Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-07-10
A VERSATILE FREAK

way PROFESSIONAL Secrets
a copper colored, long haired. smooth
aaceu young man walked into the Cen
tlal ponce station and asked for lodrino
iou re welcome to all we have" said
Lieut.. Burns, 'but if you'll tell No
whether you're black, white. brown o-
req shall see that you have the hest
ped IN the house"
Inc applicant scratched his head and
stood trst on one foot and then tbe
otner: Finally he, drawled out. s.Mv
grandfather and grandmother on nv
noeher slde'were Indians. NV fathers
I&ther was Spaniard, and his mother
MEXICAN. don't know what 1 am,
what's your business?" asked Ideut
Burns. 11leu''
I've been in Barnum's band of brave
bold, but bad Bedouins. I've nlaved
Auiu' hafnr, Malay, Indian and 'Greas-
CT, swallowed the sword for six months
eat hre, licked hot pokers with NV
tongue, danced on hot Goals, chewed hot
steel, breathed out fire from nv nose
walked over razors, broke glass with nv
1eet and played the human ostrich"
wen, what is your occupation?"
asked Lieut.. Burns.
I'm museum freak, fakir. a snort
and bum," said the copper colored
man.
IL you'll tell US how you work the
fakes you shall have feather bed" I'M
blushingly'promised Patrolman O'Don-
nell.
There amt no fake in the human
ostrich" said the freak. 1.-The ostrich
eats glass, swallows knife blades, stones.
pieces OF iron and everything else he can
get hold of. There amt no fake in that.
Cause why? Cause you don't get a
chance to make fake out of it. If Won
could we'd fake 1t. 1t amt trick to eat
a glass sandwich. Just put thin piece
of glass between a couple of pieces of
bread and when the bread goes down.
down goes the glass, too. People think
It's hard on the stomach, but that's only
imagination. | saw fellow do it, and
l did it ten minutes afterward. There
amt any trick IN stepping on glass; You
watch the fellows that do it. First they
stir the glass up with a stick to make
you think they're trying to get the sharp
pieces on top. They're just turning the
sharp points down. But fellow must
have real dry feet or he can't do that. If
his feet sweat or are dam } i.t'i ret cut.
1.-The fire eating fake is nothing. If
you soak your hands and feet in borax
water three or four hours a day for a
couple of weeks you'll be able to stand a
pretty hot piece of iron. We don't run
any risks, but mix little paste and lots
of borax. We put coat of this on our
hands, and when we pull a hot poker
across it there's lots of smoke, sizzle
and bad smell. We don't hold the
poker very tight or very long, but people
think they smell burning flesh. We
cover the bottoms of our feet the same
way, and dance around on hot Goals and
iron for a few seconds. But if the paste
is wet your feet stick and you get burned.
You can fill your mouth with borax, lay
lots of it on your tongue and lick red
hot poker. 1t makes little flame, and
when people see it they think you're
breathing out fire"
But doesn't the glass you eat hurt
your stomach
mot mine. The only trouble is that
you're liable to cut your tongue, and
you've got to be careful"
The freak was turned over to Turn
key Eustace, who was instructed to give
him a good bed.
'Where did you come from?' asked
Eustace.
"From New York." said the freak.
''Foot or rail-"
"Both."
"Where are you going from here?"
''Tm going to get a job as soon as
can, and when have a couple of dol
lars III skin out"
whats your name?"
''Signor Carlo"
allow old are you?"
"TWenty." Cleveland Leader.