The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-10-30
FALLING SCIENTIFICALLY.
Accidents to Circus Performers Often
Avoided by Skill and Knowledge.

Accidents to Circus Performers Often
Avoided by Skill and Knowledge.
There is never q moment when q
rider in the circus ring is entirely
free from danger. Of course the va
rious feats become easy enough of
accomplishment after long practice,
but the performers can mover be
sure at what moment their skill
and experience will be set at naught
through some failure Of the horse to
do what is expected Of him. Sup
pose the horse SHES while the rider
is standing on his back preparing
for a spring. The chances are ten
&c ono that a fall will result, and
yet there is no sure way of knowing
whom q horse is about to shy. The
most triiing thing may cause him
to do so. A sudden crash of music,
the fall of a programme thrown
carelossly into the ring, q ray of
sunshine striking him unexpectedly
in the eyes, the breaking of pulley,
any Il of hundred things; swerv
ing a few inches to the right Or left,
q sudden dart forward, will be more
than sufficient to upset the delicate
ly poised equilibrium.
Therefore the act of falling is one
of the most important, aud it is also
one of the most difficult of mastery
among the circus rider'saccomplish-
ments. 1t is always easy to recog-
nize q veteran circus rider in the
way he falls. AS soon as he sees
that the situation is hopeless, that
he must go down, his hands shoot
for his knees like q flash, and he
hugs himself up automatically into
a round ball, with nothing exposed
that can break, unless possibly it DO
a rib or two in some very exception
al case. Usually striking in this
way, with the muscles all tense,
and the body folded up tight and
hard, the rider escapes with q few
bruises and q general shaking up.
~ remember the worst fall l ever
had rs distinctly % if it were last
week, although really it was several
years ago." remarked q circus rider
to me recently. 1T seems queer,
but it happened when I was sitting
astride my horse, walking around
tho ring quietly after doing an act.
All of q sudden something made the
horse shy, and before. I know it l
was gone-lifted up in tho air and
turning over, half from habit, Isup-
pose, in n back somersault. l heard
the ring master yell at me, and real
lied that unless I could get round
in tho turn so as to clear my head I
would break my neck in striking.
Between that and my reaching the
ground was only the small part of a
second, but it seemed as if l had
oceans Of time to argue out the
whole situation. I wondered if the
horse wouldn't step on me, decided
how l had better roll to get away,
planned just how I would strike the
ground with my shoulders if I
managed to save my head, and then
Idug my chin down into my breast,
body and muscles On that turn.
"Well, it was a close shave. They
carried me ont senseless, and the
doctor said my neck was broken,
but it wasn't. It was pretty badly
wrenched, though, and / carried my
chin pressed against my body for
weeks afterward. You can be sure
if I hadn't got up some fine speed
on that turn there would have been
another dead circus rider"
do you mean that a circus rider
can make himself turn fastor or
slower after he is in the air?" I
asked.
Certainly I do; that is the most
important part of somersault work.
You SEQ, NO matter how good q man
is he can never leave his horse for a
turn with exactly the right amount
of spring. Sometimes he will throw
himself o little too hard and other
times not hard enough; it depends
partly on the way the horse is going.
Well, when he finds himself in tho
dir, say half way around on the
turn, he feels-that is, all good Cir
Gus riders do-by a kind of instinct
whether he is turning too fast or
not fast enough SO as to land right
on the horse. Besides that he can
see most Of the way round just
where the horse is and by practice
tell whether anything is wrong.
Now, suppose he wants to slaoken
his speed a little, he simply lifts his
head straight up, Or sven a little
back. and that acts like putting on
a brake. Then, If he sees he is too
slow, all he has to do is to bend his
head down on his chest in the way
I was telling you of, like a bicycle
going down hill. '-Philadelphia En-
quirer.
The Candle.
Professor Crooks thinks that if