The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-01-09
TRICKS OF THE STRONG MAN.

bug-Easy Way to Support Fam
lily.
There are tricks in all trades" SAT-
the old circus man, but the trade o
the circus Hercules is mostly all tricks
Anybody with ordinary strength can d.
the feats that seem so wonderful whe1
done by these tan-bark Samsons, Ii
fact, few of them require any particu
lar muscular exertion, but are accom-
plished simply by trickery.
| 1.-THE dumb bells used by the perform
ers are always hollow, and weigh much
less than the figures marked upon then
would indicate. When you see mar
pretending to put above his head a bel
marked 400 or 500 pounds, you may
safely conclude that he is trying to foo
you. The very greatest weight ever
lifted in this way was 245 pounds, 'Cy-
clops' accomplishing the feat in Cleve-
| land in 1898. Genuine dumb-bells,
closely resembling the hollow ones, are
| thrown out into the audience for inspec-
ton, but these are never the ones used
by the strong man or woman.
Another common feat that arouses
wonder is the breaking Of stones with
/ TIC hSis Spectators lliiiih lhdl q man
! who can bring his clenched hand down
upon rock and flage a piece off with
one blow must have tremendous mus
! cles but an ordinary man can do it If
he knows how, while, on the other hand,
old Samson himself couldn't have done
1t unless he had been put on to the
/ trick.
you will notice that the strong man
always provides solid piece of iron or
stone upon which to crack his rocks.
Now, If he held the stone to be smash
ed firmly against his support he might
pound away at 1t until doomsday with
out hurting anything but his fist. But
notice closely and you will see that he
holds the small stone 10Th of an inch
above the support, and when he hits it
it's the conclusion that breaks it. Any
one can do 1t neatly after little prac-
tice.
"A little more real strength is needed
in the feat Of lifting barrel of water
and two men with the teeth, but not
much. A man of ordinary strength can
accomplish it. To begin with the water
barrel, which, If genuine, would weigh,
with its contents, about 900 pounds, has
IL false top and bottom and holds only
enough water so, that a little can be let
out of the bunghole to deceive the on
lockers. Fastened to the barrel and to
the waist of the performer, and con-
cealed by sash which he wears, is a
rope This is deftiy hitched to the bar
rel when II is lifted up for him to take
the naouthpiece in his teeth.
r,op,,fbr,iana pyaptlu fits his
mouth, 80 that whatever comes there Is
usually sustained by the jaw. Here
comes the thrilling moment. Two men
lift themselves upon the barrel, and,
with two other sturdy fellows to sup
port his back and keep his balance, the
strong man slowly lifts the barrel.
Bending back, he supports the weight
at an angie Of about As degrees, appar-
emily with his teeth, but actually upon
his chest. It's a sensational act, but,
as a matter of fact, more strength is
required in the men who support him
than in the star performer himself. No
more than 200 pounds was ever actually
supported by any athlete in this fash
ion.
"The mouthpiece used In this trick Is
employed in all acts where the per-
formers appear to hang by their teeth.
1t is so constructed that when one gets
it in his mouth he cannot let go of 1t
until the weight Is taken off. SO circus
folks do not really support their weight
or the weight of any other object by
their teeth. 1t is actually on the neck
that most of the strain comes, and the
performer doing this stunt very much
gets an abnormal neck development.
Nowadays my neck measures is inches,
but when I was in the business it was
10 inches around
about the only act that requires real
strength is that of supporting horse
IN a teeter board, but even in this trick
the most important needs are nerve and
4 well-trained horse. Bodily strength
comes third. I'll never forget to my dy-
ng day the first time | tried this /
had rugged up two chairs as strongly as
possible in a barn and fastened them
to the floor after which | had put a
BOARD across between them to support
l. teeter, upon which / had trained my
oony to walk. When the animal had
earned his lesson thoroughly and would
ascend the teeter and balance at the
WIN VI SOhililNiltJ IL NH''iS w IVA '''N |
inal test.
'In place of the board connecting the
hairs put my own body. Across my
hest put the teeter board. Then, lock-
ng my feet firmly in one chair and my
rms around the back of the other,
allied 'Romeo.'
''He came from the stall, straight for
he teeter. Then my nerve failed me. !
ried whoa wildly, but Romeo didn't 1
eem to know the meaning of the word
IN he came, directly up the incline.
here was no backing out. All that |
ould do was to hang on desperately,
nd this did When Romeo got above
ny chest he balanced himself graceful
Y for while--it seemed an hour to me,
hough it was only few seconds-then |
e went eff the other side I had sue
eeded, and the trick was not so hard
S / had feared.
at appears to the audience as if the
IAN in this act was supporting the
eight largely with his neck. Such is
OF the case, for most of it comes on
is arms and legs, and the latter are
astened SO that they cannot become