The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-23
JUMPING BACKWARD.
william Curley Can Jump Over a
Horse Quite Easily.
I.rOm ND NoW YORK 81


A man who can jump backward over a
horse fifteen hands high must truly be a
phenomenon. Ii is hard to believe thatsuch
an athletic marvel Is IN existence, out ac-
cOrding to the San Francisco papers there
is u young man out there who is more
like rubber ball than anything else
Ills Jumping has caused universal com
ment and his various feats are regarded
as little short of miraculous.
The wonders name is William Curley
He keeps a small saloon near the city and
county hospital, at POtreto avenue and
Twenty street, San Francisco
His place is a sporting resort, where med
ical students congregate and drink the
foaming amber. Curley was born in
Frisco Cwenty-eight years ago. He has
always lived there with the exception Of
a trip to Australia few years ago. He
is i've feet eleven inches tall, and his
usual weight is about 1870 pounds. He has
been jumping more or less all his life.
A party of skeptics visited Curley re-
Gently in order to find out whether the
stories of his remarkable powers were
true or not. They found him behind his
bar ready 10 attend to them. When he
learned their mission he was only too
pleased to show what he could do.
Curley came out from behind the bar
with his every day clothes on. He stood
first with his back to the bar and then
bending his knees trifie, suddenly shot
straight up III the air and came down
squarely on both feet on the top of the
bar. 1t was found that he had jumped
just a half an inch of four feet.
TITS easy enough he said. ''Most
anybody can do high jump. It's easie r
| think, to Jump back ward and upward
than to Jump forward and upward at the
same time. l don't know how high l ever
jumped. But once, when felt like jump
ing, l tried three or four high back
jumps, the best feet 334 inches.''
The worlds record for a standing high
jump, forwards, with weights, is ) feet So
inches, held by t. 4. Kearney. Without
weights, the record is held by A. p
Schwaner, who. jumped feet 81 inches
on June II, 1899, in New York
Curley does all his Jumping while stand
ing still, and without the use of weights.
He claims that any man who can iump
two inches higher than his knee cap can,
with practice, lengthen his jump as high
as his chin. He can give no reason for
this except that he has been jumping ever
since he was boy and has improved
every year. Another feat that excited
the wonder of the skeptics was performed
with an ordinary plug hat and a newly
laid egg. Curley put the egg on top of the
hat, which was placed in the center of
the floor. He stood beside the hat and
then sprang lightly in the air. Every
body thought he would crush the egg and
the hat when he landed upon them, but
Curley just came down far enough to
crack the eggs shell, and then by quick
motion drew his feet backward, landing
upon the floor at precisely the spot from
which he originally jumped.
But these tricks, while wonderful in
their way, did not satisfy the investiga-
tors. They wanted to have the story of
Curley's leap over horse verified. They
asked if he could do it, and he laughed as
he said
Certainly; l jumped over a fifteen
hand horse the first time I tried it. 1t
was this way. / was at work in a black
smiths shop one day when a man came in
leading horse he wanted TO be shod
We got talking about jumping, and some
of my friends who were there told the
man that l could stand and jump back
ward over his horse which was exactly
fifteen hands high. The man wouldn't
believe it, and when | said ] could do it
he told me was crazy. He finally bet
me his horse against $50 that l couldn't
accomplish the feat, which I promptly
accepted. ! backed up to the horse, and
jumped oyer the animal on my first trial,
my heavy shoes never touching a hair on
his back, The man was satisfied and
got the horse"
When Curley finished this yarn he was
invited to prove his word BY jumping
over horse that was tethered in a neigh
boring lot. He readily assented and
sized up the animal, which was a tribe
more than fifteen hands high, or more
than five feet. Curley backed up to him.
and, with sudden spring cleared him
easily. He drew his feet up under him
and never touched a hair. Curley landed
right side up. and the skeptics then pro
claimed themselves firm believers in him,