Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-12-19
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! Dr.C Cwindshlp,s Liftinr Foa,,


I'd DE. Windship,s Lifting Foaus. I,
Vne Of the mes! interestiDg articles In th,
January number Of the Atlantic Monthly Ia. th,
|"Autobiosruphy Of q Strength. Seeker writ
ten by that strong man, Dr.. wiudship. By thiI
itappssrs that Windship's frat determination i,
be agymnast arose from desire 70 be able ts
retaliate on some .sehoolmate- With. whom b,
had auarrsl. And he deyotsd ali hIs leisut,
slime to practiciug in tho gymnasium. iii The
stady or practIcs--thidhe II nay be called
became . genuine passion With him, ,- ie
Naturally indolent 1T was not without q se
we're struggle that overcame besetting trS.
penAity to conhne myself to sedentary pursuits
Inc desire OF rsta taliatlobsoon5 became extinct
ny pledge to my friend and sympdthizer, tha;
10 TWO years would cry quittance to- my foe,
would oceasionally act as spur To- the side ol
my intent; but my two best aida In supplying
me Win me motive power to keep up my gym
paetic Practice, we're habit and progress. What
will not habit make easy to us, Whethtritbe for
good or for eVil2 And what, an incentive We
have to renewed effort In finding thAs We are
making actual progress THAT We can do with
comparative facility to-day what we could do
only with dificulty yesterday. J Z. 81
For tWOyears young windshp persiatently
kept up his exercise il the gymnasium Then,
having to chScse a profession, he ran away
from home, determined to be plsy-actor, and
ttied to get permission to play at Rochester,
New York, but, unable to secure an engage.
ment, was finally difsuaded from making fur.
lher attempts. 01a =.
wiNDsHiP's LIFTING REATs. m y.
Returning home, Ibegan the study Of anato-
my and physiology, ami In the autumn Of 1854
entered the Harvard Medical School. The
question OF the extent to which huhan strength
can be developed had long been invested with a
scientnc interest to my mind! One Of the
greatest Lifting feats on authentic record Is that
q, Ihomas Topham, an Englishman, who In
Bath street. Cold Bath Fields, London, May %,
Isl, lifted three hogsheads of water, said 70
Weign, with the connections, eighteen hundred
and thlrty-six pounds. In the performance of
this feat Topham stood on o riised platform, his
hancs grasping fixture on either side, and
broad slrap over his shoulders communicating
with the weight, An immense eenoourse OF
persons was assembled on the oocesion--,he
performance, having been announced as Gin
honor Of Admiral Vernon" or rather, ''in com
memoration Of his taking Porto Bello with six
chips only. :" Being descendant myself from
the Vernon family Of Haddon Hall, Derbyshire,
England, have reserved It for future gene.
illogical inquiry to learn whether the Admiral
was connected with that branch of the Vernous.
II 50, q somewhat remarkable coincidence Ia
now informed my father that I intended to
80 through, eeries of experiments in lifting.
de was afraid I should 1injuFe myself. and OK
pressly forbade any such practice on his premis-
ea 70 crafty him, gsYe up testing the ques-I
tion for whole year. 7-fl
But, the desire re-awoke, and I had frequent
arguments with my father In the endesvor to
overcome his objections. t-,t,,t. 4,
"Look at that man. be said TO me one day
pointing to q large, stout individual In front of
and never be able to lift az much as that big
fellow" ~ DN'
o"Let me construct lifting apparatus in the
backyard, and will soon prove 70 you tha: you
are mistaken" / replied. in{ $40 tsci,tt
Finding that was bent on the experiment.
he at length gave q reluctant consent.
IL was now the August Of 1855, and was 10
my twenty year. Ny hrst lifting appa-
ra.us was Constructed in the following % amer.
hrst sank into the ground hogshead. and into
the hogshead -four barrsl. Then lowered TO
the bottom of the barrel rope having at the
end round stick tfansversely balanced, about
four inches In diameter aud fifteen inches long.
A quantity Of gravel, nearly snficient to bury
the stick, Was then thrown Into the barrel; some
oblong stones we're placed across the stick and
acFoes aud between one another, and the Inter.
1tlees filed with smaller stones and gravel
When had by this method about two-lhirds
hlled the barrel, taking care 70 keep the axis Of
the rope In correspondence With the long aka Of
the barrel, Judged had sufficient weight for
hrst trial. LnoW formed loop in the end of
the rope over the. top Of the barrel and put
through tia piece OF q hoe-handIe, about two
feet longs and standing astride Of the hoRshead.
and holding the handle with one hand before
me and the other behind strengthened nv BODY.
previously q little fexed-1Fith mouth closed
head up, chest out and shoulders down. sue
ceeded In lifting the barrel. containing O. weight
ofbetween four and Ave hundred pounds, some
ave Or elk inches from the bottom Of the hogs
b II Was no great feat, after al, , considering
that had been for Ave years gymnast, I
found that was inharmoniously developed In
many points Of my frame, was perilously weak
In the sides, between the shoulders, and at the
back Of the head, However, the day after this
trial 4 succeeded Ii lifting the same weight With
somewhat less diheulty. This induced me 60
add on % few pounds; and IN three or -four
weeks l could lift between six and seven hum
dred, now had the satisfaction of seeing the
stout gentleman, whom few months before nv
father had pointed out as possessed Of strength
4 never could attain 20, introduced TO ga inspec-
.ies ef ny spPesstns; Through the hlinds OF q
as, encouraged BY sater famiiiss. he drew of
his clat, moistened his hands, and undertook to
snake ,up1 the big veight.ts ,rsiisitls avNajs's
An ignominiouss failure to start the barrel
was the result. The stout gentleman tueRed
till be was 90 red In the face that appoplexy
seemed imminent, and then he sdejectedly gave
II tupaa TIE reputation that be had long enjoyed
Of being one Of the "atfongest men aboui must
hencetorth be q thing OF the past till itfades
Into myth. 9tl 81 hsfissi e aadw aEirs " y
st.uIIS 10 fasfag lgtsdl ~ 9ai lpsusa ti 1860
1.-THE BARRRL YEATS. asmsae
Ihad then been practising some two months
with o lnRded barrel, 90 conirived thatite should
weigh Q little more each succeeding day; and
IL had now reached HUNDRED and ninety pounds.
About this time II occurred to me thar, among
my many experiments, / bad never fully tried
that Of vegetable diet. i read aneW tbeWofks
ol Graham and Alcott; Andconcsiving that my
strength had reached stalyuation point, I gave
up meat, and restricted my animal diet TO milk.
Absfrel Of fouf ysighs on an average two