Milford chronicle., 1889-10-25
THE WORLDS SAMSONS.
REMARKABLE FEATs OF STRENGTH
BY SOME ANclENTS.


BY SOME ANclENTS.
Wonderful Greek AthIeteS-Sfuscular RO-
man EmPerOrs-The Almost IncOmpre-
hensIbIs Performances at Milo of CrotOn.
Giants who Were Big Beef Eaters.
A man OF moderate capabilities, either in
tellectually or physically speaking, attracts
no attention whatever, while the muscular
/ feats Of Sullivan or the marvellous mental
scope Of Gladstone are sounded by their re-
| spective devotees the wide world over.
| People are always on the lookout for
things out Of the ordinary. A baby with a
head on each end attracts more attention
thar a half million Of the little pink and
white atoms of humanity would II built in
the regulation way, with head on one end
and feet on the other. Keen observers are
as well acquainted with the well beaten
.=-ck Of old nEtI=s az they ere with the
| piHn.ly marked highways of the aeighbor-
hood In which they reside. Nothing in this
dust covered track pleases or entertains
them; everything IS found Just as they anti
cipated It would be before its location was
reached Il Is only when the old dame steps
out Of her usual track and takes to the by
paths and jungles 70 ''mother her many
strange creatures" that we realize the truth
| Of the old Spanish proverb: Variety Is the
spice Of life; mOnotony poisonous serpent. "
The Greeks Of olden times were celebrated
for their love Of learning, and it is known
that they almost Worshiped the learned acad-
emicians who were fortunate enough to carry
off the palm In any Of their many contests
for intellectual supremacy. But intellect
afaw MAO
pie, so famed for their love Of the sciences.
To be sure, honors we're bestowed where hon
ors were due, but it was esteemed as appro-
pirate to acknowledge physical attainments
as it was to recognize renown on account OF
brain development.
Xenophon and Demosthenes, Socrates and
! Plato, each in his special sphere have had
their names engraved In stone, brass, copper
and gold They were the learned men OF
their times, and it is well that their deeds be
remembered.
MILO OF CROroN.
They founded schools Of literature and ora.
tory; carried the people by storm, and shaped
the destiny Of the government under which
they lived. Not so with Milo Of CrOton, in
Magma Graecia. He belonged TO the same
race Of people, but he was not an academi'
clan, not even a lyric poet. Sculpture and
painting, music and the sciences were foreign
to his ideas Of greatness. Still his name and
/ fame have been preserved through vicissi'
tudes Of twenty-five centuries. Milo lived in
the time of Darius Hystaspes about 500 B. c.,
and was the strongest man ever known In the
| history Of the world up to that time, not tax
ing into account the semi-mythological sto'
! ries concerning Samson Of the Hebrews, and
the more doubtful performances Of Hercules.
Milo was a regular attendant at the Olym-
| pic games, which brought thousands Of peo-
1 pie together every fifth year Six times he
carried of the palm for being the greatest
athlete. When he had for the fourth time
been declared the victor, after vanquishing
| all opponents and flushed with excitement
| incident to the occasion, be seized n 4-year-
old OK by tho feet, slung it carelessly across
/ his shoulder and ran through the stadium OF
| Olympia, distance Of over mile, followed
by thousands of astonished spectators. His
destination reached, he deposited his bovine
burden upon the ground and struck his OK
ship stunning blow between the eyes with
] his bare fist The blow was as fatal as one
| from n sledgehammer in the hands Of black
smith would have been. II is further stated
that Milo ate the entire carcass Of the OK be-
| fore it had time to spoil, even in that warm
country. One account even goes so far as to
say that the giant had picked every morsel
Of meat from the bones and devoured ii
within less than twenty-four hours.
Historians agree that an ordinary meal for
Milo was twenty pounds Of meat, as much
bread and fifteen pints Of wine. Milo did
not throw down the temple like the revenge
ful Hebrew, Samson, but held up the enor-
nous weight upon his massive shoulders
while Pythagoras and his scholars escaped
from falling building. Like many other
renowned men, Milo came to an untimely
end. When quite aged he was one day alone
in the woods and thought to try his strength
in splitting a tree. He succeeded in splitting
it all right enough, but was accidentally
caught by the hands in the cleft and held in
that position until devOured by wolves
THE CYCLoPs.
Homer tells us of the prodigious strength
Of the giant Cyclop, Polyphemus, whom
Ulysses encountered in his wanderings. Thii
monstrous Cyclop, as the name implies, had
but a single eye. When the followers OF
Ulysses entered the cave in which the one
eyed giant dwelt he became so enraged that
he killed six Of them and ate their bodies at q
single sitting.
Similar in name and similar in physical
proportions was Polydamus, the strong man
/ 1
and prodigious strength that he could hold
the strongest bull by simply grasping him
by the leg. It is related that Polydamui
once attempted to hold a gigantic beast OF
the bovine species, which finally escaped
amid jeers and shouts from the crowd. Rid
icule was soon turned TO applause, however,
when it was ascertained that the shank oi
the bull had been jerked of at the knee joint
On several occasions he pulled the hoofs Oh
cattle brought to test bis strength.
The strength Of Maximin, Roman EN-
peror Of the Second century, A. D., was al
most equal to that Of Milo, the beef eater
above mentioned. He was known as the
"Giant Emperor n and right well did he de
serve the title, being, as he was, over eight
feet in height and Of heavy build. The CIR
die worn around the waist Of his wife served
as q splendid wristband for her lord, while
the bracelet for her wrist exactly fitted his
third finger. He was often seen TO crush
hard stones IN his hands as = common mar
would soft tomato. Between the two fin
gers and two thumbs Of his right and left
hands he could twist the most evenly temper
ed sword into the shape Of q corkscrew
While riding with his troops in their opera
tions against tho people beyond the Rhine
he became enraged at his favorite horse And
killed the animd with single blow Of the
flSt.-John W. Wright in st. Louis Republic
The Last Gun Of the War.
When and where was the last gun Of tbs
war fired in Georgial number OF answer,
were given at the time, but the one thai
strikes me as most probably the correct on,
! v.os orivan ma In Savannah a daV on. two aUO