West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1880-04-03
Strong Men.

Among the Greeks the successful athlete
was crowned with laurcls and loaded with
wealth and houors. When Egenetus. in
the uinety-Second Olympiad. triumphant
IN the games, entered Agrigentum. his
native home, he was attended by an escort
of three hundred Chariots, each drawn hy
two white horses and followed by the
populaCe, cheering and waving banners
Milo six times won the palm at both the
Olympic and Pythian games. lie is SAID
TO have run mile with four-yCar. old ON
upon his shoulders, and afterward killed
the animal with blow of his fist, and ate
the entire carcass in one day so great
was his muscular power that he would
sometimes bind a cord round his head and
break it by the swelling and pressure of the
veins. An ordinary meal for Milo was
twenty pounds of meat, as much bread and
fifteen Pints of wine. Poydamus of Thes-
salona was of prodigious strength and
colossal height, and, il is said, alone and
without weapons he killed an enormous
and enraged lion One day. Gt is SO re-
corded) lac seized bull by one of its hind
feet and the animal only escaped by lcav-
ing its hoof in the grasp of the athlete
The Roman Emperor Maximaus was up
wards Of eight feet in height, and, like
Milo of Crotone, could squeeze to powder
the hardest stone with his fingers and break
the leg or jaw of horse by kick. HIS
witc's bracelet served him as ring. and his
everyday meal was sixty ponds of meat
and an amphOra of wine. Tupham, who
was born in London in l7lO, was possessed
of astonishing strength HIS armplts, hol-
low IN the case OF ordinary men, wcrO with
him full of muscles and teudOns lie would
take bar of iron, with its two ends held i'm
his hands, place the middle of the bar be-
hind the nap OF his neck, and then bend
the eNtrcmitiCs 10y main force until they
met together, and bend back the iron
straight again. One night, pcrCcivng
Watchman asleep IN his box, lac carried
both the man and his shell To- a great dis
tancc and deposited them on the wall of a
church yard. Owing TO domestic troubles.
he committed suicide in the prime of life.
The famous Scandcrberg, king of Albania.
who was born IN l4l4, was man of great
stature and his fcats IN sword exercise has
never been equalcd. On one occnsion.
with a scimitar, lac struck his antagonist
such terrible blow that its tremendous
force cleaved him to the waist. He is said
to have often clOven i'm two men who were
clad in armOr from head TO foot On one
I occasion the brother and nephew of "A Ger
tam Balaban, who had been convicted of
crueltics towards the Albanans, were
brought 10 him, bound together Trans
ported with rage he cut them i'm two with
one stroke Of his weapon. Maurice, Count
OF SaXony, the hero of Foutcnoy, inherited
the physical vigor of his father, and was
especially noted for the surprising muscu-
lar power or grip" Of his hands On one
occasion, needing "A cork screw, he twisted
long iron nail round into the required
shape with his fingers, and with this eA-
/ tcmporized implement opened half dozen
bottles OF wine. Another time, when
/ stopping at village blacksmith shop to
have his horses shOd, be picked up mum
/ Der of new horse shoes ana with his hands
snapped them in two as readily as il made
/ OF glass, mach to the surprise and disgust
Of the smith. If history is TO be- believed,
/ Phayllus Of CrOteDa could jump distance
/ Of fifty six feet. This exercise was prac-
ticed at the Olympic games aud formed
/ part OF the course Of the Pcntathlon.
| Strut, an English authority on games and
| amuscmcnts, speaks Of a Yorkish jumper
named Ireland, whose powers were some
/ thing marvellous. lie was six feet high,
and "A; the age of eighteen years lcapcd,
I NiNh'uN AhC anu vi "a hIilHB bDdlh ONtI uluc
| horses ranged side by side lie cleared a
/ cord extended fourteen feet from the
\ ground with bound crushed u bladder
/ suspended at a height OF sixteen feet, and
/ on another occasion lightly cleared large
/ wagor covered with an awning. Colonel
lrOnsidc, who lived in India, early i'm this
\ century, relates that hc met in his travels
I an Old whitc-headed man who with one
leap sprang over the back OF an enormous
| elephant ilanked by SIX camcls Of the
largest breed. a curious French work.
published in Paris i'm l7l5, entitled "Thc
Tracts toward the History Of Wonders Per
formed at Fairs mentions an Englshman
who at the fair Of ST. German, i'm i724.
lcapcd over forty people without touching
one Of them. In our own day we are
familiar with many remarkable expUsitons
Of strength and endurance Dr. Wind
ship, with the aid Of straps, lifted a weight
oi $500 pounds, and with the little finger
Of his right hand can raise his body con
siderable distance from the ground.
WHIT Sic U.r