The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1896-12-11
ONLY SEX TEARS OLD.
BUT EDDIE HANLoN Is ALREADY !
GREAT ACROBAT.

He Seems 60 He Absolutely Devoid Of Fear
ana Does the Most Dinseult Teats with
the Utmost UnconcsAn- His Father and
Neither Both splendidIy Built People.
The gymnasts who are in New York
at present and have seen 6-year-old Ed
die Hanlon practioing In an up town en-
tertainment hall are predicting that he
will be the greatest acrobat in the world.
This is extravagant praise to be given
to anybody. It Is all the more remarka-
BILE when IL is lavished on mere baby
who has been practicing only about three
weeks. Yet every one who sees the child
agrees that he is prodigy.
Eddie Hanlon comes naturally by his
gift. His father is Robert Hanlon, who
now claims the distinction which every
one is predicting for his little son. Ed
dies mother is known professionally as
Miss Marlin, who is crack shot and
physically a splendid woman. She won
the prize at one of the international
beauty contests in Europe. Eddie is 9
years old and weighs about 40 pounds.
His little body is 1.-the and supple, and
the muscles stand out in knots on his
chest and shoulders.
He is q handsome little fellow, with
the most extraordinary concentration of
gaze, phenomepally alert expression
and perpetual smile. This smile is
emphasized by the fact that number
of his "baby teeth have just dropped
out, and no others have come as yet to
take their places. When this infant,
with his toothless gums and his cherubic
smile, goes swinging from one trapeze
to another, it is worth seeing. He does
not know what fear is. He allows him
self to be tossed about and juggled from
one person to another with no sign Of
emotion except deep glow of content.
The bicyclists who perform on the roof
garden take him on their shoulders and
60 spinning around the hall on their
wheels, while he holds himself stiffly
erect above their heads. gripping them
with his tiny feet, his face shining with
delight
He has pluck enough for 90 grown
men. His hands, Of course, were as ten.
der as a baby's when he commenced
with the trapeze, and the blisters came
In short order. Now there are perhaps q
dozen raw spots where the blisters have
been rubbed of, but he doesn't let it
make bit of difference to him. His
hands are not large enough to reach
around the trapeze bars, but he grips
them with his baby fingers so that he
never loses his hold. OF fcourse his hands
hurt him literally like blazes. But he
J never lodges the bar, and his smile
hardly ceases while he stops a minute
to blow on his almost bleeding palms.
This is q 6-year- old, rememberl No
wonder that the older acrobats worship
the plucky little chap. And, speaking
| of worship, how he does take to the
worki A duck never took to water with
such evident satisfaction as this baby
| shows when he gets on q high perch,
with one trapeze gripped in his left
hand, holding on to the rail with his
right and watching for his father to
swing the second trapeze his way. When
his father calls "Goi'' he seizes the bar
with both hands and launches himself
into the air without shadow Of hesita-
tion.
The Hanlons know they have treas
ure in this child, and they are as care
full Of him as if he were q gold mine.
They are careful in their own way,
however. He has q governess, and he is
learning several languages, but his mind
is not to be cared for at the expense Of
his body. His father and his uncle
watch him like cats as he practices, and
it would be next to impossible for him
| to be hurt far less likely than IL he
were an ordinary boy playing rough and
tumble games with other boys. But, al
though they are SO careful of him, they
are putting him through rigorous
course of training nevertheless. 1t seems
as if his pluck is now indomitable and
his lack of fear absolute, but il it were
not so his training would develop those
qualities His father says that in
month from now Eddie will be ad-
vanced enough to make his bow even
before New York audience, but it is
hardly possible that a permit could be
obtained. In the meantime the little
chap is fairly Unsuitable when it comes
to practicing Even when his father will
not let him do anything more, on ac-
count of his hands. Eddie will not stop
and persists in turning somersaults from
his uncle's shoulders. or walking on the
big ball, or, if no one will work with
him, he runs and jumps just from pure
muscular exhilaration. Unless some
thing happens the name Of Eddie Han
lon will head the list Of the acrobats Of
the future. New York Sun.
Il