Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-03-06
The U~neqnaied feats Performed by a Ter
man show man In the Last Century.

man Snowman In tn. Last Century.
The first theatre manager of Berlin,
Johann Karl Won Eckenber@, was the
SO called IMAM of strength" who
showed himself nearly 200 years ago,
first as jugglcr, then as athlete. OF
his life little is known except as in his
career as theatre manager, as he was
the founder If the first Berlin theatre.
He was extensively written of. and an
article under the title of IAN Athlete
of the Eighteenth Century, published
some yeas ago and recently I'M
earthed, 2 res an interesting account
of his pre- yesS, rs follows:
BY an hlete of the Eighteenth cen.
tHry we 10 not mean the Prince Fred
erick August OF SaXony, king of Pv-
land, commonly called August the
Strong, who could knock of the head
Of an * with one stroke of his sword
and besides distinguished himself in
all kinds Of respectable performances
of strength, but another Hercules who
woull have wrapped the strong August
around his little finger, If such thing
would have been permitted. This man
was the athlete johann Karl Won Eek
enberg, who III the twenties and thir-
ties of the last century showed his
productions of strength in public. He
wa the most stately of all gymnasts
and was born in the town Of llarzge-
rode, and cut of respect TO his native
town he called himself for a tine. on
his bill fosters, Sampson Hercules
HarZmann.
ii borders ON the fabulous what his
Contemporaries related Of his remark
able exhibitions Of strength. He broke
an anchCg rope Us If it were ordinary
thread. iron nails and bolts he turned
playfglly between his fingers into
screws, "A cannon pipe he carried
aroundas If it were a baby. His teeth
were US strong as iron. lie lit into a
piece Of oak wood; then Il strong cart
horsc was haruesscd up To il. Ia spite
of the horse being urged Oh il was un-
able to pull the stick outof the juggler's
mouth or to pull the athlete from the
place where he stood. 4 bench made
of wood, sixteen feet long. he eraspcd
with lt!s teeth by one cnl and carried
it around, while a trump.icr blowing
his instrument sat on tie other end.
His arm was powerful than
his teeth. lie spread out his hands.
on each one was placed n bottle of
wine, then Il rope was attached 10 each
wrist and 10 each rope there were
three mel FROM the audience who
pulled with all their might. so as TO
make il impossible for this Hercules
TO convey the wine to his mouth. All
their zeal was without avail. as the
arms Of the gymnast bent themselves
irresistibl- and BROUGHT the jr.- to his
mouh h,,.yat spii,ng crop oil
wine.
He generally saved his grandest per
Torrance Of strength until the close
of the exhibition. He assembled n seat
fold Of beams under which was "A plat
form Of thick planks fastened on
strong Chains. y trumpeter mounted
on a horse. clad a> a herald, rode upon
the platform and played his tune. The
Hercules tICn took a place on the
point Of the scalfolding, held a glass
Of wine in one hand aud with the
other, by means Of the chains, lifted
the heavy platform, the horse and the
trumpCigr high up from the floor. and
for a little while held the whole
weight, the trumpeter shrilly blowing
a tune, while the athlete drank the
glass OF wine, at the same time giving
a toast 10 the magistrate and the ..ti.
zens Of the city in which lac happened
TO be staying.
When Herr Won Eckenbcrg became
older, his power gradually left him;
therefore lie gave up the h~erculean
business and became chief theatre
manager Of Berlin, where he for some
time possessed two show booths, which,
however, did not bring him as large
an income as did his exhibition Of
strength. But when he had this large
income he did not know how TO save.
He had u competitor, Peter Hilferding,
who had a show booth with privileges
and at the same time was a practical
joker ana clown under the name Of
Plantation de Bisognosi. Provoking
quarrels with this nan embittered the
life Of the IMAM Of strength His
numerous creditors seized both his
booths with all belongings, completely
impoyerishing the celebrated Hercules.
who died in the year l7t+-From the
German.