Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1881-05-17
MUSCULAR MEN.
SOME FAMOUS FEArs OF STRENGTH.
lIInrtlnr.l Pnstl

Il
letic was crowned with laurels and load
ed down with wealth and honors. When
ESne;us. in the ninety second Olympiad,
triumphant in games. entered Agrigen-
tum. his native home, he was attended
by an escort OF three hun'lrcd charlots,
each drawn by two white horses and fol-
lowed by the popuiace, cheering and wav-
ing banners. Milo SIX times won the
palm a, both the Olympian and the Py-
THAN games. lie is said TO have run a
mile with a four year old OK upon his
shoulder, and afterward killed the ami
NAL with one blow OF his fist, and ate the
entire carcass in one day. SO great was
MS muscular power that he could bind a
cord round his head and break it by the
swelling pressure Of the veins. An ordi-
nary meal f1r Milo was twenty pounds OF
mea, as much bread, and tliccn pints OF
wine
Polyd4mus OF Thcssalil, wa, of colos-
sal heigh, and pro iigiods strength, and
it is said, alone and without weapons,
killed an enormous enraged lion. One
day, it is recorded, he seized a bull by
his hind feet. and the animal only escaped
by leaving hoo: in the grasp of the ath-
lete.
The Roman Emperor Maximus was
upwards of eight feet in height, and like
Milo of Crotona, could squeeze to powder
the hardes, stone with his fingers, and
break the leg of horse by a kick. His
wife's bracelet served him as a ring, and
his every day repast was sixty pounds OF
meat and amphora of wine.
While prisoner in Germany, Richard
|. accepted an invitation 10 boxing
match with the son Of the jailer. He
received the first blow which made him
stagger, but recovering, with blow of
fist he killed his antagonist on the spot.
Topson, also an Englishman, born in
l7l0, was possessed of astonishing
strength. His armpits, hollow in the
case of ordinary men. were with him full
of muscles and tendons. He would take
a bar of iron, with its two end held in
MS hands, place the middle Of the bar
behind his neck. and bend the extremlties
by main force until they met together and
bend back the iron straight again. One
night, seeing watchman asleep IN his
box. he carried both man and shell to a
great distance and put them on the wall
of churchyard. Owing to domestic
troubles he committed suicide in the
prime of life.
The famous Scanderberg, king Of Al
bania, who was born in l4li, was q
man of great stature. and his ieats OF
sword exercise have never been equalled.
On one OCCASION he struck his antagonist
such blow with the scimitar, that It's
force cleayed him to the waist. He is
said TO have cloven in two. men who
were clad in armor from head to foot.
On one occasion the brother and nephew
of a certain Ballaban, who had been con-
victed 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 vigour
of his father, and was especially noted
for the surprising muscular power, or
grip. of his hands. On one occasion,
needing corkscrew, he twisted long
iron nail round into the required shape
with his fingers and opened half dozen
bottles of wine with it. Another time,
when stopping at blacksmith shop to
have his horse shod, he picked up a num-
Der of new horseshoes, and with his hands
snapped them in two as readily as If
they had been glass, much to the disgust
of the smith.
If History is to be believed, Phatyllus
of Crotona could jump a distance of fifty
six feet. The exercise was practised
at the Olympic games and formed part
of the course of the Pentahlon. Strut.
and English authority on games and
amusements, speaks of Yorkshire jumper
named Ireland, whose powers were mar
vellous. He was six feet high, and at
the age of Is leaped, without the aid Of
a spring board, over nine horses ranged
side by side. He cleared cord extend
ed fourteen feet from the ground with
one bound, crushed with his foot a blad-
der suspended at height of sixteen feet ;
and on another occasion lightly cleared
a large wagon covered with an awning.
Colonel Ironside, who lived in India,
early in this century, relates that he met
in his travels an old white. e.haired man,
who with one leap, sprang over the back
of an enormous elephant fanked by six
camels of the largest breed. A curious
French work, published in Paris, in 1885,
entitled 1.-The Tracts Towards the His
tory of Wonders Performed at Fairs,
mentions an Englishman, who at the fair
of St. German in 1924, leaped over
forty people without touching one of them.
In our own day we are familiar with
many remarkable expositions of strength
and endurance. DR.. Winship, with the
aid of straps, lifted weight of $500
pounds, and with the little finger of the
right hand could raise his body consid-
erable distance from the ground.