The Portland daily press., 1896-07-28
SHOT FROM A cRossBoW.
The Daring Feat by Which Pretty Little
Altar Earns Big Salary.

A pretty little acrobat, slender and
graceful. with long black hair that falls
in opulent rrofusion about her shoulders,
and sparkling black eyes, has in troduoed
new sensation to this country. She
climbs to lofty perch, lies fiat on her
face upon smooth plank, with hor feetf
resting against velvet covered block of
wood attached to the string of huge
crossbow. Then she stiffens her little
body, ex5ends her hands in front of her
and cries in a soft girlish voice Ready. 4"
A catch is pulled the string of the bow
sings as it outs the air, and little Altar
is hurled, rigid as steel bar, head first
through paper target at which she had
been carefully aimed, and sails through
the air in graceful curve to the other
side of the big tent, where, just as she
begins to descend, she is caught by
another handsome little woman, whose
black hair also streams in the wind as
she swings head downward, hanging
from trapeze, which oscillates in such
manner that just at the right moment,
it brings the dangling woman within
reach of the flying girl, and just as the
spectators are wondering where the little
one is going TO land and how badly she
will be hurt, they see her safely dropped
into comfortable and inviting pair of
arms. This is the Human Arrow act,
as it was introduced into this country
by Altar this spring, when the Barnum &
Bailey show opened it's season in Madison
Square Garden, New York, and as it will
be seen when that great show visits
Portland next Friday.
Alar is girl of II years and weighs Sc
pounds. She is one of the troupe of To-
doras and her act closes the aerial PER-
Torrance with which they astonish the
audience. Her father is one of the most
graceful acrobats over seen in this coun-
try, and does flying leaps from swinging
bar to swinging bar, and sensational
drops into a net that would astonish
moro than they do we're he not placed In
such fast company. Not in years has the
Barnum show had such a collection of
strong aerial acts as this season. The
Silbons, five in number, lead the list,
with Walter Silbon at their head, a man
sihle feat of ma king triple turn in the
air. Then there are the Dunbars, the
Potters, Melville and Cleofas, and the
four Zedoras, every team doing sensa-
tional feats of distinct and original
type, and every one having the grace and
finish of absolute perfection.
But Alar is the pearl of all, because
quires so great nerve and daring. She
was asked one day recently how it
seemed to be shot through the air in such
summary manner, and she replied
with pretty English accent:
"Oh, the feeling is indescribable. There
is thrill as the force of the great bow
Is felt, and then comes q rushing of the
wind, a tingling of the blood-but can
not tell you.
"My whole body tingles for the space
1t takes to see a lightning fash, and
there is sensation of rest, till I find
myself suddenly caught at the trapeze''
Alar's feat is far from safe one, as
perfectly confident as she seems of her.
self. One night in New York the bow
snapped before she was ready, and in
stead of hurting her through the paper
target, it fripped her and threw her
backward, her head striking with such
force upon the plank that it stunned her.
and she lay there unconscious until res
oued and carried down to the ground,
fortunately before she recovered
sufficiently to move, and roll off to the
aoor forty feet below her.