The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1881-09-02
Ancient Sports and Feats.
by DIR. II. SHELTON MACKENZIE.

10 DC counted IN. IuglliSm, loot races,
quoit-throwing, wrestling, leaping, the
acts of acrobats, rope dancing, and
walking on the tight rope, are almost ''as
old as the hills
Many of our readers have either seen
or heard of the surprising feats of Mon
sieur Blondin, a wonderful French per-
former who won n great reputation and
'lots of money throughout the United
states, some twenty years ago, as arope-
walker.
Since then Blondin has chiefly lived
in Europe, occasioally perfo ming and
always surprising rivalry, whether on
the part of male or female rivals. 1t
was Blondin who having fixed tight
rope across Niagara and its foaming
waters beneath, used that slender path
way to walk, run, and dance upon.
He walked-he ran-along the cord,
which seemed to othe spectators as a mere
thread. He sat down to dine upon it or
play the violin. lie crossed it with
stout man upon his back. lie drove a
wheelbarrow before him upon it. He
even crossed the abyss on bicycle.
Rope-dancing was first heard of about
b. G. 1345, when the feast of Bacchus
was instituted in Greece--that is, some
1925 years ago. Ancient medals, care
fully preserved in the cabinets of curl
GUS collectors, and of public museums,
show how and what the dancers on rope
performed in the olden time.
Some of them ran up and down on n
rope stretched obliquely. Others walked
upon a horizontal line, either tight or
slack, with or without a balancing pole,
often throwing somersauts Just as if
they stood on solid ground.
A picture of IIerculaneum shows n
man dancing on the rope, and playing,
much ut his ease, upon three-stringcd
Tyre.
In the time of the empire, the Romans
were so much addicted TO these hazard
Gus and adrot feats that animals-such
as horses and elephants-were trained TO
walk on the tight rope; and Pliny, who
mentions this, affirm that they descend.
ed from the rope backward.
10 those days the dancers were won.
drously skiIlful Some, after having
walked along the rope, would take off
their clothes and put them on again.
while on this slender footing, apparently
with as much ease as if they were in
their bedrooms.
Rope-daucing passed, rs an amuse-
ment, from Rome to her conquered pro
vinces. Later, in the reign of Charles
| ', "a man at Paris stretched slender
cords from the towers of Notre Dame,
and slid down them so rapidly that he
was called "Le Voleur,' on the Flyer
When Isabel, Of Bavaria, Queen OF
France by marriage, entered Paris, 'Le
No!eur,' attired as an angel, glded
down rope from the tower of Notre
Dame to the bridge over the Seine, and,
at the moment the lady passed, stood be
fore her, while he removed splendid
crown from his head to hers.
Similar, and even far more difficult
feats in this liue were performed in Lon.
don, Milan and Genoa. An ancirn;
! painting shows how, on the feast day OF
st. Mark, the patron saint of Venice
an acrobat, walked down, occasional,
pauSlng to dance, upon a rope suspended
from the CampaniIe to the Quay of tn,
Grand Canal.
In early Greece athletic exercises were
held in the highest; those who endcav
orcl to excel in them were called ath
lvlrS, which signifies cOmbutal,ts. The,
had To pass lhf"uyh long and sever,
curse OF TX rrlseS and prac ice betor,
they could eulcr the lists, rs competitor
in The public games.
What was the reward-the priZr
Simply wreath of laurel, pine, viii,
olive, or oa> leaves, according to the 10
ca|ity. Thc ho"or of the victory wa
enough il these early days.
The athletes had to strive for the mas
terry in foot and in chariot races, il
wrestling, in throwing the quot, in pu
glism, in combats with swords. iavelin
or disces. The winners obtained hgl
privileges, as well as honors, aud thei
statues were placed in the sacred grow
of Olympia, in Elis--hence the name o
the Olympian games
Fcats OF strength were thought high
ly of. Joined with skill, as in wrestling
it counted for great deal. Hercules i
rcputed to have carried off the prize, a
a wrestler, at the Olympian Games. b
the way, as the athletes were not bun
dened with any garments, women wer
not permitted to witness competitive pei
formances
Pugilism, sometimes familarly calle,
"iistlcuifs, was among the ancien
games. When, in Il wrestle, the rival
came to blows from fists to faces, it wa
called the 1Ja'scr8re.
Boxing was one of the earliest O
mans performances, whether in sport o
anger. The Greeks had their children
instructed in pugilism, as well as in phil
csophy and the fine arts. Great care wa
devoted to training and preparing them
The Greek pugilist was well rubbe,
with oil, to make his limbs supple an,
slippery, and each fist was fortified b.
the cestus, consisting of leather thong
wound around it and the fore part of tn
arm. In combat, the blows given wit
the aid of this armor were often fatal.
| Boxing matches were often allude,
to or described by Homer, Virgil an,
other classical writers The crownin,
glory was to "go in and win comm,
out of the contest safe and sound, with
out scratch or bruse. Even children
glorfied in the marks of the strife.
"Ihe Labor of Hercules" formerl,
much in vogue in Venice, was Greek il
its origin, 1t consisted of human pyra
mid, formed by some thirty able bod
led men, of whom twenty, arms linke,
together formed the base, tier after tie
rising, until the summit was formed by
single man, n,standing on the joined hand
of the row next beneath him, consistin,
of four men
| This human apex would go through
series of skillful and interesting perform
ances, to the delight of the doge, tn
mobiles, the fair ladies, the Grand Coun
Gil, the Senate, and the Commons o
Venice, and finally jump down from tn,
top of the pyramid upon a matres
lspread for him on the ground, This i
the way with modern gymnasts.