St. Paul daily globe., 1889-05-25
Tight and Slack Rope Feats
In a Most Uncanny
Rayine.
A House Of Bark for Summer
and a Dirty Cave for
Winter.
Eccentricities Of q Demented
German, Who Fled from
a Bride.


ling, and has also as singular as any
form is that which renders man mad,
or rather insane with some odd hallu-
cination, and yet allows him to remain
perfectly natural upon other topics.
There is character near this city to
which the above applies, and who makes
his mania more striking in view Of the
fact that he has made himself a
veritable recluse and hermit. About q
mile from st. Peter and east of the
Minnesota river are lot of vast hills,
heavily wooded. and in which are many
dark, deep ravines. Some of these, be-
cause Of the density of the forests,
seem to be natural prisons, in which
one might readily obscure himself from
the busy world with little, if any, dan
ger of discovery. The forests are very
dense, and beneath the large trees is an
underbrush so thick as to make prog
ress up the hills in this way we'll nigh
impossible. 1t is in the center of one
of these ravines that the old hermit has
hied himself away for no purpose save
that of practicing walking high rope
and dancing upon slack wires, practic-
ing jugglery and other feats by which
he eventually may become famous. He
has for many years been imbued
with desire to distinguish himself as
A DISCIPLE OF BLONDIN,
who, by the way was the original in
himself away from the busy world. and
ply the presumed vocation of walking
upon high ropes. This odd character
gives his name as Charles Ludwig
Fischer, and is Of German origin. His
eccentrlcities have drawn many to his
secluded retreat. to watch with interest
his odd pecniiarities, and with the rest
of the crowd Of devOteeS. was GLOBE
representative, who became somewhat
interested in the strange man, with q
determination of learning, if possible,
his past history. Accordingly one day
during the week, wandered thither in
quest of the desired information. FiSch-
er. who had just devoured scanty
meal, had made his appearance for the
purpose of indulging in his usual
practice. a quick glance about his
habitati0n revealed the most abject
poverty, as he was surrounded by moth
ing that was indicative of wealth. Up
one side Of the ravine was small hut,
the exact measurement upon the inside
of which was So by ~ feet and feet
high. This, Fischer informed me, was
his summer residence. l gained his
consent to look inside, and in one
corner lay pallet Of straw, both
mouldy and damp. upon which was
spread a cove ring made OF old rag
carpet. This was the elegance of his
conducive to pleasant dreams. In
onnthor oOrnop tho rom inc .Af xxrI +
had once served as an humble cook
stove for some small family. His side
board was absent, but in its place stood
an old box which contained the few
cracked dishes used by him in serving
to himself his humble meal. AS he had
just finished, asked him upon what
he fed. and he responded with the air
of an epicure, that for four years his
diet had been that Of corn cakes with
plain black coffee. This was OCCASION
ally increased by the addition of
A PIECE OF LIVER
when the butchers had it to spare Very
little time was spent about his summer
hut, as the filthiness was thoroughly re-
pulsive. He was aware of the interest
evidenced, however. and asked me to ac-
company him further up the ravine to
see his winter residence, which invita-
ton was readily accepted. We arrived
at the place to find it worse than the
one before; this being nothing more
than hole in one side of the hill, COW
cred with few coarse boards. He in
formed me that besides himself, no
other mortal had ever examined the in
terror of these rude places of his resi-
dence. Having witnessed his mode of
existence, was conducted, by request,
to the grounds on which he makes his
daily practice. 1 found there a perfect
labyrinth of high ropes. slack wires,
tight ropes. guyropes, etc. When asked
to walk them, he said he would
require the princely compensation of
25 cents. This being produced. he
readily threw aside his sandals, grasped
a pole. and. in his awkward way, scram-
bled up to his highest rope, which is
tallest trees in the vicinity. Having
once gotten to the rope, he started to
cross over it, which he did with trem-
bling tread. Had l not been there to
see his every performance for pur-
pose, would gladly have called him
back, for the old man ambled across,
his gray beard toyed with by the
breezes and lie in danger every moment
of being
DASHED TO THE BOTTOM
of the ravine; but on and up he went,
and after arriving upon the other side
in safety, descended, feeling that he
had pleased his audience of one in
tensely. After this high rope feat he
performed all the other feats in his cata-
logue, all the time keeping up chatter
ing that was noise to any one but him,
and to him it was probably the very es-
sence of music. When entirely through
/ had him relate few events of his life.
Fischer is native Of Germany and de-
scends from very wealthy people; was
born in 1883, therefore is fifty-six
years of age. He came to America in
1858 and settled in st. Paul, and for sew
eral years worked about on various
farms between st. Paul and Saltwater.
He ran away from his fatherland,
his family and wealth to avoid the un-
desired marriage which had been ar
ranged by his people. Had he sub
mitted to their wish, he would now
probably be basking In life of luxury,
rather than the penniless and degraded
hermit rOpe-walker. He came to this
country with about $500 in money, but
squandered 1t, he admits, in riotous liv-
ing. After leaving st. Paul, he went to
MankatO to chop wood. This was about
six or seven years ago, and it was then
that he conceived the idea Of becoming
a great rope walker. and about a year
after
SECLUDED HIMSELF
on the banks of a creek near KasOta,
where he stretched a rope and began
business. Becoming displeased with
the location, the next year he moved
near this city to his present abode. He
practiced on for two or three years with
out being discovered. and his presence
was not generally known until this
spring, since whep large crowds of peo-
pie have visited him out of curiosity.
He is never pleased to see people, yet
when they force themselves upon him