St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-27
The Performance of a Knife
Throwep Was Too
Thrilling.
Threatened Legal Proceed.
ings to Prohibit a OAR
ing Feat.
Park Commissioners Bow the
Knee to Comptroller
Roche.
List Of State Teachers Insti-
tutes for the Spring
Course.

the freaks at the museum yesterday aft
erhoon. A woman tainted and an
angry man swore at Sam Boltcr, the
manager, declaring that If there was
any law against such things in this
'tarnal town. he would have the show
stopped.
The trouble all came from Arcaris,
the knife thrower. who gives rather
startling, though as it appears. perfectly
harmless performance on the lower
theater. Arearis is rather handsome
and iong-haired Spaniard, who makes
an honest livelihood by impaling his
pretty sister some six or seven times a
day against target of soft pine boards.
The trick certainly looks dangerous,
and the sister is eel tainly pretty.
This makes it all the more thrilling To
the sympathetic behOlder. Miss Ar
carts, or Senorita, as she is called in
the bills. poses in fleSh-colored tights
against the target. Then her brother
steps forward and encircles her with
knives. standing about ten feet away.
The last two knives are thrown so close
to his sisters head that they frequently
pierce her flowing black hair.
After this performance Arcaris
throws knife at the board and his SIS
ter steps. forward and, standing side
wise to the target, throws back her b cad
so that from her bosom, across her
throat to the tip of her pretty chin. is a
horizontal line. Then The performer
again encircles the girl with his knives.
When he reaches her throat he hurls
three knives in quick succession so
close to her throat that they seem to the
audience tn almost Craze the skin.
Yesterday afternoon it seems Arcaris
threw the knives closer than usual, and
just as the last knife cleared the soft
b0ard-as it seemed-almost behind the
girls throat, a woman in the audience
tainted away. The man with her, who
seemed to DE a countryman, was scared,
and hustled his companion out into the
air. Ina few moments he came back,
and called down the wrath of heaven
upon what ne called "a barDarous per
formance," and threatened to have it
stopped by the police.
The threat considerably disturbed the
museum people, and for good cause.
ArcariS has had his performance stopped
before. He has been forbidden to give
his performance within the city limits
of New York, and all the influence and
prOteStations of Barnum himself could
not induce the authorities to permit the
performance in that city. Up to this
time he has never been moleSted in the
West.
A GLOBE reporter found the knife
thrower i'll his stubby little quarters
behind the scenes at the museum last
night. Arcaris told an interesting story,
and just to show how far from dangerous
the trick was he offered, at last, to try
it on the GLOBE man himself.
Don't you think that is pretty
- -p1~.,
public?' queried the reporter. Arcaris
smiled ipcgedulously and replied in
broken EagIish:
"Neh. Nod de least. l feel so sure
as if walk along de street."
% how long have you been performing
this trick ?"
"Tw enty-one year now.'
"And did you never cut your sister ?''
''Neh. meier deed" and then the
knife tlr0wer went on to explain. he
said that when he threw the knives the
blade was always pointed away, while
the handle slanted in. giving it the ap-
pearanee of cutting very close to the
flesh. Besides, the KIN yes were dull,
and even il he did by some accident
strike his sister they would not pierce
the flesh. He said that in this country
he did not pretend to do the impaie-
ment act as it should be done and as he
could do il if he chose. When he per-
formed the trick III Paris with his elder
sister she was accustomed to threw the
knives between each of her fingers. He
did not attempt to do ANYTHING like that
in this country; the people would not
permit it. Besides, his younger sister
had such short and chubby fingers that
he dared not attempt It.
Arearis always was a knife-thFOwer,
hp Hea Ii q fa a ffaly n,itac
from Naples, and began his perform
ance by tying pigs TO the trees about his
fathers farms, His father, to save the
pigs. teok his knives away from him,
but it was only short time before he
had possessed himself of another knife
and was at his old tricks again. When
he was twelve years old he won gold
prize in a contest with famous Chinese
knife thrower. From that time until
the present that has been his profession.
summons. injunction or other legal
document has yet been served upon the
| manager of the museum. They believe
/ it was a mere idle threat of the farmer,
and even if they were enjoined from
giving the performance they believe
they could show to the satisfaction of
the judge there is. 10 real danger con-
nected with the trick. ArcariS has been
throwing knives for twenLy-One years
now, and if what he says is true, he has
never yet cut any one. He feels abSo-
lutely sure of his aim.