Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-13
AN ANCIENT MAN OF STRENGTHS.

The Unequaled Feats Performed by Ger
man Snowman in the Last Century.
The first theatre manager of Berlin,
Johann Karl Won Eckenberg, was the
SO called IMAM of strength" who
showed himself nearly 200 years ago.
first as juggler, then as athlete. OF
his life little is known except as in his
career as theatre manager, as he was
the founder of the first Berlin theatre
He was extensively written of, and an
article under the title of IAN Athlete
of the Eighteenth Century, published
some years ago and recently I'M
earthed, gives an interesting account
of his prowess, as follows:
BY an athlete of the Eighteenth CEN
fury we do not mean the Prince Fred
erick August of Saxony, king of Po-
land, commonly called August the
Strong, who could knock off the head
of an OK with one stroke of his sword
and besides distinguished himself in
all kinds of respectable performances
of strength, but another Hercules who
would 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 in the twenties and thir-
ties of the last century showed his
productions of strength in public. He
was the most stately of all gymnasts
and was born in the town of Harzge-
rode, and out of respect to his native
town he called himself for time, on
his bill posters, Sampson Hercules
Hartmann.
1t borders on the fabulous what his
contemporaries related of his remark
able exhibitions of strength. He broke
an anchor rope as if it were ordinary
thread, iron nails and bolts he turned
playfully between his fingers into
screws, a cannon pipe he carried
around as if it were baby. His teeth
were as strong as iron. He bit into
piece of oak wood; then a strong cart
horse was harnessed up to it. In spite
of the horse being urged on it was un-
able to pull the stick out of the juggler's
mouth or to pull the athlete from the
place where he stood. A bench made
of wood, sixteen feet long, he grasped
with his teeth by one end and carried
it around, while q trumpeter blowing
his instrument sat on the other end.
His arm was more powerful than
his teeth. He spread out his hands,
on each one was placed a bottle of
wine, then rope was attached to each
wrist and to each rope there were
three men from the audience who
pulled with all their might, SO as to
make it 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
irresistibly and brought the jug to his
mouth without splitting a drop of
wine.
He generally saved his grandest per-
Torrance of strength until the close
of the exhibition. He assembled scat
fold of beams under which was plat
form of thick planks fastened ON
strong chains. A trumpeter mounted
on horse, clad as herald, rode upon
the platform and played his tune. The
Hercules then took a place on the
point Of the scaffolding, held glass
of wine in one hand and with the
other, by means of the chains, lifted
the heavy platform, the horse and the
trumpeter high up from the floor, and
for q 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
toast to the magistrate aAd the citi-
Gems of the city in which he happened
to be staying.
When Herr Won Eckenberg became
older, his power gradually left him
therefore he gave up the herculean
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 competitor Peter Hilferding,
who had show booth with privileges
and at the same time was practical
joker and clown under the name of
Plantation dc Bisognosi. Provoking
quarrels with this man embittered the
life of the imam of strength" His
creditors seized both his
booths with all belongings, completely
impoverishing the celebrated Hercules,
who died in the year 1864. From the
German.