronges
man IL England, only raised 800 pounds
and the Belgian giant only 800.
The Cincinnati Gazette published state
ments, which, if true, entirely eclipses the
Sampsonian Doctor, and ranks him as only
second rate. Here they are:
First and foremost comes the giant (lr
strength Frank Buffalo, colored man who
| lived here about the time of old Tip, and
Iy. 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 carried
twenty three feet, load of $50 pounds.
At another time, he carried an anchor
weighing no pounds. from the water s
edge about 100 feet below the Uncle Sam
coffee house, and laid it in the doorway oil
the old Cincinnati hotel, now the Spencer
House.
He died in 1847.
Another man whose name win ever be
remembered in the annals of ''The Strong
Men, was Sampson Kirby, a member OF
the Invincible Fire Co., No. 5. Kirby, af-
ter performing various feats of almost un-
heard-of strength, attempted to lift, and
actually did lift, both hind wheels of the ia
nous 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 engine weighed over 10000
pounds. a ' 80 ~
DR.. Richard Gatewood, better known as
''Jaw Bone Dick, the Herb Doctor was
as famous as either of the foregoing for his
muscle.
When the workmen were engaged in bull
ding the old Assembly Hall, on the south
east corner of Walnut and Pearl streets,
Dick carried in a hod prepared for the occa-
sion, so bricks up four ladders without
stopping, and laid them down on the roof.
Estimating each prick at a weight of four
pounds, and the hod at twenty five pounds,
the total weight of the load was 625 pounds
But Dick, as all other ''good darkies, -
could not withstand the hand of time, as he
was found dead about gear since. in his
cabin on ''MiIl creeks marshy marge.'
Ezra O'Harra, was likewise noted for his
muscular developments. k @
Many times he. for small wager, would
carry three bundles of shingles up one, two,
or three ladders, as the case might be. At
another time. he and Joseph Lewis, who
still resides here, lifted and carried few
feet, hogshead of sugar. Another one of
his common tricks was to take barrel of
whisky, raise it above his head, and drink
out of the bung- hole. He once did this
trick with a man sitting astride the bar
rel s5r Fl
Our old and highly respected -four in
spector, John S. Powers, is another model
of bone and muscle. When the s.Cincinna-
ii Grays" were in the zenith of their popu-
larity, they had their cannon weighing T.
900 pounds, down at the river firing as a
tribute of respect to the memory of the he
TO of Tippecanoe, whose remains were pass
ing 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 hors-
es could not pull it out, but Sampson Pow
ers easily lifted the cannon off the carriage,
while the others were engaged in pulling
out the wheels.
The question still is, who is the strongest
man ? Can any one answer? $500