The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-28
MARvELs WITH A swoRD.
Performances of an Eng
ish Expert.
From the Chicago Tribune


William Craig, of her maiesty's Royal
Horse Guards Blue, is veteran of the
Egyptian campaign, and was with Gen
Wolseley in the unsuccessful attempt to
rescue Chinese Gordon He passed
through the engagements of Abu-Klea
and Metamah, and wears medals received
from Queen Victoria and the Khedive
bronze medal for his services in that cam
paign.
Craig is a master of the sword He
gave an exhibition the other day He
took a soft, thin piece of white cotton
cloth and placed an apple in it. The ends
were brought together and tied so that
the apple hung loosely in a cloth bag and
bag and apple were suspended from a
string at about the height of a man s
head from the floor Standing near the
bag Craig hit it a sharp upward cut with
the sword. II was united and the apple
was found cut in half, while not a thread
of the cloth which held it was severed.
The SwOrdSman hung over the blade a
dozen fil1ny strips of silk ribbon. They
were of that soft, clinglng texture that
deties the blade better than far heavier
material. With a single lightning lunge
the dozen ribbons were severed, cut by
the mere resistance of the air against the
sword blade, the movement being so
quick that the sword cut them instead Of
curving them, floating along on the blade
as might naturally be expected.
Then lady's gauntlet glove was hung
over the sword blade. There was an in
Simultaneous sweep and a swish of the
bright steel and the glove fell with the
wrist cut from the hand, though there
had been nothing but the air to press
against in cutting so tenacious material
as the heavy kid leather
loosely suspended silk handkerchief
may be fired against with a rife and the
bullet will not penetrate it. Well, Craig
handed an ordinary silk handkerchief to
one of the spectators and asked him to
mark 1t with a piece of chalk from one
side to the other. He then took the
handkerchief and threw it lightly into
the air, and with whirl of the sword
that fairly made the air sing, he cut the
handkerchief as it was poised, fairly in
two, and when the pieces were picked up
1t was found to have been cut along the
line of the chalk mark
An apple was hung from a string. One
cut of the sword severed the string and
the blade came back and underneath so
as to catch the apple and hold it poised
on the sword. A lemon was hung in the
same way, and the string was cut and
the lemon sliced in half before it reached
the ground Some chunks of lead were
brought out, each about foot long and
considerably over an inch through. Two
Of these were stood up few feet apart
on stands. Taking his position between
them with mighty broadsword which
one would want two hands to lift, Craig
swung giant stroke and cut in two first
one and then the other bar of lead with
out an instant's pause between the
strokes. Then one of the leaden bars was
thrown into the air and split in half with
a single blow.
Another curious feat was performed
with the aid of two razors and two loops
of paper. A razor was handed to each of
two Of the spectators, the loops of paper
hung on the blades, and suspended from
the loops stick was hung about four
feet long and an inch through. The po-
sitiOn was such that the least weight on
the stick would apparently cut the loops
of paper on the razor blades.
The exhibition closed with an illustra-
ton of accurate craftsmanship with the
sword that equals anything performed
with a rifle. One of the spectators who
had more nerve than the others consented
TO hold an apple on his outstretched hand.
He was told to shut his eyes, so as not to
see what was going on. There was q
swing of the sword and it came straight
down toward his hand The apple was
cut so that the two halves simply hung to-
gether by the skin, and the man who was
holding it said it seemed as if he could
feel a cold line on his hand, but the sword
had not touched him.
Craig has given exhibitions before
Queen Victoria and the Prince and Prin-
cess of Wales. He is now in charge of
the gymnasium of the Harvard school
For twelve years he was instructor in
sword practice in the Royal Horse
Guards. He has recently challenged
Duncan Ross to d broadsword contest.