The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-06-15

While prisoner In Germany, Rich
ard I. accepted an Invitation to boxing
match with the son of his jailor. He
received the first blow, which made him
stagger; but, recovering, with blow of
the fist killed his antagonist ON the spot.
Topham, who was born In London In
1710, was possessed Of astonishing
strength. His armpits, hollow In the
case of ordinary men, were W ith him
full of muscles and tendons. He would
take bar of iron, with its two ends
held in his hands, place the middle of
the bar behind his neck, and then bend
the extremeties by main force, until
they met together, and bend back the
iron straight again. One night, per-
ceivlng a watchman asleep in his box,
he carried both the man and his shell to
great distance, and deposited them on
the wall of church.yard. Owing to
domestic troubles he committed suicide
in the prime of life.
The famous Scanderberg, King of AL
bania, who was born in 1448,was man
of great stature, and his feats of sword
exercise have never been equaled. On
one occasion, with scimetar, he struck
his antagonist such terrible blow that
its tremendous force cleaved him to the
waist He is said to have often cloven
in two, men who were clad In armor
from head to foot. On one occasion the
brother and nephew of certain Balla-
ban, who had been convicted of cruelties
toward the Albanians, were brought to
him, bound together. Transported with
rage, he cut them in two with one stroke
Of his weapon.
Maurice, Count of Saxony, the hero
of Fontenoy, inherited the physical Wig
or of his father, and was especially no.
ted for the surprising muscular power
or grip" of his hands. On one oc-
casion, needing a corkscrew, he twisted
long iron nail round into the required
shape with his fingers, and with this ex-
temporized implement opened half a
dozen bottles of wine. Another time,
when stopping at village blacksmith
shop to have his horse shod, he picked
up number Of new horse-shoes, and
with his hands snapped them in two as
readily as if made of glass, much to the
surprise and disgust of the smith.
If history is to be believed, Phyallus
of Crotona, could. jump a distance of
fifty-six feet. The exercise was practic-
ed at the Olympic games and formed
part of the course of the entatholon.
Strut, an English authority on games
and amusements, speaks of Yorkish
jumper named Ireland, whose powers
were something marvellous. He was
six feet high, and at the age of eighteen
leaped, without the aid of springboard,
over nine horses ranged side by side.--
He cleared cord extended fourteen feet
from the ground with o bound, crushed
with his foot bladder suspended at a
height of sixteen feet, and on another
occasion lightly cleared large wagon
covered with an awning. Col. Ironside,
who lived in India early in this century,
relates that he met in his travels an old
white-haired man who with one leap
sprang over the back of an enormous
elephant flanked 10y six camels of the
largest breed.
A curious French work published in
Paris in 1745, entitled "The Tracts To-
ward the History of Wonders Perform
ed at Fairs" mentions an Englishman,
who at the fair of st. German in 1923,
leaped over forty people without touch
ing them. In our own day we are fa-
miliar with many remarkable exposi-
tions of strength and endurance. DIR.
Windsip, with the aid of straps, lifted a
weight of $500 pounds, and with the
little finger of his right hand could raise
his body considerable distance from
the ground.