The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-07
CHAMPION LADY DIVER.
Interview with Rhine Maiden who
Holds the UNDERWATER Record.

Holds the Underwater Record.
From the London Pail Mall Gazette
Miss Elsie Wallenda was none the
water at the Alhambra for minutes As 2-5
seconds, and she readily consented to an
interview with a representative of the Pail
Mall Gazette who was curious to know
how it was done. AS, however, Miss Wal
lenda only speaks a little English. and
the interviewer's knowledge of foreign
languages is confined 10 what he has pick
ed up at a French restaurant, the gentle
man who acts as manager 10 the sisters
kindly acted as interpreter.
81 was born" said the SLIM fragile-look
ing lady, in the glorious Rhineland. You
have read the stories of the Rhine NiXen,
the Maids, the Sirens and the water
nymphs All, wen, my father has a nice
estate close by the banks of the Rhine.
near Mayence. You have heard of my
father? He was a great showman-a dis
tinguished trainer of dogs and cats and
visited England several times. No, l was
never in England before. l and my sis
ters when little girls used to battle in the
Rhine, and learned to swim in the famous
stream. Oh, the delights of those days!
When young we were sent to a pension in
Belgium, where we learned German and
French, swimming and athletics-my sis
ters are very good horizontal bar per-
formers. We were always playing tricks
in the bath, and seeing who could remain
under the water longest. l could beat my
sisters, but they were stronger girls"
Did you play those water tricks with
the idea of performing publicly
THE idea never entered my head. But
last July we were doing some tricks in
the baths at Hertogenbosch, in Holland
and | remained under the water more than
three minutes. A professional diver who
Witnessed the performance said it was
marvellous, and that we ought to come be-
fore the public. About a month later |
remained under water four minutes with
out any inconvenience Afterward we
went home, and l asked my father for his
permission to train to perform ia public.
/ trained last winter, and, as you know,
my manager, who has been connected
with the family for fifteen years, secured
us the present engagement at the Alham-
bra "
How long can my sisters remain under
water? one of them can do 3 minutes %
seconds, but she has done minutes 10
seconds. The ladies' record in England
Miss Annie Johnson s-was 3 minutes 1874
seconds l beat that on the 5th inst, stay
ing under water 4 minutes 8 3-5 seconds"
and what about the record perform
ances?"
"Well on Wednesday l had not felt well
all day. am rather delicate ana obliged
to take care of myself, but / felt obliged
to do my best because those terrible press
men were present-pardon, mein herr"
Questioned as to her staying powers,
Miss Elsie Wallenda said she could not I'M
derstand it. There was a moment" she
continued, when l lost my presence of
mind on Wednesday night got frighten-
ed This is how il happened. My sister
should come to me when | have been I'M
der the wafer two minutes, but she did not
come until three minutes had passed. This
gave me the impression that l had only
been under two minutes and / got fright
ened thinking that / should never get up
to four minutes. My heart began to beat
rapidly--H went pit-a-pat l lost my pres
ence of mind for a moment but as soon as
/ came out of the water ! presented myself
to the audience quite restored. | feel con
hdent that ! could remain under water
five minutes without losing consciousness"
rs there no artificial respiration?"
absolutely none. Before going down I
inhale as much air as possible / remain
in the water two minute, and then breathe
60 let loose a few bubbles. After another
half minute l make half breath, and
then stop 10 The end with the lungs only
partially filed.
mo, I should not like to repeat the per-
formance but there is no need. If there |
were any doubt on the question l should |
be quite prepared to repeat it,"