The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1881-10-01
SOME INSTANCES OF EXTRAORDINARY
PHYSICAL STRENGTH


carry an OK on his shoulders and Stay one with
his fist was an athlete of might; but there have
been modern men of muscle capable of emulatlng
the feats of Milo; and were trials OF strength as
popular and profitable trials OF speed, endur-
ance. and skill, we should probably not have to
wait very long before seeing the best performance
on record thrown into the shade by some muscu-
lar champion as yet unknown to fame.
Topham popularity known as the Strong Man
of IslingtOn although he failed to draw the bow
of a Finsbury archer two-thirds OF its length,
justified the title bestowed upon him by rolling
up a pewter dish with his fingers bending a
kitchen poker around the neck of an offending
hostler, and pulling against horse with his feet
against a low wall With his teeth he could lift
a table six feet long having Northumberland
attached to it; and coming upon Waterman fast
asleep in his box, he took up box and man, and
dropped them over the wall of a battle-ground
In 1871. Monsieur Gregorie," claiming to be
seventy-One years old, nightly astOnished the
good folks of Hereford by carrying seven hundred
weight with the greatest of ease, and by perform
inc certain other extraordinary feats Twenty
years previously, he had performed MilOs feat IN
a slaughter-house at Whitley, in Worcester shire.
1t was however, no new feat with him; he had
done it again and again in his young days when
travelling with an Italian circus. An English
doctor who knew GTegOrie intimately, describes
him as looking like an exaggerated example of a
muscular study by Fuseli or Hayden, having pro-
digious shoulders and a biceps almest incredible.
For all that. he was one of the quietest of men,
and simple as a child; living in constant dread
lest he should be provoked in using his strength
unprofessionally: and afraid to nurse his own
baby lest he should give it fatal squeeze.
Joseph Pospischilli was wont to amuse the
Hungarian public by holding table in the air
by his hands and teeth, while couple Of gipsies
danced upon it to a thirds fiddling He and one
of his brothers would bear upo9 their shoulders
sort of wooden bridge, while cart full of stones,
drawn by two horses, was driven over it. Fall
ing into evil ways, Joseph was imprisoned in the
fortress of Ofen, and one day volunteered to give
the prison inspectors a specimen Of his abilities:
and permission being accorded, he so arranged
the governors heavy mahogany table as to hold
it suspended with his teeth for nearly half a
minute.
Joignery. a French professional acrobat lately
performing at a Berlin theatre, executed the fol-
lowing extraordinary feat. As he swung head
downwards from trapeze to which his ankles
were fixed. horse covered with gay trappings
and begirt with a broad leathem surcingle hay
ing two strong loops attached to it, and mounted
by fulI-grown man, was brought on the central
stage, above which Joignery hung suspended
Selling the loops with his hands, the Frenchman
by sheer muscular strength lifted horse and rider
some inches off the stage; sustained their COM
bined weight in the air for some seconds, and
then let them down again as evenly and slowly
as he had raised them.
Mr. Stanley tells us that Simba chief overseer
of ANU bin Osman's caravan, standing six feet
five inches barefoOted, and measuring thirty-two
inches from shoulder to shoulder, could toss an
ordinary-sized man ten feet in the air, and catch
him in his descent. He would take one of the
large white Muscat dOnkeys by the ears and with
a sudden movement of his right foot Law the sur
prised ass on its back; carry three-yoar-old
bullock on his back halfway round his masters
plantation; and once actually bore twelve men
on his back, shoulders, and chest, round Osman's
house, to the intense wonder of a large crowd of
applauding spectators.
Pete Pauquette, a slim-built but muscular
limbed half-breed is still living to glory in his
sobrquet of the Sampson of Wisconsin. 1t was
fav0rite performance with him to take handful
Of dry, hard hickory nuts, and crush them to
pieces by merely closing his hands upon them
Senator Clark who knew him well in his best
DAYS said: d" His muscles were like iron | have
had him bare his arm to me, and I have taken
a hammer and cracked hickory nuts upon the
muscles; and it was like cracking them on stone.
One day." relates the Senator, " a party was pro-
ceeding by boat up the Fox, intending to 90 down
the Wisconsin. When the portage came to be
made a yoke of oxen was procured to draw the
boat across. 1t was very heavy; and before half
the distance had been made, one of the oxen gave
out completely. Pauquette was along and what
do you suppose he did? Well he took the end
of the yoke vacated by the played-Out OK, and
pulled with the other one, and the novel team
hauled the boat and traps across all right; and
Pete did not seem to mind the strain half so much
as the old OK did"
Great commanders have not, a rule, been
notable for the possession of extraordinary phys
ical powers Washington was an exception, be-
ing man OF great strength In his youth, he
was once an onlOoker at wrestling contest, and
growing weary of the sport, he threw himself at
the foot of tree to enjoy his book By-and-by,
he was challenged to try a fall with the hero of