The Portland daily press., 1894-11-24
THE WORLDS SAMSONS.
Notable Deeds OF Strong Men in An
cient and Modern Zines.

Athletes of Today Would be More than a
Feats Performed by Giants of the Pres
ent.
I have often heard it asserted. says
writer in the New York Advertiser, that he
human race was degenerating i'll regard to
personal strength and activity; that the
ancients were physically stronger than the
mel of modern tines. in searching
through the records of athletes OF ancient
Greece, etc., l have been enabled to make
some comparison between the strong men
OF that time and those Of the present day,
which, / think, shows contlusively that the
present genera tions are far ahead OF any
authenticated record We can find OF the
ancient The idea that the human race al
a whole is degenerating is a popular deiu-
sion, founded on ignorance OF the piainest
and most undeniable facts. The IDEA that
men are falling off in size is mistaken
one. There are good grounds for doubling
that any man OF former times ever per-
formed feat OF strength beyond the powers
of the strongest man of the present time.
in popular estimation Samson (the original
one )remains the typical strong man, ana
many will think it sacrilege to doubt MS
claim to be the strongest man that ever
lived Yet what feat is recorded OF MIN
that has undoubted definite value as
measure of strength? He killed young
lion with his hands. Polydamus also killed
with his bare hands a huge and fierce hon.
and so did Richard Occur de Leon, accord
ing to history Samson broke ropes OF va.
rious kinds. How strong were they? Break
ing ropes and chains are indefinite proofs
of strength. He killed LOCO men with the
jawbone of an ass. 70 fracture mans skull
with such weapon needs no very great
amount of strength, as several men have
killed a man with one blow of the bare fist.
If the 1000 men were all opposed to him at
once they must have been sorry lot. Car
Tying off the gates of GAIA depended on
their size and weight to tue strength re-
CURED, while no details ara given by which
we can estimate the strength necessary to
pull the pillars of the Phililstines temple
off their pedestals.
APCCRYPHAL FEATS OF A GREEK.
Another celebrated athlete who fiourished
about 500 B. c. was Milo of Crotona, Greek
town in thu south of Italy. In his case also
we have nothing recorded by which we
can form any curate idea of his strength.
He was victor six times at the olympic
games. and among the things attributed to
him are the following Binding cord round
his head, he could break it by retaining his
breath and swelling out his veins, with his
elbow resting on his side he defied anyone
to open his closed fist; standing on an oiled
QUOT he dehed anyone to push him Off 1t.
The last is sheer nonsense, the first Two IN
definite. Samson or Sandow of the present
day can bind chains around their arms. and
by swelling their muscles can burst the
chains easily. which l consider a much
harder thing o do than brt aklng a cord
that would be child's play fof Them. 1 have
seen Samson break d silver quarter IN two
with his fingers. Let anyone try to do 1t
and he will find out what enormous pow
er it requires to bend or break it.
Milo was also credited with having carried
a 4-year-old heifer through the Stradium of
Olympia, killed 1t with blow of his fist.
and afterward ate it. ali on one day. There
are several men of to-day who are credited
with the power to kill an OK with the blow
of the fist. Now, unless the heifer was four
times his own weig hit. it was no great feat
to carry it. and # it was four times his own
weight, then it was impossible for him TO
have eaten it in a day, sven allowing a
wide margin for offal. All these records,
however. still leave us ignorant of how
strong he was. The Roman Emperor Maxi
minus, who reigned in the early part of the
third century, was over eight feet in height,
and is said to have worn one of his wife's
bracel as a ring for his thumb. He is
credited with drawing a loaded wagon.
splitting young trees with his hands and
squeezing to powder the hardest stones
with the fingers. He had also very
healthy appetite, for it is said he could eat
forty pounds of meat and drink five gallons
and six pints of wine in day. Taking the
foregoing as the leading samples of strong
men of ancient times, it is sufficient to say
that further than that they we're regarded
as the strongest men of their time, they
have not left on record a single feat by
which their strength may be compared with
that of modern strong men.
LIFTING 800 POUNDS WITH ONE HAND.
Coming to more recent times, we :.ad
Thomas Topman an Englishman, who ex-
hibited about 1740. He was abuot feet 10
inches in height, and weighed in the neigh
ly built. Topman's feats were feats of real
and he is the first performer that
could bear comparison with those of the
present day. Here ale two of the best re-
cords of real strength recorded of him;
He stood on platform which had two par
alIel bars al a convenient height on his right
and left, on which to place his hands. Be-
low him ON lower platform were three
barrels of water, weighing altogether about |
i 1886 pounds. These being bound together |
a chain from them passed through the |
platform on which Topman stood, ard was |
attached to a belt that passed over his neck |
and shoulders; he then lifted the whole by |
his arms and legs. His other |
genuine record was lifting by Selling with |
his hal ds frame on which rested stone |
weighing 800 pounds. 1t is my candid opinion |
that there are men living at the present |
time of greater personal strength than any |
Milo, Samson or Topman. We will now |
place thu following records against Top |
mans lift of 1886 pounds. In this country |
some twenty years ago several athletes gave |
I .ir attention to devising a harness for /
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