St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-18
MEN WHO EAT FIRE.
Strange Diet Of Human Beings
Who Relish Blazing Goals.

Strange Diet OF Human Beings
Who Relish Blazing Goals.
London Tid-Bits.
The earliest mention of fire-eaters IN
England is to be found in Sir Henry
WaltOn's correspondence under date OF
June 3, 1888. He says:
There is a strange thing to be seen
in London for couple OF pence WHICH
| know not whether | should call piece
of art or nature. 1t is an Englishman,
like some swabber OF ship, come from
the Indies. where he has learned to eat
fire as familiaIly as ever | saw any eat
cakes. even whole glowing BRANDS;
which he will crush with his teeth an9
swallow. | believe he hath been nara
famished in the Terra del Fuego, on the
south Of the Magellan strait.
Evelyn, in his dairy under date OF
Oct. 8, 1872, gives graphic accOuhc oI
the remarkable featS of another hfe-
eater. who created great sensation In
his day:
81 took leave of my lady Sunderland,
who was going to Paris to my lord, now
ambassador there. She made me stay 10
dinner at Leicester house, and after
ward sent for Richardson, the famous
fire-eater. He devoured birthstone
on glowing Goals before us,
chewing and swallowing them;
he melted Deere glasSe and cate IL
unite up. then taking a live cOale on ms
tongue he put it on a raw oyster; tne
coale was blown on with bellows till 1t
famed and sparkled in his mOuthe, ana
SO remained until the oyster gaped ana
CAPPED and was quite boiled. -,
"Then he melted pitch and wax with
sulphur, which he drank doWne as IL
famed. ! saw it flaming in his m0uthe
a good while; he also tOoke up timex
piece of iron, such as lanndresses use
to put in their smoothing boxes, When
if was fiery hot, held it between his
teeth. then in his hand, and then threw
it about like stone; but this, l
observed. he cared not to hold very
long. Then lie stoode on small pot,
and bending his body, tooke glowing
iron with his mOuthe from betweene his
feete without touching the pot or ground
with his hands, with divers other pro-
digious feats.'
Richardson's secret was disclosed by
his servant about the time Evelyn made
his entry. According to his servants
showing it consisted only in rubbing
the hands and thoroughly washing the
mouth. lips, tongue, teeth and other
parts which were to touch the fire with
pure spirits OF sulphur.
By this means the epidermis, or upper
| skin, was burnt and cauteriZed until 1t
| became as hard and as thick as leather.
| The bad effects which the frequent
swallowing of redhOt Goals, melting
sealingwaX, resin, birthstone and other
calcined and intlammable matter might
have had upon the stomach were pre-
vented by drinking plentiful draughtS
of warm water and oil as soon as he had
left the company, until he had yomited
it all up again.
Another fire-eater was De Heiterkeit,
a native of Annivi, in Savoy, who flour
ished at the beginning OF the eighteenth
century.
This individual ate burning coal,
cheWed and swallowed burning brim-
stone, licked red hot poker, placed a
red hot heater on his tongue, ate melted
pitch. beeswax, sealingwaX and rasin
with a spoon, as an ordinary mortal
takes SOUP, kindled Goals OIL his tongue
and 'brOiled meat upon them, and, to
complete the business, performed all
| these five times day at the duke of
| Marlborough'S head, in Fleet street, his
prices being half crown, eighteen
| pence and one shilling.
De Heiterkeit had the honor of eXhib-
iting before Louis XIV, the emperor of
| Austria, the king of Sicily and the doge
| the inQuiSitiOn, that holy office proposed
experimenting on him to find out
| whether he was fireproof externally as
| well as internally. He was preserved
| from this unpleasant ordeal, however,
| bv the interference of the duchess royal,
regent of Savoy.
| But the most famous of all fire-eaterS
was Robert Powell, who was before the
public for nearly sixty years, and was
| seen by many noble and distinguished
men-among others by the dukes of
| Cumberland and Gloucester and Sir
Hans Sloane. Mainly through the IN
strumentality Of this last named, the
royal society in 1751 presented Powell
with purse of gold and a large silver
medal.
Here is the programme:
| First-He eats red-hot Goals out Of the
fire as natural as bread.
| Second-He ticks with the naked
tongue red-hot tObOccO pipes, flaming
with birthstone.
Third-He takes large bunch of deal
| matches, lights them altogether and
holds them in his mouth until the flame
is extinguished. @
FOurth-He takes a red-hot heater out
of the fire, ticks it with his tongue sew
eral times and carries it around the
room between his teeth.
Fifth-He fills his mouth with red
hot charcoal and broils slice of beet
or mutton ON his tongue. and any per-
son may blow the fire with a pair OF
bellows at the same time.
SiXth-He takes quantity of rosin,
| pitch, beeswax, sealing wax, birthstone,
alum and lead, melts them together over
chatting dish of Goals, and eats the
same with spoon as if it was pOrrin-
| ger of broth, to the great and agreeable
| surprise of the spectators, etc.
The last fire-eater of whom we shall
speak is Chamouin, who had the name
Of ''the Russian Salamander." He was
remarkable for the simplicity and sin
| gleness of his character, and used tC
take a positively innocent delight in
swallowing fire. He was above all arti
flee, and would often entreat his yiSi-
tors to melt their own lead OF boil theil
own mercury, that they might be per
fectly satisfied of his genuinenesS and
of the qualification he had in drinking
these liquids.
He would also present his tongue il
the most obliging manner to all who
wished it, allow them to pour moulter
lead upon it, and il they chose STAMP
| 4, I,nf,, o1c