Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-07-10

this condition 1t Is slowly drawn
from his mouth and tossed with 8
contemptuous air to the attendant
accompanied by look which plainly
says, ''Bring me something bigger
And the attendant does bring some
thing bigger-he brings two rapiers
and Signor Benedict passes them
both at once, down his throat with
the same graceful ease that charac
terizes all his movements. He mex,
takes a bundle of three, and finally
lays no less than six slim, thin blades
together and drives them all at once
into his stomach with as little effort
as one would ordinarily make in us
ing tooth-pick. After bowling and
smiling as well as he can with such
a mouthful, he very deliberately with
draws one of the swords and tosses
it on the floor, where it strikes with d
sharp, metallic ring, then another and
another, until the last has left its
novel sheath, then with wave of the
hand and another bow, he receives
the invariable applause of those pres
ent. Signor Benedict has at times
placed twelve of these swords togcth-
er and swallowed all the blades at
once.
The next act in this wonderful per
formancc has to do with the cavalry
sabre first mentioned. The man OF
swords is but Of medium height, and
has a body by no means of unusual
length, so that when he lifts the sa-
bre hilt to his lips, by way of meas
urement, the sharp point of the in
strument, with unpleasant suggestive
ness, falls far below the bottom of
his waistcoat. With the utmost conf
dence, however, he again lifts his
chin, and, smiling at the hidden
things above the stage, presses the
steel two feet and six inches down
his throat. This is really the most
wonderful thing in his performance;
for, while the others are able to pass
a metallic rod to the bottom of the
stomach-say twenty inches or lit
tie morc-no one has before succeed
ed in introducing thirty inches of sol
id metal into his internal organism,
without being gathered to his fathers
as a consequence. Sig. Bencdctti
bows and moves about, with this un-
pleasant visitor tapping at his vitals,
with no apparent discomfort. When
he finally draws it forth, and careful
ly wipes the moisture from the shin
ing surface, it seems to be with more
OF regret than satisfaction. But in
credulous ones in the audience may
still doubt that all is real that has
been presented. 1t is true that the
sabre is passed to the observers for
their examination, and none of them
can discover flaw in it, but many
will persist in doubling. Sig. Bene-
detti's custom in Europe has been to
borrow saber from any of the mill
tary in attendance, and swallow it as
one of his own weapons, but here no
such convenience exists, and to salts
fy his visitors-of the honesty of his
exploits he makes the before unheard
of request for cane or walking-stfck
from the audience. This is always
promptly forth coming, and he never
fails to sheath the borrowed article
in his stomach. Wednesday evening
Gen. John S. Tyler, who was in the
audience, passed up his heavy walk
img-stick, a beautiful Malacca joint,
more than an inch in diameter. The
performer took it without hesitation
and after carefully wiping the ferule
with his handkerchief, slipped it
down his throat almost the entire
length, amid the laundering applause
of the lookers-on. Sig. Benedctti's
last exhibition is with the bayonct,
which he thrusts into his stomach
while still attached to the gun, and
then, bending forward until the wea-
pom is parallel with the stage, he
swings it, with great deliberation, to
and fro.
Carlo Benedict was born in Narr-
koping, Sweden, about ls49. His
parents, however, were of Italian de-
scent, and his father resided in the
country as a trader. In early youth
Carlo displayed nothing of the ten
dency to make an arm-chest of his
stomach which has since distinguish
ed him, but seems to have been a tol-
erably good boy, although little
wild perhaps. At 13 years of age he
went with 4 circus, and soon became
a very skillful rider, and in this ca
pacity travelled over a large part of
Europe. Being more or less in the
society of jugglers and mountebanks,
he early learned the tricks of their
trade, but seems to have developed
no taste for such amusement himself
until later in life, and then by acci-
dent, as it were. Having been indu-
ced to drink too much liquor for the
comfort Of his stomach, he sought to
relieve that organ by vomiting, and
to bring this about he pushed cam
die down his throat. The success of
this article led him to pass various
articles down his throat for amuse-
ment, and he soon discovered that he
could easily swallow sword thirty
inches in length, and occasionally
one an inch or two longer. Until he
was 20 years of age he only practic-
ed this performance for the amuse-
ment of his comrades, but it became
evident that his capacity might be
made to pay well, so he adopted the
profession of sword-swallower, and
until within the past three months
has been exhibiting throughout Eu-
rope-always to enthusiastic audi
ences, and never meeting with sue
cessful rival in the profession. Sig.
Benedctti is about five feet eight in
ches in height, weighs $50 pounds,
and has light brown hair, and a mus
tachc and imperial of the same col
or. His features are strongly mark
ed, but not unpleasant, and his neck
shows no signs of enlargement or un-
natural growth. His voice, however,
is rather harsh-sounding, something
as if the muscles Of tho throat had
lost their delicacy of action. He
claims, nevertheless, that he suffers
no III n+fnctS from his calliur and do