Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-22
'Tis a Trade That Requires a Great
Deal of Practice.
BUT HEREDlTY PLAYS IT'S PART
Experiences of a Man Who Earns
His Living Thereby
LEARNING THE BUSINESS
From the Pail Mall Gazette.

From the Pail Mall Gazette.
My friend the professor will explain him.
self to you in the fat knights nppant
plrase-'tis his vocation. II you want 10
know why it is his vocation. he will refer
you TO heredity and the sdber OF his sire.
lie swallows swords because his fath her aud
his grandfather swallowed swords before
nm. Looking at him more closely. YOU s,t
the contirmatory evidence Of design. The
professor unquestionably has the physique
de Iempioi. \ merciful Providence IL has
been remarked fashioned us hollow on Dur
pose that We might our principles swallow,
and everyday experience goes 10 prove the
uuthfulness OF til. remark when Il comes
TO putting down some seventy crntimstcrs
of cold Steel the professor Is in The
habit Of doing, the average man of princi-
pie will nevertheless find that Providence
has not fashioned him hollow enough Tor
that and that there is a good deal In tho
way. The professor, you get 10 perceive
Is long, lank, flexible and VaCuous as an
empty shaath-When, that is to say. ne IS
what you may call empty himself Win
seventy centimeters Of sword sheathed
home in him, he nils out and becomes rigid
enough.
Qnick of Wit.
Cnsworded, there is no stiffness about
him. He is engaging in manner AMI ana
BILE of speech He speaks the language Of
Europe indiffer, ntly; it is the nucney Of his
Belgian French that betrays him Yet IL
was a little speech of his that FIRST favor
ably impressed ME. On one occasion n
prominent part in his program had been
seized upon by a youthful bounder who
ned. altogether Unexpectedly, succeeded TO
decent title. The professor had laid ont
the weapons with which he proposed to
deal, when our young friend handed him up
a los md nh, a
knobs, with an aggressive gold collar on
ana It's owners name, styla, title and adj
dress at aggressive length on that The
professor considered the proposition ana
shook his head. The proposer chortled
But, then, the professor read out tn whole
legend in the most painstaling way and
put 1t TO the company whether he could be
expected to swallow all that "wovonsr'
After that happy utterauce | saw more Of
thA professor, and So IL came about that |
learned something of the art and mystery
OF his singular profession.
Serving His Apprenticeship
He was then, he said, forty years old. AMI
had been sheathing and unsheathing all
sorts of weapons for rather more than half
that period. He had served his Apprentices
ship to his father. man of famous swal-
low in his tine. For. even with heredity
and physical conformation in your favor,
you do not just take up a sword and sWal-
low ii right away. The seusibilitv of the
larynX has first to be overcome and the
manner in which that organ resents the in
Il uslon OF mere iinger-tip will give you
some idea of how IL would be likely To re-
ceive the first installment of a saber Tho
pupil therefore, does not begin with a
Saber, but with a sort of wooden Spoon
win this spatula he is instructed to
fatigue his larynX for as long as he can
stand (which. at the commencement IS
not very long. BY dint OF patience and per-
severance, however, he gradually succeeds
in fatiguing his throat into the required
state Of inSenSiblity. He does not do so
without much and painful Inconvenience
as may be readily understood. Indeed he
is. in great many instances literally
choked on the career. Surprising he can
survive six months probation he may be
considered fit for promotion 10 the real
thing, and be allowed to make his first es-
say with butchers steel or blunt still
etto. From that he gets on to bayonets,
and from bayonets to small swords Should
he possess the necessary CAPACITY he next
sheathes the regulation infantry weapon,
and, in such exceptional cases as that of
my professor, a considera Bile portion at
any rate Of the cavalry bancaL
Professional Experiment.
1t is not. however, till the end of another
period Of six months that he win usually
be considered fit to make an appearance
in public. BY that time he will have given
UP taking his sword in many. and slow, and
longer be obliged to sheathe home inch by
inch. He will have acquired the knack Of
returning the weapon with proper profes-
sional smartness. Holding it lightly poised
in his right hand he will slightly straddIs
his legs. let his head drop backward tiII
his occiput rests against his spinal column
and open his mouth TO its very widest ca
paclty. That capacity must be very wide.
NO one who does not inherit or has not
managed to acquire an abnormal aptitude
for separating his jaws viii ever rise, they
say, TO eminence as a sheath. Between
these widely dlStended jaws the performer
introduces the wel-blunted point Of his
sword, and brings into contact with the
back wall of his larynX. A touch assures
MN OF his bearings, and then he gets out
side that blade with a swift deNterity that
fairly makes you wink. You hear the hiIt
'dlrf' against his teeth. The blade has
passed through his windpiDe and esoDhagus
ana is there in his stomach. The thing mas
Deen done so Smdrtly as possibly to suggest
the idea of trick blade and a receptive
hilt. There may be such things but for the
professor they have never existed. You are
at liberty TO put the tape over his sword,
and subsequently to apply the measure to
his proper person. You cannot II is true
actually feel the blade inside him. owing To
the great tension OF the abdominal muscles.
but by using gentle pressure to his cpl
graStic region you can make the hilt move
in perfectly convincing manner. Natur-
ally, you have to be quick about it.
Some of His Tricks.
A man with foreign body blocking his
windpipe, and his respiration in conse-
quence, suspended. cannot give you very
long. Fifteen seconds is the limit the pro-
fessor wisely assigns to his endurance OF
these conditions. Within that limit he Is
prepared to treat some other conditions
rather lightly. He will not. for instance,
sickle for neutrality-suspicious. blade
merely; or for one with no more awkward
curve in ii than the saber Of the cavalry
IIa iz omit arDIs 70 inc s1a . ha
sword bayonet of the old Chassepot model,
with its double twist. So far, too, is he
from considering the perpendicular position
Indispensable for the swallower that he
will swallow you sword while he lies up
on sofa, and unsheathe IL only when he
stands erect again; or, If You prefer It, he
will lie down with sword inside him, and
reproduce il to you horizontally. He will
do even more. He will swallow you a bay
onet all but the locking ring. Then he
-ili lift rife, butt upward, fix the bayo-
net, and keep the rife In position with his
teeth. AS he modestly says, TO carry arms
in this way is not a la porte de tout lie