The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-11-09
DANGEROUS CIRCUS ACTS
Some of the Many Ways of
Breaking Your Neck
A RISKY ROAD TO WEALTH
Looping the Loop and Devices That
Observation-Disclosures Resulting in
Death--Large Pay Received by
Performers-The Human Arrow"
Earns $4,000 a Year.

Earns $4,000 Year.
Looping the loop and its progeny
re the most effective devices yet in
"ented for producing apparent as
''ell as real danger, says the Scien-
i1c American. Does any one still
'emember the American bicyclist
who used to ride at terrifying speed
down a steeply inclined sixty-foot
ladder? One night an attack of YER
tigo caused his death, but his act
was less dangerous than the per-
formance on inverted and aerial
paths to which we have since be-
come accustomed.
The public soon tires of the strong
est sensations The stationary loop
gave place to the rotating circle
called the devils wheel, in which the
cyclist spins like a squirrel. Taking
his place inside the wheel, which is
about fifteen feet in diameter, he
pedals in direction opposite to that
of the wheel, and thus remains at
the bottom until the wheel has ac-
quired considerable velocity. Then
he stops pedaling, applies his brake,
and is carried backward and upward
nearly to the top, whence he rushes
down, and flies around and around
the revolving wheel with startling
speed.
At performance in Vienna a cy-
clist stricken with apoplexy fell from
the wheel and soon expired. But the
danger of cerebral congestion is not
the only one. The critical phase Of
the act Is the last, when both the BIZ
cycle and the large wheel are being
brought to rest by brakes. The BIZ
cycle lurches, and the slightest error
In steering may send 1t through the
open side of the wheel and precipi-
tate the rider to the stage.
In Germany genius called
'Eclair" invented an Internal wheel
OF another sort. 1t was about 25
feet in diameter, and a smaller wheel
rolled around inside OF 1t, obtaining
its impetus from plunge down an
inclined plane, which made a descent
of fifty feet. To this small wheel
"Eclair" was lashed in spreadeagle
fashion. He accustomed himself to
this novel mode of locomotion by
aving himself strapped TO a similar
Neel, which was turned rapidly
out fixed axis by means of a
rank.
More startling and perilous than
y of these devices is the "circle of
death" This is a large, fiat trun-
Gated cone, like the rim of a pud-
ding dish, supported by ropes in a
position slightly inclined to the hori-
zontal, so that only one side of the
lower and smaller edge rests on the
stage. Bicyclists-one or more-en-
ter the central space and run up and
around the steep side with their ma
chimes and bodies nearly horizontal
Then to add to the apparent and real
danger, the whole apparatus is
raised aloft. The effect is thrilling,
for the riders appear to be in con-
stant danger of falling. In Berlin, as
three cyclists were gyrating in a sim
gle circle of death, one fell and car
ried a second down with him. They
had scarcely reached the stage when
the third performer fell also.
What Is the incentive which i'm
pels these men and women to risk
their lives nightly before crowds of
spectators? Is it ambition vanity,
love of applause, or simply the hope
OF making fortune? The American
looping the loop" was conceived in
an essentially practical spirit, and
"Diavolo," who received 5000 a
a night, has become a rich man.
Mile. Dutrieu, the human arrow"
earns $4,000 year, "Mephisto" re-
oeived $140, Mile. de Tiers 5000
night in Paris and larger sums
abroad. Imitators, of course, re-
ceive less than originators. The cur
rent pay for looping the loop is from
$50 to $40 a night, which is not high,
especially if the performer owns the
apparatus, which costs at least $500.
1t seems, therefore, that the hope
Of gain is not the only incentive, but
that the performer, like the public, is
attracted by the very danger of the
act-a curious illustration of the
fascination eXerted by emotions which
in themselves are disagreeable.