The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1900-05-23
PERILS OF GYMNASTS
THE RISKS THEY RUN WHILE GOING
THROUGH THEIR ACTS.

Spread Beneath Them Ii Liable to
Result In Serious Injury - Nerve
and Connaeace Necessary.
1t doubtless appears to the onlooker
ut the circus that the midair gymnasts
-"aerialists" In the vocabulary Of the
arena-are quite safe from injury so
long as they have the broad, soft net
spread beneath them. They may swing
from bar to bar, as high as the roof of
the tent will permit, or toss a child
from hand to hand through long, peril
GUS distances, and all the while the
blase spectator observes with the mere
suggestion of a thrill, assuming In Ills
inexperlence that there is no real dan
ger In what Is called with greater truth
than color this marvellous feat Of dar.
ing" As a matter of fact, however,
the aerialists are In imminent danger
OF broken necks through every work.
ing moment Of their turn" which be-
comes evident indeed when 1t is said
that the nerve strain cannot possibly
be borne through two seasons without
long period of rest between for what
may be called nerve recuperation.
A famous gymnast who is the head
of family Of performers said that the
midair gymnast branch Of circus work,
which appears so easy and safe Of &C.
complishment, was so full Of danger as
to be fought shy Of by faint hearted
people, who preferred ground work"
and smaller salaries to its risk. Safety
lies wholly in self possession, attention
and nice, practiced calculation Of dis
tances through which to leap or turn or
throw. There are four In this family,
and the safety of each depends, not on
ly upon the individual, but upon the
nerve and skill Of the others. When
the family is In action, y becomes at
once q machine, and each member
moves and turns and even smiles with
mechanical accuracy. II one part
should fail. the whole would for the
moment be in danger of destruction.
Now" said the gymnast, I'VE are
merely human. We can't all be perfect
In action all the time, SO from time to
time the machine goes to pieces, but
we are so well schooled that we soon
put 1t together again. When there hap
pens to be fall-as there does fire.
quently-three hearts pretty nearly
stop beating upon our bars until the
fourth of the family rises from the net.
1t wouldn't be possible to continue our
act II every one of us didn't know how
to fall. That's the secret Of 1t, and the
danger lies In the loss Of nerve when
the fall takes place. Men in our branch
seldom break legs. They break their
necks or backs and quit the business
once and for all. You've seen fall,
no doubt. Well, did you notice how-the
boy doubled his legs up and got his
face as close to his breast as he could?
II he failed to do that he would never
survive the fall. He'd break his leg or
his back sure. It's terrible time for
me as the head of the family every
time there's fall"
The gymnast has high fall to dread.
The acrobat, on the other hand, has to
guard against fall through but two or
three feet.
'"There's as much danger In our work
as in any circus" said certain star,
one of the best acrobats In the business
and good and trustworthy man out
of 1t. an the tumbling particularly
man Is liable to break his back any
minute or dlslocate his ankle in landing
badly. My family (of six, two of
whom are boys Is so well trained that
It works perfectly. So just now have
an easy mind. Last season, though,
had two bad accidents and had to dis
charge a man. He didn't catch my
apprentice one time, with the result
that the Poor boy dislocated his Shout
der. The fellow looked at the audience
for an instant, and then the trouble
came, so l lost confidence In him and
let him 60. In our business, you know,
every one has to have confidence In ev-
cry one else-perfect confidence. If
you can't get that condition, you can't
work, that's ALL You can't keep your
nerve. Our accidents are nasty ones
too. 1t may be a fall of three feet and
broken back come from 1t. You can't
tell when accidents are going to hap
pen either. They come so unexpected
ly that they knock you out. The head
of the family has to bear the worry,
though. He's responsible for his ap-
prentlces, and the ID I've taught have
brought me gray hairs pretty early In
llfe."
This man Is thoroughly conscientious
in the training Of his boys morally as
well ms In their work. He regards his
care of them as high duty. and he
watches them In the circus ring as
carefully as a mother might. Hence
they are saved from many an accident.
He always breathes easier, too, when
the days work is over. Watch as care
fully as one may, be said, the business
Is such that accidents are bound to
happen.
"How can you accept an apprentice
with an easy conscience, them" he was
asked.
"Well," no replied, there's danger
wherever you 60. No matter what
your business may be, II you are care
less the chances are that you will get
hurt. train my boys and men in at
tentlon and accuracy. That's the best
safeguard they can have. It's like this:
II man throws a baseball at my head,
1t will strike and hurt me II don't
stop 1t. I've got to take care, and it's
the same in every walk of life. 1t is
very dangerous work. the acrobat's.
but them The acrobat shrugged his
shoulders to complete the sentence.
Thought Of Him,