The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-12-18
SUPPlE-L!MBED MEN,
HOW Contortionists Acquire the Agility
With Which They Sur prise Audiences.

s"N $3.50
With Which They Sur prise Audiences.
There is little to tell you about ION.
!, tortionists.' said an ex-member of that
profession who was asked to furnish a
chapter of his experience as a per-
former. "A good contortionist is paid
about twenty-five dollars a week; it
takes him the greater part of his life to
acquire his Skill, then when he has all
the points in the business down fine a
few years slip by and he is unable to
work. He lecomes stihened up, his
joints won't work freely, and the por-
former is retired because he's worn
out"
'ls the work Of a contortionist so ex-
hausting?'
"Oh, no. The work is easy enough,
but it's the long preliminary training
that kills. You see, no one takes up
the business Ct n performer as q con-
tortionist. First he starts in as d tum-
bier in the ring. The younger he is the
better, for when tie muscles are ten
der training is easy. Now, nine
tenths of all the contortionists in the
country to-day commenced as mere
lads. They take part in brother acts
the big fellow, you know, gets a man
smaller than himself, holds him in the
air, and the second man gets a boy and
holds him in the air from the top of the
big fellows shoulders. Then, in con-
nection with that kind of training. the
boy is taught to throw handsprings,,
somersaults, and pretty soon he be.
comes a good tumbler.
"After awhile he gets too heavy to be
held up on the shoulders Of another, so
he has to do the holding up himself and
another boy is obtained, and the first
youngster drifts into the second rank Of
performers. 1t may be that his strength
develops under the exercise to which he
has been subjected so that in a few
years he is strong enough to hold up
the other two, and in that case he is q
leading performer. But it is a hard
life. Every day in the season he must
perform in the ring. He has to throw
double somersaults, leap oyer the
backs of horses, and perform other
feats which o o break n man up. All
these flying leaps are taken from a
spring-board. The performer ru ms
down the board for adistance of twenty
or twenty-five feet as fast as he can till
he strikes a spring in the plank, then
he takes the leap. This is the hardest
work a performer has to do. Tho
yunning and the leaping soon injure
his feet. His ankles are in danger Of
being sprained, and if he hurts his knee.
pan, which he may do at any time, he's
got to retire forever from that kind oil
work. But ever should no accident be,
fall him it's only n question of q few
years when, with the best Of care, his
feet and ankles become stiff, they lose
all the elastic spring, and your tumbler
must quit and 80 into another line Of
business.
1.-Two things are left for him to do.
He may become an 'object-holder,"
that is, 4 man who stands on one side
Of the ring in a circus and holds up a
paper hoop for the performer on the
to jump through. You might
think this an easy matter to do, but it is
,ot. Every thing depends on the keen.
less of eye and the judgment of the man ,
Who performs this humble work. The F.,
,oop must be lowered at precisely tho :
light time, otherwise the act is not a !
uccess. Only an experienced ring per-
ormer can do this properly, SO your
vorn.out tumbler either holds objects
a living or he becomes what you in. ,
uirci about = contortionist. A con. +.
ortionist, $ you well know, does all y
is work On the ground. He is not re. !,
uired to be particularly agile on his !.
,et. His limbs and the muscles of his !"
ody must be elastic and timber, .
but that is the physical condi. :
on of every lumber. and in q few :
eeks he learns to go through with his :,
ew performance. He bends his body u
40 way and the other, to the surprise =
a great many who don't know that i y
taken the man all his life to acquire Us
S art. Then when he is fully master ~ y
it he plays out. It's not the business sa
would advise a lad to 60 nto."-CAs 20
90 Necs. ="