Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1888-02-11
A FIRE.PROOF MAN.
An Eastern Shore Curiosity,

The good people of Tuckahoe Neck
hat land of unadulterated good living
Eith all pervading piety-have dwelling
among them one who, III his natural at
ributps. would seem to he as much out
# Mace there as Him the Almighty
hurled hcadlong flaming from the ethe
zeal sky" For the TuckahOe Neck
monstrOsity is in many respects deN1
incanate, but is harmless and lnoiien,,
,ive. In mighty statue, IN color ana
general makeup, he makes up 70 tlie
IDEAL Of his satanic majesty, beng SIX
feet tall. as black as the hinges OF Iades,
, riant in strength, and endowed WIN
such salamandTihe qualities that ne eau
endure fire unharmed and with little IN
convenience. None of the thousands
who maryelled at his unnatural powers
ten or twenty years ago VIII say tll''
the above is in the least all oyerdraWn
picture of Nathan Cocker, whose hre-cat-
ing exploits were the wonder OF TINS
peninsula to generations past. Nathan
is now cightv-iour Years old, having
long since uuit the business OF iire-eat-
inc from the profits OF which he sayed
| a fortune of a thousand dollars. lie
works only when he ielt like II, though
| he is still in robust health. lie occu-
pies small cabin i'll Iuckahoe Neck,
! about three miles below Denton, ana
more inoffensive and kIndiIer old col
/ ored man is not to he found anywhere.
The old man seldom comes to town now
adays, since the local option law has
done away with the places Of his former
resort, His besetment was proneneSs
for drink.
While in town the other evening Ma
than was found 10y The american CORES
pondent, and happened to be IN talk
alive mooJ. He dwelt with fond memory
mon lis frequent visits here. and the
wav he used to pour the ''rad liquor
down his throat was, according to his
own statement, astonishing. 1t was IN
Denton, where Nathan once lived, that
he first discovered himself to be ire
proof. In his youth he was servant IN
the house of Lawyer Purcell. Beng Ill
the kitchen n good deal, his INCLINATION
was TO taste some of all the choicest
dishes when the housekeepers eye was
t;lrned and one day he DIPPED his hand
into boiling pot to catch dumping.
He got the morsel and rellshed 1t SO
much that he grabbed for another, and
found that his hand was not hurt IN the
least. This pilfering process went on
for some time with no injury to
the hand. The first public eX-
hibition that Nathan made of himself
took place in the barroom of the loca
hotel. when he took live Goals from the
stove and held them to the palm till they
had expired. Then followed, on differ
ent occasions other more trying feats o
endurance, 81 III as whetting hot poke
on his hand, or licking it with IN
tongue and holding it in his mouth
walking barefooted among live Goals ant
on hot tires. At the trial of Fred Law
renee in Denton, early in the seventies
after an adjourned session of court, Ma
than greatly amused the judges an
many spectators by his exploits, and a
the hanging of Lawrence i'll Easton h
was present and gave an exhibitio
which netted him $S7. On this occaslo
he repeatedly took mOuthiuls of melte
lead with no injury. Hundreds of col
ored men were present. Great was thel
CONSERVATION when they witnessed tn
2 performance. On all occasions Natha
: turned his supernatural powers to prof
able account. He would "eat fire 8
A any time, but never without the jingl
4 of money. Judge Stump once gay
: Nathan s. for whetting a red-hot poke
on his hand. The pcGinsular towns
Centreville, Church Hill, Easton, Hill
boro, and others within walking distanC
$ were often RECALLED with his perform
ances. At the zenith of his fire-eatn
S career, Nathan made an engagcmel
with the manager of Front Street The
trr, Baltimore, that greatly widened h
reputation. BE played "the devil the
for three weeks to crowded houses, b
e ing the sensation of the day. Tbeil Ic
i lowed an engagement Of 5ignt nights
~. Douglas iYstItute. At both places
- would go through the role of the eN
70 one with so much reality that many
a the Monumental City were turned fro
10 the ways of the wicked and brought
repentance. Nathan never used prep
rations to protect himself from lnlur
as some people might suppose. ii
a lead was taken into his mouth and Ii
d Goals into his hands, and he would stal
! barefooted upon red-hot stove, with
10 injurious results. His mouth was ney
known to be wadded with asbestos, Il
50 We're his feet or hands encased in SUI
protection. The human phenomen
re was never, by any one here, explaint
la The fact is recalled that some you
nt men of Denton, who were firm in tn
belief that Nathan did use some su
ruse, were of the opinion that they COT
n. do the same Accordingly, one of tn
n went forth to eat fire, and nearly kill
y himself in the attempt.