The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-06

be trying to accomplish this most diff.
cult of feats. There have been acrobats
who have done it. They are dead now
They were carried out of the ring 70
hospital Immediately thereafter and lived
for the various period of from one to three
days.
The memories of this most difficult Of
acrobatio feats were recalled a few dav4
ago, says the New York Herald. when
Augustus Warner, one of the tumblers Of
the Barnum & Bailey circus in taking
the double somersault over the backs Of
elephants, fell and narrowly escaped intur-
ing himself for life. He told one of the
surgeons that he had tried the "trIple."
1t seems, however that he had simply
missed his calculations on the double
somersault and had landed upon his neck.
There have been men who have asserted
that they can turn the triple. They are
generally the acrobats who have left the
circus ring forever and are devoting the
last years of their lives to the sale Of ci-
gars and ginger pop. The men who have
followed the circus all their lives say that
no man has ever turned the triple from
springboard and has lived to boast Of his
triumph
The triple somersault is done from the
lying trapeze, but it is simply a series
OF revolutions in the air as the performer
drops. Even then it should be called two
and one-half revolutions, for the acrobat
falls on his backsTin a net and depends
upon the rebound to hurl him to his feet.
lie can make these two revolutions and
nall from a springboard sometimes with
the difference that nine hundred and
ninety-nine times out of a thousand he
ahghts on his head or on the back Of his
neck, which, in the circus parlance, is
instant death. A man who falls that way
even IN net is a subject for the coroner
IL was only last summer that a we'll
known performer in trying to turn the
triple from the trapeze, went the usual
Two ana one-half revolutions, dropped into
the net, and was almost instantly killed
The somersault, whether it be single
double or triple, Is a feat which requires
the most assiduous practice and the most
accurate calculation. The public sees the
rapidly revolving acrobat, and it says
why, there is man who turned six or
elght times" 1t has seen the double SOM
ersault with its ascent, its doubling and
its twisting and its Illusion Of endless
whirling in space.
Inc sOieTsault, simple as IL may SEEM
is a complex feat.
Inc first thing which the tumbler learns
is 10 jump from springboard. The sem
satlon of springing through the air, as
all know who have had even a limited
gymnasium practice, is an uncanny one.
Next is the stock somersault, which
consists of merely sprlnging up in the
air and slowly and with practically no
muscular exertionssturning over. The mo-
ton is so slow that the spectators hardly
reallze that the man has turned over
Ihen begins the drill for the real som.
ersault, The acrobat learns the tuck
Which consists of grasping both legs
tightly half way between the knee and
the ankle and pressing them closely To-
gether. At the same time the acrobat puts
the muscles Of his shoulder and back INTO
play. This muscular force acts ike
balance weight Of the wheel. 1t aids him
to complete the revolution.
The taking OF the "tucks" requires me
incest calculation. The acrobat must walt
until he has sprung as far into the air as
the force of the springboard or his less
VIII carry him If he "tucks' too soon
he will fall like a coffee sack. If he VANS
until too late he finds himself cast nv
man wheel at a dead center. He Is pkeg
70 have broken bones In either case
spite Of carpets and mattresses.
The double somersault requires ulus
muscular exertion. The trained aciV9s,,
knows exactly where he Is az every POM
In the revolution. He has strange ssnso
which makes him feel II. II Is Wheh ~
summons his almost exhausted enei ~ ~
Tor the third revolution that he reefs inv
ship without a rudder