The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-03-25
THE FEMALE HERCULES

THE FEMALE HERCULES
Interview with ne. victeri.. tho Strongest
Woman In Euro pc.
From the Pan Aali Garefta
A quiet, modest girl, Of medium height
and slender. graceful figure, dressed In a sim
pie brown dress, frightened up only by O. mar
chatting pleasantly away to her visitor in her
quiet room. and now and then interrupted by
the p!srcing voice Of a tame canaryI,that is
Nine. Victorina- the female. Hercules, who every
evening astoniskes the audience at the Empire
Theatre with feats Of her marvellous strength.
For six years past she has now been before tho
she has astonished Berlin and Paris audiences;
has been victorious in her competition with
many OF the worlds greatest athletes: Is hon.
orary member and medalllst OF the Central
Athletic Club Of Stettin: honorary member, Of
Club, Vienna; of the Compagnie Herculs Of
Paris. and a string OF other athletic societies.
Had you exceptional strength when younga"
No not at once and when was quite young
healthy child. / WAS. born at Strasburg. and
after my father died l went to my ~uncle's. who
was a circus proprietor. and he at once began
to train me as a circus rider and a performer
game soon to an end. for ! fell from a height Of
have had the greatest dislike to trapeze per-
formances. Luckily l only broke the bridge Of
my nose in the accident, and therefore l was in
something else. At that lime I became ac-
Qua!nted with my present husband. who was
an athlete. and who began my athletic train
every day, with, an expander, lust as you see
girls use them in calis!henic classes. with the
one difference that the iirmness Of my e4 pander
was periodically increased till at. last the
muscles and sinews OF the arms. the shoulders.
out d iihftHf aHsA work s%ik W with ilt an ex pan . eonsi sAiin:
and J. ! alss grasilssd lIitins and hssndIins;
gradually increasing up to a thousand pounds.
This. Of course. took several years, and In my
full weight which 1 could lift and carry. but there
is never a day on which do not handle from
seven to, eight hundred pounds at the perform
after aneG' the , pcri for nee, 81 course saresep / am rather rather
exhausted ut first, Just rs you are after q long
for ora a very s short TIL time wand and the the, p sHae Dniy esSi is
to me nothing but part Of an. ordinary days
work, which has 70 be done in the same way as
And d9 you perform With your hands and
No, 1 carry weights hung about my body.
but l never perform with my legs: as some ath-
ietes DO, who let heavy weights lie on the
O Irareze or bar"
lave no. seen yog carrying enormous
- do perform with my teeth. too"
How is that possible; seeing that your teeth
have the appearance Of being far too small for
ivory hue which is SAID to be tho color Of the
strongest teeth The blush whitsHess q your
not strong, and which don't wear well"
" You are right there is no particular strength
The II my atrs ,es5f at Of fbs s bpt It asgSe mnsc sfhis II , On
!"S!h Tor ' athletic ft' iea ms''3 Now. 1 BY f the u ae' 'o yf f6e
upper part Of the body is splendidiy developed.
and as long as l can keep my head stiff and
erect the teeth have the easlest part Of it."
And does not your health suffer by the con-
stnnt e%xcrtion OF such physical powers p
Not In the least. l Lave never been Ill in
leave off working it was only on account of ac-
eidehisi Tte first was the fall from the trapeze
from a dog. now about two years ago. This
happened ~ Leeds, and tho animal bit my arm
SO badly that for TWENTY-FIVE weeks l had TO
begin very slowly to practise again, at first try
Ing 7 to iLt one lsh stone, md gradually adding to
to practise every day without intermission
and II | only stop for a single week | feel a pain
Yes. | work all the year round. except In sum-
NOR ior a short time. during which. however. /
have always to practise"
Il suppose yOu have to diet yourself very
terrpptedly with your WORK 7"
my meals. For breakfast l take cocoa, with
from iour to SIX nsw-!aid eggs beaten up in it;
tnen ~ Ine nlddle OF tle DAY l take dinner.
PUT nnd I DO s9 be az i i usual 9sks With ba.t athletes q "a !, tHE :
but | prefer fowls and game. and l fnd that
the nourisbment contained in the various parts
o. a hird Is quite a. strengthening as beef, and
have taken hardly anything but partridses
and pheasants, and l am as well and strong as
tea, and after that nothing more till alter the
pert9rmance, when l make y hearty supper"
"Fiitee l1n %in a1ss s az tb psrIE9 m ni4s' 1h IsSf f %.v.
performed twenty minutes on other stages,
Alter that am exhausted-that is to say. /
visibly an eXerlion, and no athlete should ever
allow that to be tho case, for athletic feats are
only SO long interesting to an audience as
they are performed without apparent e]xerTion,
Unless this Is the case, 1t Is painful and dis
gushing TO see feats OF muscular strength. My
husband ana l nave often had u great deal OF
nmlse ment In private in connection with nv
strength, Once we were at Berlin, and, as our
expensive In proportion, We take as much Of
as possible into the railway carriage when we
are travelling. The porter, who had put our
boxes INTO the van, saw that | WAS CARRYING
what looked like two small handbags, Ho OF.
tered to put them into the carriage Tor me, and
than when | handed him the two parceIs. each
containing one OF my heavy weights. Another
time we we're going up the stairs OF our hotel
Wnen we found. SIX men engaged In taking an
iron sale up stairs ihe owner. who knew US.
said laughinGly: 'Oh, here comes Madame: she
had never tried anything like II, but j took a
although l wore my ordinary clothes. The safe
was presented to me by the owner, and / have
You say your ordinary clothes are an i'm
pediment to your work that. / suppose &C
counts for the very airy apparel you wear on
II does" with q blpshh and unless l can
move about quite freely / am unable 10 do ny
costume. l can wear. md any athlete will un-
d]erstand, how imros7ible 1t ist0 pel5orm unless
THO g @thinE r. as lislt as possible
appreciatiye-in England or on tho Continent2 p