The sun., 1907-04-07

powers the others snlZe his arms and hold
them up on each side while others behind
take part Of the weight of the crate Ou their
shoulders, and thus. among them, they
struggle TO the end of the track and deposit
the load on the platform.
The one trial is enough for far more than
half of those who make it. After a month
or two, the learner may he able to get from
one end TO the other alone, but he still stag
gers. In three months at three lessons a
week the apprentice ought 10 he in form.
The strong men have AT times lost some
Of the business which they ordinarily con-
troll through cartmcn discharping loads of
-four themselves at bakeries a "A cut rate
| They have ways of dscouraging Competi-
ton of this sort which are effective.
In one case they seized driver who
had been doing this on a quiet street and
thrust him into a sack with "A few pounds OF
-four in il and shook him up until he wa all
but blinded and Choked.
Then they threw the sack 10y the roadside
and told passing junkman il was a bag of
old bones he could have. They Also helped
him TO heave il into his cart on top Of heap
of broken bottles and when the victims
screams started the iunkman running, they
skipped too, and left the poor devil ia his
painful position until policeman drlfted
that way.
The strong men who make n speciality of
-four and grain get from two TO eight cents
a sack according to the stairs they have 10
climb. On good days one of them will carry
100 sacks. or about IS 900 pounds. and his pay
will be from s. TO $50. One Of the strongest
of the strong, VI. Mollier. is famous for carry
ing 100 sacks before lunch and 100 after IT,
Once he unterdOok 20 carry alone seventy
sacks up a very steep staircase to a second
story loft. He did il in three hours. With
an ordinary 100 sack afternoon, he earned
40 francs or s. that day. His average load
per day Is from 1900 10 l6,0OOkitos or $4,000
to IS 200 pounds.
Hippolvte Glairon-Rqppdz, known rs
Father Glairou the dean Of the -four group
of strong men. is 90 years old He was born
in Savoy-al the strong men come from
either Savoy or Auvergne- and he worked
for twenty-nine years. In that time he bore
upon his shoulders about 352 .OOO 900 pounds.
When he entered on his career, NAV be re-
marked he was consumptive.
Glairon had an uncle who was also a
strong man He was feet inches tall and
he often carried two sacks of -four at one
time up fight Of stairs-a weight of zoe
pounds OF thereabouts
IL is tradition of the guild that one day
a comrade canning down stairs barred his
way in Jest, whereupon he seized the man
by the w8istband with one hand. loaded him
on top of the -four bags and finished hs trip
70 the top OF the flight. This Hercules
saved his money and hought n wine shop.
He grew rich and carried money about.
A band Of the TnaraudeTs who have infested
the streets OF Paris from time immemOral
lay in wait for him one night - rob him
He began by hurting five of them into the
seine. then seizing q sixth by the hseis iI-
used him n n club to beat or the others.
The strong men have festivities Of their
own at which they do stunts. Az the Paris
COrbel track in March, 1895. they had
walking match Of " kilOmeters, or about
twenty miles. The contestants carried a
sack weighing 50 kilOs, or about 10 pounds.
IL was won by strong man named
Iabasse, who covered the distance in ten
hours. At the Champs de Mars some years
later seventy-five contestants entered IN
match 10 carry 22O pounds sixty miles on
measured track. The contest lasted more
than seventy-twO hours
Only two finished. Last October a. the
market there vas "A contest in carrying
crate weighing $40 pounds 100 yards. IL was
won by member Of the poultry group
named Yigneau-