The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-19

duoed by Farini. The first of which I had
personal knowledge was an act by a trapezC
artist. who stood on a concealed trap
on the ground. II was sprung ut a signal,
throwing the performer, like ajack in the
box, directly up in the air for about twenty
Ave feet to the swinging bar OF q trapaze.
where he did the usual aerial exercises.
It was a startling innovation and caused
q distinct sensation.
Farini's next success was the woman
shot from a cannon-"zAzel. the Human
Cannon Ball" The principle was the same
as in the former act. only the springs were
in a big wooden cannon into the muzzle of
which the young woman was loaded.
Both Of these acts were FIRST produced by
Farini at the London Aquarium, OF which
he was manager. and subsequently, were
performed here and in other countries. In
each case the performer was known by the
same anne 30 there were several 'Zazels'
being fired daily in % many different
countries. II was q supreme success. as
these facts indicate.
This act was performed in New York and,
being leased from Farini, was taken on the
road the following summer. In passing,
l may note hat women were the first
hgurantes in the mechanical thriller.
Even before the war a, woman who slid
down q wire suspended by the hair Of her
head in the old Van Amberg show was the
sensation Of h day. This field seems to
have been conceded to the fair sex, for in
Farini's next thriller Lulu. the Human
Meteor a young mar was disguised as a
woman.
This Lulu act. in my opinion, has never
been excelled as a sensation. A huge
wooden arm about ten feet long, hinged at
the bottom. vas drawn baok so that 1t
rested fiat upon q platform, two stout
rubber springs being compressed by this
operation. The artist, Lulu would lie
full length on this arm.
The springs were released and the per-
former would be hurled through a curved
trajectory Of about 100 feet. Two somer-
saults were turned during the flight, at
the end Of which the performer landed
| safely in a net raised a few feet from the
ground.
This Lulu was generally supposed to be
a young woman, but as a matter OF fact
It was the brother-in-law OF Farini himself
who performed the feat. SO well was the
secret Of his sex guarded that even his
oolaborers OF the sawdust arena didn't
know 1t, and the young man was the re-
oipient Of many amorous missives from
his own sex In England as we'll as in
America.
As the act was in the height of its popu-
larity in 1890, many people Of to-day will
remember Lulu, the daring young lady
hurled from q Roman catapult. 1t was
run with the w. c. Coup show while sZazel-
operated with a rival concern.
About this time came another "Zazel'
aot-that Of q repetition Of the ante-beIlum
slide for life. A young woman descended
q wire from a height OF about thirty feet
to the ground, ostensibly by the hair Of
her head. Really she was invihbly sup
ported by q stout metal belt about the body,
connection with the wire being made
through her mass Of hair. To the public
1t appeared the real thing, although IL was
quite palpable that the woman's- weight
suspended by the hair alone would have
scalped her and the act would have been a
hair raiser for a fact.
For a time the mechanical thrillen dis
appeared from the sawdust and legitimate
sensations succeeded. There were the
high wire acts. such as walking the high
tight wire blindfolded, with the feet in
baskets, carrying another person upon the
shoulders, and all that. These were no
only sufficiently dangerous but they were
highly meritorious from ar artistic point
Of view.
While these risky performances resulted
in legislation in most OF the States for the
protection Of the net at every aerial ex-
hibition ~endangering life or limb. they
did not satisfy the public craving. The
Human Arrow came.
It was q young woman thrown from a
powerful crossbow. This crossbow was
fixed about fifteen feet from the ground,
and the Human Arrow was fired at a paper
target, through which she plunged head
first, catching the hands OF a trapeze artist,
who was hanging ready. head downward,
from his swinging bar. This act had q run
of two seasons, but awoke very little public
enthusiasm.
Nothing particularly remarkable was
developed after this until the bicycle
came in. It was seized upon at once for
sensational stunts. These were for some
time merely fancy and trick riding on q
platform.
Everybody is familiar with the evolu-
ions Of the bicycle. Performers rapidly
succeeded each other in skill and daAng,
and from platform to midair on tight wires,
and up and down steps and inclined planes,
until looping the loop was reached by
'Diavolo.' !
Right here let me call attention TO the |
strange pecuIarities Of showmen. This
act was a bowling success in New York and
the show producing IL Forepaugh) did a
tremendous business. The show had no
other sensation, yet it did not take the act
on the road.
They merely engaged II for a few cities
like Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, St. Louis,
DC. The Sells Bros. were known to be close
managers, even among showmen, who are
all closeisted, and I suppose they curtailed
expenses. But IL was a ouriously short
policy to let an approved money
maker 60.
The next sensation was looping the gap.
thriller in which the bicycle figured.
II was the same in principle as looping the
loop, only a section Of the loop was missing,
the wheelman to jump the space
with his " momentum. I
Then came the 'Kinetic Demon another
act, but quite different. In this
last feat the rider rode his wheel alongside
Of a sloping circular wall. Gradually az he