The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-13

On a teeter board, but even In this
trick the most important needs are
nerve and a well-trained horse Bodily
strength comes third. I'll never forget
to my dying day h first time I tried
this. I had rugged up two chairs as
strong as possible in a barn and fas-
tened them to the floor. after which I
put a board across between them to
support a teeter, upon which I had
trained my pony to walk. When the
animal had learned his lesson thorough
ly and would ascend the teeter and bal
ance at the word OF command I pre-
pared for n final test.
TN place OF h board connecting the
chairs / put my own body. Across my
chest / put the teeter board. Then lock-
ing my feet firmly in one chair and my
arms around the back of tine other, I
called, 'Romeoi'
III came from the stall. straight for
the teeter. Then my nerve failed me. I
cried, Whoai wildly, but Romeo didn't
seem to know the meaning of the word.
On he came, directly UP the incline.
There was no backing out. All that I
could do was TO hang on desperately
and this 1 did. When Romeo got above
my chest lie balanced himself grace
fully for a while-it seemed an hour to
me. though il was only a few seconds
then he went off the other side. had
succeeded and the trick was not SO
udTu DIS L ndQ ledTeO.
1T appears to the audience as if the
man In this act was supporting the
weight largely with mis- neck. Such is
not the case. for most of it comes on
his arms and legs. and the latter are
fastened so that thev cannot becom
loosened. 1t takes strength, but not
extraordinary strength.
mot unlike this trick, but requiring
even less muscular power. is the feat
Of supporting a lot Of people On a board
placed across your body while you are
bent over backward. This is certainly
the easiest way for a man to support
his family I know of. Before the ath-
lete bends his body his feet are braced
SO strongly that they can't slide. Their
he bends back and a board is placed
across his knees and shoulders, upon
which another board IS put crosswise
for the men to get upon In this posi-
ton the bones of the arms and legs
support the weight, and as the bone of
a healthy human being is pretty strong
n number Of men may get upon the
board without causing the slightest in
convenience. The bones will have to
be crushed before anything will give
way.
Zone Of the strong mans greatest ac-
complishments. one hat has a particu-
lar charm n terror for the small boy,
is the biting in two Of nails. This long
cherished deiusion, too, is a fake. The
men who do this never use h common
steel nails. They use the cast iron mes
whose grain makes them break more
easily. Nor are the nails bitten in two
by the teeth, as is commonly supposed
but they are simply broken by the
strength of the fingers. To bite a nail
in two put the thumb of your right
hand under the nail ear the middle,
with the index finger on top of the nail
at the right end. Then put the other
end of the nail between your teeth
on the left side of the mouth. Push
down sharply and strongly with your
thumb, and crack goes the nail! If
you do it quickly the crowd will think
you have bitten it off, but you haven't.
Try this with a lead pencil if you have
not a cast iron nail mandy.
"A great deal of unnecessary sym
pathy is wasted upon the circus man
who stand up proudly in spangled
tights and lets another circus man bring
down a sledge hammer upo n a rock
placed upon his head. with force enough
to break it. This is a spectacular, but is
entirely painless and calls for no great
strength or endurance. Upon the era
mum of the strong man is put an iron
c~ontrivance weighing about $50 pounds
and provided with cushions both above
and where it rests uDon the head. A
pretty good sized rock is used, and the
hammer is also a heavy one, so you can
see that the blow that cracks the. rock
is really a serious one. But most of the
force is taken up by the rock and the
rest by the iron and cushions, while the
only sensation felt by the subject is a
gentle tap.
N more difficult than this is the
act whereby the hero of the anvas tent
permits a rock to be broken upon his
chest with a blow from a sledge ham, |
mer. So long as the subjects back is
free and does not rest against any |
solid object the trick is perfectly SIM
pie. A little illustration. Take a board |
and let it lie freely in your hand and
hit it smartly with a hammer. It is
difficult to hurt your hand. and the
thicker the board the less the sensa-
ton. But now put our hand on the
table and hit the board. Hurts. doesn't
it? Well, it's the same with the rock !
on the chest. Let me try it or you"
The reporter demurred, out the for
mer strong man hunted UP a stone and |
a sledge hammer, which he said weigh |
ed nine pounds. He put the rock on the |
lower part of his own chest, bent back |
ward, and told the reporter to break |
it. This the latter did successfully and
then consented to have it tried Upon
himself. With a mighty blow from the |
sledge the rock was shattered, but the
only sensation felt by the subject was |
a slight pressure OF the chest.-Charles- |
ton News and Courier.
" 0~- Drcr -- \