Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-03-27
THE FROG MAN.
How q Contortionist Trains-B Bicycle
Riding Hard Work.


There was man at one of the local
theatres last week named Delhauer-
William Delhauer, put down on the pro-
gramme as ''the human frogn Mr.. Del
hauer was fully able to tie himself into a
lovely bow knot and then add little
safety hitch to make everything secure.
A reporter saw the performance one
evening and was much struck by what
might be called the fiexibility of the
gentleman. If there were any bones in
his anatomy he possessed the trick of
carefully concealing the fact, and it was
the general opinion that these commonly
useful portions of the body had been left
in the dressing room.
MIR. Delhauer was gotten up to repre-
sent good old marsh frog, and in every
movement his imitation was excellent.
The entire head was covered with frog
mask, while the toes on the costume
were padded out so as to give the feet a
very froggy appearance. Mr.. Del
hauer's main act was to seat himself on
the sharp edge of common tin can
which was placed on a table, and then,
while balancing himself on the can, to
proceed to tie himself into so many in
tricate shapes that Chinese god would
have taken one look and died of envy.
Mr.. Delhauer, after he had shed his
frog skin in his dressing room and ar
rayed himself in street costume, turned
out to be good-looking, intelligent
man, and the reporter learned from him
that good contortionist is combina-
ton of being born to it and raised to it.
"You cannot take every boy, no mat
ter how young you begin, and make an
acrobat or contortionist of him." said
the metamorphosed frog. ga certain
suppleness of the joints is necessary.
Even then with the necessary require
ments it takes years of hard training and
constant practice to rise above the mere
rudiments. Take my case, for instance.
began work as tumbler at the age of
twelve, and for twenty years have been
working constantly at the business, and
am still finding something new to study
every day. Yes, constant, answering
daily practice is the main secret. For
years have taken no other special train
ing except daily practice on the several
tricks / was using at the time. Of course
it is necessary fora contortionist to keep
himself in perfect condition by using
great care in his diet. No, thanks, /
don't smoke cigarettes. They would be
the last resort. Constant training seems
to have had kind of stretching influence
on every muscle, and can throw my foot
up over my head with almost as much
ease as you lift yours from the ground.
II got the idea of impersonating a frog
by observing some of these animals in a
store window one day. / watched their
curious antics for some time, and the
thought struck me that an act could be
made out Of it. Since then I have closely
studied every action of his frogship. No,
| it is not much exertion and tires me lit
tie; but, talking about exercise, l took a
short ride on one Of these bicycles the
other night, and my arms and shoulders
have been aching ever since. Yes, man
to become contortionist has got to com
mence mighty early in life, and keep in
constant practice and training for years
to make any success. After time it be-
comes sort Of second nature, and at
present am as much at home sitting on
that tin can with my legs up around my
head as I would be on chair, and much
more so than I was on bicycle. ~
| Washington Star.