Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-29

| fairly 1 will admit defeat like man,
but demand fair and square opponents
Have l ever been defeated in chal-
leIiY&e? No, never. L have had many
narrow escapes. 1 have been caught
mapping by men who laid their brains
against mine, but always some subtle
instinct has warned me when trap
has been laid for me- Scarcely week
passes but someone, falling to defeat
me by fair means, resorts to trickery.
My experience with men of this class
keeps me forever on the alert.
The nearest that ever came to de-
feat was in the town of Blackburn,
England. where 1 appeared at the Pal
ace theater in October, 1909. The chal-
lenger was man named Hodgson, VINO
seemed to accept my public appearance
in Blackburn as sort of personal al :
front to him in his capacity of principal
| of a school of physical culture. He
| challenged me in a way that left him
| open to do almost anything he chose to
me- 1 saw that the challenge was al
| together favorable to him, but circum-
stances compelled my acceptance. The
cuffs which Hodgson brought had been
| tampered with in various ways, ano
this was not denied by him, but he
| claimed that the terms of the challenge
left him the privilege. He chose to
follow the letter of the challenge ano
cast aside every thought of good
craftsmanship or professional gooc
, feeling. 1t was to be battle Pout'
rance.
Imposes Cruel Test
First he fixed a pair of irons ovel
} my upper arm, passing the chain be
Md my back and drawing it tigh
: with all his great strength To maxi
assurance doubly sure he fixed anothe
( pair in the same way. Both were pad
locked behind.
Then he placed handouts on m!
= wrists so that my arms, already pulle'
!, stiffly backward were now drawn for
8 ward In vain l protested that he wa
i almost breaking my arms. Up to tina
: time he had the assistance of anothe
i person, also man of great strength
y and the united efforts of the two wer
y devoted to Tightening the irons to tn
d limit. A second pair of cuffs wer
: placed on my wrists, trussing m
d arms so securely that there seemed n
r possibility of moving them.
s Finally he forced me to kneel dowr
d and shackeling my ankles passed tn
d chain of the leg irons through tn
chain that bound my elbows togethe
n behind my back. This chain was ais
d doubled and drawn tight SO that 1 re
o NAMED kneeling with my feet draw
20 almost up to the middle or my Dacl
It Will you please try this position fc
IT half a minute without irons and er
t. deavor to imagine how felt shackle
d in that way?
S. My little ghost house was place
le over me, for L could not move to 81
s. into it. fell on my side and could nj
le rise to my knees, After fifteen mil
lie utes Hodgson permitted as a favor thi
t. 1 should be lifted up to my knees.
mi struggled for twenty minutes withol
ia avail. 1t seemed that my career wt
J. ended My arms were numb and bloot
IS less The circulation was almost ell
W tirely suspended. l pleaded to hay
20 the cuffs removed for minute that Il
/ circulation might be restored. Hodl
# son refused unless I would admit d
10 feat A doctor in the audience can
on the stage and examined me al
stated that my arms were blue and tn
1t was dangerous to keep me chain'
lr longer But / would not surrend
it and Hodgson would not concede {
Up iota.
re Undergoes Terrible Ordeal
se Fifty minutes after the manacles we
Ill attached had succeeded in freeing o
re hand and never did heartier cheers gre
e. a performer than were accorded me VIII
Il thrust back the curtain and showed o
5e handcuf opened and my hand freed.
sdi At the end of two hours I Mas FRI