The representative., 1900-09-20
Feats Of Endurance,
Ancient and Modern


Many are the feats Of endurance Of which
we have trustworthy records, and some of
these are SO surprising that 1t is little won
der that many persons are inclined to doubt
the genuineness Of the performance, but SO
strict have been the precautions to prevent
fraud or imposition of any kind. as a gen.
eral rule, that we are forced to believe, al
though In some cases, l must admit, writes
Percy Longhurst in "Sandows Magazine,
It goes very hard against the grain. What,
for instance, can one say to the. piano play
ing performance of J. P. Theis, In July,
1888 who sat down at his instrument and
played without intermissiOn for ~ hours.
This is the record, and one is glad Of it,
and fervently hopes that no ambitious pian-
ist will make the attempt to go one better.
Whether Mr.. Thes played actual tunes or
merely ran his fingers over the keys for all
or any part of the time. history, recordeth
not 1t is sufficient that he played, and
more than sufficient I should think for the
unfortunate person or persons who had the
task OF keeping an eye on the performance.
How those persons must hate the sound of
a piano now! Heaven defend US from such
a punishment the supervision Of such
feat. and guard our nerves and brains from
such torture! Although this extraordinary
feat was performed in America, there is no
reason to doubt it's genuineness. any more
than that of Tom Burrows marvellous club
swinging performance at the National Sport
ing club few years ago. Burrows Is
most versatile athlete, being in quite the
front rank at boxing, wrestling, and gym
natics. His never-to- be- forgotten feat took
place in May, 1897, when he swung pair
OF 2pound clubs for 80 hours without cessa-
ton. OF the geunineness of this perform
ance there cannot be the slightest doubt.
as 1t took place in the presence OF several
we'll known gentlemen, who relieved each
other at intervals until it was finished.
During each hour not less than 60 evolutiOns
Burrows finished
the worse for his prolonged bout. l
afraid there are but few people who realize
what it means to continue movements OF
any kind for such a period as 80 hours, and
who are able to comprehend the extraor-
dinary powers of endurance required. Mar
vellous the feat is it was surpassed
few months later by Jack Grifhths. an. Aus
tralian, who swung a pair OF clubs, weigh
ing pounds ounces, for 36 hours with
out rest. Although this Is accepted, 1t
is not certain the same precautions of
watching were taken in the former in
stance News has lately been received by
telegram from Adelaide that, during the last
week in May, Professor West swung a pair
OF 2h pound clubs for 38 consecutive hours.
Most of us are acquainted with the mighty
weight-lifting feats of SandOw, Cyr. Samp-
son, Kennedy, Elliott, and others, but in
most cases the performances at any one
time were confined to two or three gigantic
efforts but George Clifford, who holds the
record of weight-lifting for endurance,
few years ago put up to arms length above
his head 56-pound dumb-bell 120 times in
six minutes % seconds Launceston Elliott,
the amateur weight lifting champion, has
been known to put up two 60-pound dumb
bells, one in each hand from the ground to
arms length above the head 30 consecu-
tive times. Let any of my readers try
how many times they can put up 56-
pound weight, and they will have some idea
of the great endurance that was necessary.
0f oiCht
was made some time ago in Vienna between
two well known Continental strong men.
1t was toseee which could hold out, for the
longest period of time, red herring. held
by the tail between the fore1nger and
thumb, with the arm at right angles to the
body. With the actual time during which
the winner was able to hold out the fish
l am not acquainted, but recollect it was
a period which any unthinking person would
deem remarkably short Such test is
terrible strain on the muscles, as one can
easily prove by merely holding out ones
arm in a similar position; 1t will not be
many minutes before one Is compelled to
cry enough" Speaking Of this power
of keeping the arms in certain position
for heightened period. reminds me of a
celebrated Greek boxer. named Melancomas,
who lived in the time Of the Emperor Titus.
Scores of victories did this man win with
out striking a single blow, his practice
being to extend his arms rigidly in front
OF MIN, never OHST1u6 JO StTlNes UuL MdhiuS
it impossible for his opponents to get
near him, and forcing them. worn out with
fruitless efforts, to give him the victory.
For many years he had trained himself
to remain in this fatiguing position. until
1t was possible for him to continue this for
two consecutive days. This may seem in
credible, but we have it on the authority
of that veracious historian Dion Chrysos-
tom Some of US are acquainted with the
famous ride OF the Italian officer. Capt.
Salvi, who, in 1878, rode from Rergamo, In
Lombardy, to Naples, nearly $50 miles.
in 10 days: but this and all similar per-
formances are quite thrown into the shade
by the feats of courier of the king of ;
France during the sixteenth century-the
Abbe Nicquet. The Abbe was renowned
as the swiftest traveller of his time. and
not without good reason either, for one
occasion he rode from Paris to Rome in
six days and four hours. The distance be-
tween the two capitals IL 1.05o miles. 80
the speedy Able must have travelled at
the rate Of trile over seven miles in
every hour. making no allowances for haIts
or stoppages of any kind for rest and re-
freshment. This Is not bad time, consider
ing the state Of the roads then and the
nature OF the country he had to pass
through.
~ CANDY cA1s1AF7T1t: