The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-03-16
FEATs OF STRENGTH.

Giant ''Phenoms' Who Are Interesting
the Public.
The arrival of c. A. Sampson in this coun-
try, who is considered one OF the strongest
men in Europe, and who comes here ostensi-
bly, for the purpose of meeting Louis Cyr of
Quebec, Canada, in contest of strength,
has raised the question among many people
not thoroughly posted in physical culture as
TO whether the various feats performed by
these strong men, the strength exhibited
and the wonderful physique displayed by
them are the result of gymnasium training.
Areference to all works and treatlSes in eXs-
tence on the mode of developing the body
by artificial means will, however, show that
such is not the case.
Heavy weight-litting and exercising with
heavy weights have been on the decline for
quarter of a century, the policy pursCed
in the various gymnasiums and athletic clubs
all over the world at the present tine being
to exercise with as light apparatus as pos
sibe. thus developing the muscle slowly
ard making it of an enduring quality. The
modern idea Is to make the muscles quick
OF action. instead OF sluggish quality which
heavyweight work produces. Consequently
the man as developed in the gymnasium
under the present system of physical cul-
ture is not a weight-lfter, nor can he be
claSsed as strGng man in the technical use
of the term, although when put to the test he
would 6utclass the natural born giants in
the matter of endurance.
Strong men, i. e., those of the Sampson
and Cyr type, exhibit great strength from
early childhood and are not the products of
gymnasium or athletic work. Each country
has its giants in strength and they come to
the surface as suddenly as they disappear,
for they are not long lived. The reason
why they are short lived is because in their
anxiety to break records they strain or
rupture til emselves, and not infrequently
they die suddenly by bursting Il blood
vessel while in the act of performing some
wonderful feat.
Louis Cyr, who is giant in strength and
stature, is only q years of age, 6 feet
10R inches tall, aud weighs, stripped, 323
D. uuds. His chest inflated measures 5S
inches; his waist, As inches; biceps, 2I5
inches; thigh, - inches; calf, "a inches
and neck, % inches. Cyr's star performance
is lifting, or properly speaking, raising from
the stage platform on which rested 53J6
pounds OF pig iron.
SIMPSONS physique is pretty much the
same as thai of Cyr except in height, the
latter having slightly the advantage in this
respect. ) mpsOn has an excellent record,
ana is only rivaed in Europe by one man,
SandOw, who has made his temperance on
the London stage this season. This con-
test between Cyr and Sampson has an in-
ternational flavor TO it, and should prove
very interesting to those interested in heavy
weight athletics all over the world.
10 show where these physical giants come
from and how they are unearthed it will
only be necessary to sail attention to the
latest discovery made of another phenome-
non in this line. SandoY has with MIN in
London now a man who is even stronger
than himself, and he found him in stone
quarry near AiX-la-Chapelle, where the
new uSpIant Tor athletic h0nOrs was en-
gagged III lifting hinge blocks OF stone into
trucks. The Stage name OF this 'phen0m
is Goliath" and he is said to be Il regular
Hercules. Goliath" is 6 feet 2j5 inches
hish, weighs 37S pounds and measures IS
inches around the chest and 33 inches
around the head He considers 1t an easy
task marching around on the sta &c with a
cannon weighing 400 pounds on his shoulder.
This feat, however, and similar ones, have
been performed and even eXcelled before.
For instance, on March 2Sth, 1871, Thomas
Thompson put an iron bar on the back of
his neck, seized hold of it on either side and
bent It until the two ends met. He also
tore without apparent great effort, a rope
of a diameter of two inches, and lifted a
horse clear over bar several feet from the
ground.
1t is on record that German named Buch-
hOz lifted with his teeth Il cannon weighing
300 pounds and fired IL off while IN that pO-
sitiOn. There are feats on record performed
by men who did not appear in public. His
tory records the fact that a butcher lived IN
South Holland, quarter of a century ago,
who killed calves by Strdngling them,
Charles Louvier, a carpenter in Paris, found
it child's play to roll tin basin between his
fingers into a cylinder. Such man would
play sad havoc with the modern grip ma
chimes" On one occasion he carried off a
soldier on guard, who had gone to sleep in
the sentry-bOx, and deposited both soldier
and box on q low churchyard wall close by.