The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-31
THE LIFE OF AN ACROBAT.
William HanIOn Talks of His Ex-
periences.

William Hanlon one of the Han,on
brothers, whose "Superba'" attracted such
large crowds this season at English's, and
whose stage spectacles and pantomimes
have had such a phenomenal career, is
an entertaining talEer when he can be
induced to tell Of his thrilling career. He
has now abandoned entirely all acrobatic
feats and is giving his entire attention to
the management Of 'Superba.'
After travelling in al countries Of the
world the Hanlons came to the United
States in 1881 and have been here since.
Mr. Hanlon was asked when here as to
the life of an acrobat and if the years
Of hard training from childhood were
compensated by the returns. He replied:
1T is a question, and a great question
whether the success that might be gained
by a professional acrobat is worth the
years of constant training, the hardships
and the terrible dangers Of following such
a vocation 1 would not advise a young
man to undertake to become a profession
al acrobat for those reasons. l remem-
Der 1 got my first fall at Malta through
the carelessness Of a Mr.. Lees, to whom
/ had been apprenticed. The drop was
only about twenty feet, but lost my
senses the moment 1 began TO fall. In
subsequent falls l was conscious until the
'thud' came. and in my first great tall,
strange as il may seem, / had time dur
ing the drop of thirty-five feet to think OF
al the terrible accidents / had ever seen
in my life and of many other things as
well. This last happened in Manchester.
England. and the result was a badly
broken arm which the English doctor
failed to properly mend. i was laid up
for a year. during which time we crossed
the Atlantic. and DR.. James X. Wood.
a then famous New York surgeon, fixed
me up in good shape. a job which caused
a of "a a
the medical profession throughout this
and the Cd country.
Il had another terrible fall in Havana
Cuba In Rio de JaneirO. Brazil, 1 got
another bad tumble; in fact all of my
brothers as we'll as myself had at least
twenty bad falls during our acrObatic
career but the worst happened to poor
Thomas 1t was at Pixies opera house.
Cincinnati. In all our career we had
never used nets as they do now days
and you can easily imagine what a tum-
bic 10 a hard stage floor meant to any
OF US. In making the flying leap from
one trapeze to another Thomas lost his
hold and fell into the fOOtlights. bound
ing from there into the orchestra, and
smashing the bass violin. His head
struck two gas jets. breaking them off,
and II was a long time before he seemed
on the road to recovery.
Strange enough, just one year from
that time we were again playing in Gin
cinnai and one night Thomas was miss
ing He was found a few days after
wandering in a demented condition in
Harrisburg Pa. and died there. Il
was afterward found that a fragment of
the skull, which was fractured by the
fall, had penetrated the brain.
'Stll, there are bright sides to the life
Of the professional acrobat. If he is SUI
perior in his line his triumphs are absolute
and pleasing. He IS received well wher-
ever he goes. and ne is given OppOrtuni-
ties to see things that many wealthy peO-
pie are even unable to observe, as was
the case with Us. We saw and met many
members Of royalty, including Eugene,
empress of the French; the duchess Of
Theba OF Spain, the duke and duchess Of
Elba, and the queen Of Spain, but Of all
the royal peOp.e We met the rajah Of
Burdnan was the most magnificent. His
throne. which 1 was allowed TO see also.
was the cOStiiIeSt on earth. II was wide
enough for two very large men 10 sit on
and built Of solid gold. The seat was up
hOlstered IN the finest down and satin,
and the arms terminated in two knobs
each half the size of mans head. thick
~ incrusted with rubies as large as a
pigeons egg. and other rare jewels. a
silken canopy was surmOunted by a dove,
which was ab-aze with first-Water dia-
mOnds OF great size. This throne was
worth a kings ransom. but everything in
the rajahs court was on a similar scale
Of magnifcence. The Brahmln priests
had a remarkable influence over the
prince and were constantly connecting
pans to rob him and enrich themselves.
One was 10 induce him to build a golden
COW. life size, followed so that he could
let inside, and once or twice year fast
for twenty-fOur hours. At the princes
death the golden COW was to become the
property of the priests. The prince died.
AL such sights and experiences go TO make
I'D the enviable side Of a professional
acrobats life but the other side leaves
me the only survivor Of a once large and
happy family"