Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-12
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A MODERN SAMSON.
BREAKING STEEL CABLES AS If
! THEY WERE COTTON THREADS.

Though He Spells His Name Differently
y Els Feats of Strength Are Almost as
- Wonderful as Those of the Man of olden
Times.
When James Wilson, the expansionist, was
described in these columns few weeks ago
1t was believed by the medical fraternity and
by all who saw Mr.. Wilson in his wonderful
performances that no other man on the face of
the earth possessed such strength. But The
Evening Suns freak hunter has been prowl-
ing about town for fortnight, seeking a
parallel for Wilson, and yesterday found
him The new mans name is Charles II.
Sampson He is 80 years of age, of medium
build and height, not man who would DO
picked out a giant in strength, but
quiet, ordinary looking person.
Mr.. Wilson broke great trunk straps one
at e time. Mr.. Sampson breaks three OF the
same straps at once. Mr. Wilson broke nine
steel wire cables ofleight strands each, with the
power of his chest Mr.. Sampson broke IN the
presence of the reporter E23 thlckneSses OF the
same steel wire cable. or, in all, l,OOO strands.
He went still further and broke n steel trace
chain, such as are in use on truck harness,
Fastening it about his chest and bursting its
links like so much glass. The same chain,
=. link by link, he deliberately pulls in two
q with his hands. Gas pipe an inch in diameter
4 he bends into elbows by striking the length
the pipe across his left arm. He has sue
.essfully pulled in tug of war against twelve
strong men.
The reporter obtained an interview with
Mr.. Sampson in private room in an uptown
residence The name of the man is at once
looked upon as assumed one, for the very
reason that it fits his profession so well.
Nevertheless his true name is Sampson.
Charles g. Sampson was born on the 10th
of April, 1859 in Baden, Germany, and is,
therefore. almost 80 years of age. He came
to America only short time since, after
having Travelled all over Europe exhibiting
his strength.
SWAPPING THE STEEL CHAINS.
Selecting piece of steel chain about three
feet long, Mr. Sampson forced open one Of
the links and formed ring Of the chain, just
large enough 20 fit over the biceps muscle of
the arm. a secord chain was formed in the
same manner and carefully fitted. When
the arm was allowed to hang loosely at the
side these chains were found to fit snuglv
about the biceps. Then Mr. Sampson's fingers
began 10 twiuch and close Systematically, the
muscles and tendons of his arm slowly
swelled and increased in size, his forearm
was carefully carried upward and as the
elbow crooked the strain upon the chains be-
came tremendous. The arm was further
bent, when there was a sharp snap, piece
of each chain few TO the ceiling, and the
chains dropped to the floor, broken squarely
in two. There was no fake about it, 1t
was genuine feat III strength, which no
other man, so far as is known, has ever ac-
complished. The chain is made from steel,
three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and formed
in double links an inch and half long. The
tensile strength is estimated at about 4, 600
pounds. Mr. Sampson says it does not in
convenience him in the least to break them,
and he apparently does it with as much ease
as if bending his arm with nothing on it
at all
Taking up a roll of the small steel wire
cable previously referred TO, Mr.. Sampson
made belt Of it, containing 125 lengths of
the cable, which he wrapped around his
chest. Il don't propose to break this cable
by expansion" he said, ''for have but very
little chest expansion. You will notice. how
ever, that the muscles in nay back and sides
are wonderfully developed By swelling
them up accomplish the same result Mr..
Wilson does with his wonderful lungs" A
quick twist of his body, a sudden swelling
of all the muscles of his chest, back ard
shoulders, strain on the cable and it parted
with q metallic snap, in less than three
seconds from the time he began.
A CONTEST WITH FOURTEEN MEN.
''In ST. Petersburg said Mr. Sampson,
81 had a large ring made from inch iron.
The ring was feet in diameter. / stood in
the middle Of it and fourteen strong men had
hold of the ring. They tried to push me or
move me out of certain limit marked on
the floor, but could not. | can and will
withstand the combined strength Of any
eight men you have III this city, not barring
Sullivan, Mitchell, or any one else
In 1878 Mr.. Sampson started on tour OF
the continent and was seen by many royal
patrons of manly sport He has received
ffty-one decorations and medals for his
proves, of which fOrty-eight are from royal
donors. Some of them are magnificent
specimens of fine handiwork gold.
On Aug. 10, 1878, Mr.. Sampson engaged to
slay steer with his fist. The feat was per-
formed with single blow in the presence of
Emperor Wilhelm and Emperor Francis
Joseph. He wears 4 handsome decoration
communicating that event.
This feat of skill and strength was re-
peated at Ems Germany; st. Petersburg and
IarlS, MI. sampson striking DuL ii single
blow upon each of the occasions except Tho
last. In this case the steer was running and
his aim was not true, but the first blow
knocked the animal down and u second
crushed its skull During his professional
experience this Hercules has suffered broken
arms no less than seventeen times BE does
not attribute his great strength to any freak
OF nature, but says it is the result of careful
training and exercise He has already been
seen in public in this city, and is the wonder
OF ali who see him.--New York Evening Sun.
As 10 japanese education the missionaries
largely teach through the aid of the govern
ment and English is taught in many of the
gchools. Education is now compulsory in
Japan, but the statistics show that only about
half of the children go to school The school
age is from q 10 II years, and the japanese
boys and girls so over their lessons in sing
song tones in bare feet and gowns. There are
100000 OF them in the regular schools ard
the technical schools have $500 pupils Japan
has 5000 common schools. presided over by
$1,000 men teachers and 400 women teach