The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-10-14

side. 1 had succeeded and the trick
was not so hard as I had feared
| TT appears to the audience as if the
man in this act was supporting the
weight largely with his neck. Such is
not the case, for most of it comes on
his arms and legs, and the latter are
fastened so that they cannot become
| 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 beard
placed across your body while you are
bent over backward. This is certainly
the easiest way for a man to support
his family known of. Before the ath-
lete bends his body his feet are braced
so strongly that the yca.n't slide. Then
he bends back and board is placed
across his knees and shoulders, upon
which another board is put crosswise
for the men to get upon. In this po-
sition the bones of the arms and legs
support the weight, and as the bone of
healthy human being is pretty strong
a 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.
lone of the strong mans greatest ac-
complishments, one that has a particu-
lar charm and terror for the small boy
is the biting in two of nails. This
long-cherished delusion, too, is a. fake
The men who do this never use the
common steel nails. They use cast
iron ones, whose grain makes them
break more easily. Nor are the nails
bitten in two by the teeth, as Is COM
monty 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 near 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 index finger and upward with
your thumb, and crack goes the NALL
If you do it quickly the crowd will
think you have bitten it off, but you
haven't Try this with lead pencil if
you have not a cast iron nail handy.
"a great deal of unnecessary sympa-
thy is wasted upon the circus man
who stands up proudly in spangled
tights and let's another circus man
bring down sledge hammer upon a
rock placed upon his head, with force
enough to break It, This is spectacu-
lar, but is entirely painless and calls
for no great strength or endurance.
Upon the Uranium of the strong man
is put an iron contrivance weighing |
about $50 pounds and provided with |
cushions both above and where it rests
upon 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 IN |
by the rock and the rest by the iron
and cushions, while the only sensation
felt by the subject is a gentle tap.
mo more difficult than this is the
act whereby the hero of the canvas
tent permits a rock to be broken upon
his chest with blow from a sledge
hammer. 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
Up and let it lie freely in your hand
and hit it smartly with a hammer. 1t
IS difficult to hurt your hand, and the
thicker the board the less the sensation,
But now put your hand on the table
and hit the board. Hurts, doesn't it?
Well, it's the same with the rock on
he chest. Let me try it on you.''
The reporter demurred, but the form
n strong man hunted up a stone and
| sledge hammer, which he said weigh
ID nine pounds He put the rock on
he lower part of his own chest, bent
backward, and told the reporter to
freak it. This the later did successful
y and then consented to have it tried
lpon himself. With a mighty blow
rom the sedge the rock was shattered,
nut the only sensation felt by the sub
ect was slight pressure on the chest
New York Sun