St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-18
ONE FIRE-PROOF MAN.

Nathan Coker. of the Eastern
Shore, and His Wonderful
Skill.
Baltimore American.
The Tuckahoe Neck monstrosity is in
many respects devil incarnate, but is
harmless and inoffensive. In mighty
STATURE in color and general makeup,
he marks up to the ideal of his Satanic
majesty. being six feet tall, as black as
the hinges of hades, giant in strength,
and endowed with such salamandrine
qualities that he can endure fire
unframed, and with little incOnven-
fence. None of the thousands who
marveled at his unnatural powers ten
or twenty years ago will say that the
above is. in the least, an Overdrawn
picture of Nathan COker. whose fire.
eating exploits Were the wonder of this
peninsula to generations past. Nathan
is now eighty-fOur years old, having
long since quit the business of fire eat
he saved fortune of $1,000.
like. it, though he is still in robust
health. He occupies small cabin in
Tuckahoe Neck, about three miles be-
low Denton, and more inOffenSive and
kimdlier Old cOlored man is not to be
found anywhere. 1t was i'll Denton,
where Nathan once lived, that he first
discovered himself to be fire-proof. In
his youth he was a servant in the house
OF Lawyer Purneil. Being in the kitchen
a great deal. his inclination was to taste
some of all the choicest dishes when
the houSekeeper'S eye was turned, and
one day lie dipped his hand into boil
{D IL, In
the lnOrSel and reliShed it SO much that
he grabbed for another and found that
his hand was not hurt in the least. This
pilfering process went OH for some
time with no injury to the hand. The
first public exhibition that Nathan made
OF himself took place in the bar-rOOm of
the local hotel, when he took live Goals
from the stove and held them in the
palm till they had expired. Then fol-
lowed, on different occasions. other more
trying featS OF endurance, such as Whet-
ting a hot poker on his hands. or lick
ing it with his tongue and holding it in
his mouth, walking barefooted among
live Goals and Oh hot tires. At the trial
of Fred Lawrence in Denton, early in
the seventies, after an adjourned ses-
the judges and spectators by his
exploits, and at the hanging
of Lawrence in EaStOn he was
present and gave an exhibition which
netted him SS7. On this occasion he re-
| peatedly took mOuthful of molten
lead with no injury. Hundreds of col
Ored men were present. Great was
| their CONSERVATION when they wit
| neSSea the performance. On all Occa-
SionS Nathan turned his supernatural
| powers to profitable account. He would
"eat fire. at any time. but never with
out hearing the jingle of money. Judge
| Stump once gave Nathan IS for whet-
ting red-lIOt poker Oh his hand.
At the zenith of his fire-eating career
| Nathan made an engagement with the
manager of the Front Street tl1eater,
! Baltimore, that greatly widehed his repu-
tation. He played the devil'' there fol
| three weeks to crowded houses, being
| the sensation of the day. Then followed
an engagement of eight nights at Doug
las Institute. At both places he would
go through the role of the evil
one with so much reality
that many in the Monumental
City were turned from the
ways of the wicked and brought to re-
| pentance. Nathan never used prepare
tiOns to protect himself from injury, as
some people might suppose, Hot lead
was taken into his mouth and live Goals
into his hands, and he would stand bare
footed upon a rcd-hOt stove with no in
| furious results. His mouth was never
known to be wadded with asbestos, MOI
were his feet or hands encased with
such protection. The human phenome
non was never by any one here eX
| planned.