The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-06-06
PERILS OF CIRCUS LIFE.
DANGEROUS FEATs PERFORMED
BY CELEBRATED ARTISTS.
The Fatal, Ncck-breaking Triple,
Somersault-The Thrilling Cata-

pult and Cannon Acts.
The great danger to the circus leaper
is in his somersault. If he is very skill
ful, he may have pretty clear idea
while he is in the air Of where and how
he is going to land after double somer-
sault; but many leapers go through life
without ever solving that problem salts
factorcly, and, of course, they are the
most frequent sufferers by accidents.
Landing on an edge of the thick mat
tress is exceedingly apt to injure an
ankle, and coming down head first is
liable to break the neck. But when the
adventurous performer essays a triple
somersault he never knows how it is
going to result. The first man who
attempted that feat is said to have been
John Aymar, in the Isle of Wight. He
broke his neck il doing it. 1t has been
successfully performed 10y several men in
this country, butt rarely done, and when
it is, does not impress the public suf-
1iciently to make it worth the risk it in
wolves, People fail to appreciate it.
They do not know that each somersault
following the first in all aerial flight
gains one-third in speed over the one
preceding, so that by the time the third
is turned the performer has not the
slightest idea of his position with re-
ference to the earth, and is powcrloss to
save himself. II he does not break his
neck, it is simply lucky accident.
A somewhat varied form of the 'leap-
ing act" technically known as the
"Spanish Trampoline" which IL ed to
be practised in all circuscs and is never
seen now, was especially dangerous. In
that the men sprang from the solid
starting point instead of a spring board,
and went over horses, the number of
which was increased gradually. Tim
Turner cleared sixteen horses and Hiram
Franklin seventeen. The extreme diff
Guilty of such leap will be in
some measure realized if it is remem-
bcred that the men had to find all the
impetus for it in their own muscles and
their little rum. having no aid of
spring board to lift them to such
height as enables the somersaults to be
made with ease. OF course, many men
were crippled for life in this act, and
happily it seems now to be altogether
done away with.
One of the most dangerous individual
feats ever performed in circus ring was
the "catapaultn act, done by Lulua few
seasons ago. In that the performer laid
himself out straight and rigid on great
beam that was poised like a lever with
him on the long end, and great number
of strong india rubber strings straining
at the other. Then, at signal, trigger
was touched, the power of the springs
exerted, and Lulu was sent whirling up
almost to the roof of the Garden, and,
turning a somersault, landed in a net
with his eyeglasses still upon his nose.
The tension of those springs changed
surprisingly in sympathy with scarcely
observable changes in the temperature,
so that for almost every performance
some of them had to be taken off or more
put on. One day, just before the doors
were opened for the evening performance,
Lulu had an impression that he ought to
test thessmachine before risking himself
upon it that night. He tried to persuade
himself that it was useless to take the
trouble, since he had been thrown right
in the afternoon, and he could not feel
that the temperature in the Garden had
changed at all. The impression re-
manned, however, and, at length, yield
ing to it, he called his assistants, set the
machine, put on it the bag of gravel
equal to his weight-used for the tests
and touched it of. That bag of gravel
was hurled clear up into the lantern of
the roof and struck beam there with
such force that it burst. Had he been
the object catapulted, instead of the bag,
he would have fallen to the net a man.
gled corpse. He simply remarked:
"Close call, " and placidly went to work
reducing the number of springs.
The cannon act, as done by Nine.
Loyal, had the same element of danger
that existed in the catapult, those treach-
erous India rubber springs. She was
apparently fired from the mouth of the
cannon up some twenty seven feet to
trapeze, where she caught on and did
some quite clever business. If the pistol
set to go off when she did-didn't
happen to hang fire, the illusion was ex-
cellent, and she went up with such grace.
and ease that there didn't seem to be
much difficulty or any danger in the
performance. But had she not held
herself as rigid as log when
put into the cannon, her legs
would inevitably have been broken
when she was fired OUT as certainly as
Lulu's skull would have been cracked if
he had not held it tight against the cat
apult beam the moment when he was
thrown. When she performed in Nix
on's Chicago Amphitheatre in 1872, the
manager would not permit her TO be sent
up without making some provision to
save her if she failed to catch the trapeze,
and as he had no net then, he stationed
a half dozen stout fellows to hold under
her "Sancho Panza blanket which
is large square of strong canvas with
grip loops on its edges. Her husband
was indignant, swore that the arrange
ment spoiled the effect of the act, and
denounced it as piece of useless folly.
GAN the same" " replied Nixon firmly,
''the blanket goes under her, or she
don't go up" For three weeks she per-
formed twice day and never had an
accident, but on the first night Of the
fourth week the springs failed to throw
her within reach of the trapeze and she
fell back into the blanket Had it not
been there she would have fallen right
back on the mouth Of the cannon, and
smashed a lot Of her ribs.-Nelo York
Sun.