The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-22
riding powerful charger in battle. the

riding powerful charger in battle, the
horse got maddened with excitement and
undertook to run away with him, when
the General stopped him still in his
tracks by the terrible pressure which he
exerted on the animals ribs by simply
pressing against them with his knees.
One of the oldest and at the same time
most remarkable exhibitions of mechani-
cal strength and dextcrity is that of sup
porting pyramids. 1t is described by the
Roman poet Claudian, and has been
known in Europe ever since. The ccle-
brated Egyptian traveller, Belzoni, be-
fore he began his career as an explorer
in Egypt performed this feat in various
parts of Great Britain. After all, one OF
the most extraordinary feats of this
nature, seeming to be an exercise of
strength, and which is really nothing of
the sort, is that in which heavy man
is raised from tlc floor with the greatest
facility by several persons placing each
one or two fingers under him. The way
this is done is as follows: The heaviest
person in the party lie: down, say upon
two chairs, his legs being supported by
one and his head by the other. Four
persons-each at one leg and one at each
shoulder-then lift the body, and they
find the dead weight to be very great,
from the difficulty which they find in
supporting him. Now let the four per-
sons take hold of his body as before, re-
spending to two signals, to be given by
the person to be lifted, by clapping his
hands. At the first signal he himself
and the four lifters begin to draw long
and full breath, and when the inhalation
is completed the second signal is given
for raising the person from the chair. To
his own surprise and that of his bearers,
he rises with the greatest facility as if
he were no heavier than feather. When
one of the bearers performs his part lily
by making the inhalation out of time the
part of the body which he tries to lift, is
left, as it were, behind. This is q trick
easily tried and very amusing.
A few years ago great deal of excite
ment was created by the exhibition of
young Georgia girl alleged to be electro
magnetic or otherwise specially gifted,
who did some remarkable feats of appar-
ent strength. This young woman inau-
gurated an epidemic of Georgia girls,
who frolicked over the country doing all
manner of curious feats and tricks of
strength, pulling averaged sized young
dudes and mashers around the stage,
sitting on chairs, absolutely discomfting
all efforts to lift them, etc. At length
Pennsylvania broke out with a similar
disorder, the principal instance being
Miss Flora Coyle, pretty young girl of
fifteen, who went to the public school in
Pittsburg. This young woman would
twists stick two feet long held by
stout young man, brought up from the
audience, quite out of his hands, no mat
ter how much effort he might make to
keep hold of it. She did not clasp the
stick, but held the palms of her hands
against the ends. Two young men,
weighing 100 and IT'S pounds respec.
lively, essayed to hold an ordinary chair
down to the floor, but the little miss, ty
placing the palms of her hands against
the chair, forced them all over the stage.
Three men, weighing in the aggregate
5333 pounds, then mounted a chair, but
she forced them around the stage with
apparent ease, though the chair broke
with their weight. Four men were then
placed upon it, but she did the same
with them as with the three, ard then
tie audience howled themselves hoarse
over the performance.-NeW York Herald.