Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-10-24
THE WORLDS SAMSONS!.
REMARKABLE FEATS OF STRENGTH
BY SOME ANCiENTs.

man EmperOrs-The Almost 1ncompre.
| hensible Performances at Milo of Croton.
Gia4ts Who Were Big Beef Eaters.
| a man OF moderate capabilities, either in
tellectualIy O. 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
than half million of the little pink and
white atoms of humanity would if 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
| track of old nature as they are with the
plainly marked highways Of the neighbor-
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. 1t is only when the old dame steps
out Of her usual track and takes to the by
| paths and iurgles to mother her many
strange creatures" that we realize the truth
of the old Spanish proverb: Variety is the
spice Of life; .nonotony poisonous serpent J"
The Greeks of olden times were celebrated
for their love Of learning, and it Is known
that they almost woishiped the learned acad-
emicians who were fortunate enough to carry
off the palm in any of their many contests
for intellectual supremacy. But intellect
did not reign supreme even among this peo-
pie SO famed for their love of the sciences
To be sure, honors were bestowed where hon
ors were due, but it was esteemed as appro-
pirate to acknowledge physical attachments
as it was to recognize renown on Sssaount OF
brain development.
Xenopkon 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 CRoTOy.
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 Gr9cia- He belonged to the same
race of people, but he was not an academi-
clan, not even 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-
r1es concerning Samson of the Hebrews, and
the more doubtful performances Of Hercules.
Milo was regular attendant at the Olym-
pic games, which brought thousands of peo-
pie together every fifth year. Six times he
carried off 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, he seized Agar
old OK by the feet, slung it carelessly across
his shoulder and ran through the stadium of
Olympia, a 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 sledgehammer in the hands Of black
smith would have been. 1t is further stated
that Milo ate the entire carcass of the OK be-
fore it had time to spoil, even i'll 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 it
within less than twenty-four hours.
Historians agree that an ordinary meal for
Milo was twenty pounds Of meat, IS much
bread and fifteen pints of wine Milo did
not throw down the temple like the revenge
full 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 untlmely
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. This
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
single sitting.
Similar in name and similar in physical
proportions was Polvdamus, the strong man
of Thessalia, who was of such colossal height
diU oil tLls.t no COL1i bpAt
the strongest bull by simply grasping him
by the leg. 1t is related that Polydamus
once attempted to hold 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 OF
the bull had been jerked of at the knee joint.
On several occasions he pulled the hoofs OFF
cattle brought to test his strength.
The strength Of Maximin, Roman en-
peror Of the Second century, 4. D., was al
most equal to that Of Milo, the beef eater
above mentioned He was known as the
Giant Emperor" 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 bis wife served
as a 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 a common nan
would soft tomato. Between the two fin
gers and two thumbs Of his right and let
hands he could twist the most evenly temper
ed sword into the shape Of a corkscre1.
While riding with his troops in their opera
tons against the people beyond the Rhine
be became enraged az his fsvo-i:e horse and
killed the animal with a single blow ot The
Gst-John ". Wright in St Louis Republic
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