Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-12-30
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous MonarchS That Rivaled
the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING FEATS OF MUSCLE.

Tire Emperor Maximanus COULD Lift
Three Men With One Hsnd-Aueus.
tus the Strong of Saxony Carried
Horse end Its Rider on His sack.
C,uioualy enough. large percentage
of the notably strong men of histor
have been of royal blood one of the
earliest Of these royal athletes was,
MaXimianus, called "Alaximianus Her
cules" because of his great strength.
lie was the son OF a peasant and had
an enormous physique. He became a
common soldier and was finally made
emperor by acclaim of his fellow sol
diers during stormy period of Ilo-
man history
MaIimianus' strength was prodi-
gious. 1t was said that on foot he
could run down a fox, that he could
lift three men with one hand and that
by gripping the wheel Of chariot
with one finger he could resist the pull
| Of three horses. Like most men Of
great physical strength, Maximianus
was Il heavy eater History records
that his daily allowance was forty
| pounds of me9t and eighteen bottles of
| wine.
Augustus the Strong of Saxoly was
another Of these royal Samslns He
would often seize two of his courtiers.
grasping one with his right hand and
/ another with bis lett, holding them up
ut arms length aud playfully twirling
/ them about.
| Oh enc occasion the horse ridden by
! one OF his attendants became balkY
and refused 10 budge After some min
utes of coaxing the king dismouuted.
! placed his Herculean shoulder under
the horses chest. grasping 1t by the
! fore legs, and calmly walked away
with both horse and rider This re
! marketable performance was Witnessed
by a number Of courticrs and attend
ants
King ehard of England C'Coeur de
Lion had tremendous strength Dur
ing his captivity in Germany be gave
a terrible demonstration of his physical
! powers The son of one OF the ward
ems was q youth locally renowned for
his muscular strength and In his as
surance invited the royal captive to an
exchange Of huffcts. The young man
! by cast of the dice won The right to
the first stroke and struck the King Il
| staggering blow on the side Of the
| head. 1t was then the kings turn. AMI
he landed a blow just behind his G.
( ponent's ear so heavy that the man
was instantly killed.
! This incident Is used In Sir Walter
Scots famous historical novel 'Tvan-
hoe" where King Richard. the 'Black
Knight" and the Jolly outlaw Friar
Tuck have an exchange Of Juffets,
without, however. any fatal result
| Dom Pedro l., emperor Of Brazil is
also on ,Ae list OF royal strong men.
| On the occasion Of carnival he ar
ranged matters so that he was stand
ing on the bow Of the royal barge be
tween two of his stateliest courticrs.
/ Suddenly in the midst of the festivities
the king reached out. grasped a court
fer with each hand, and. after holding
them for a few moments squirming in
the air and begging 10 be released. he
relaxed his grip ard allowed them to
drop plump into the water, amid the
frantic applause Of the huge crowd
that had assembled TO view their mon
arch. The King joined heartily IN the
general hilarity but what the drcuched
courtiers thought about this exquisite
joke is not recorded.
Peter the Great Of Russia, like Char
lemagne. possessed great physical as
we'll as mental power. His years Of
work as blacksmith and ship carpen-
ter had 50 developed a naturally pow
erful physique that he was believed to
be the strongest man IN Russia.
The story Is told that a certain
blacksmith In little country town had
boosted that he was the only black
smith in the world who could lift his
own anvil The emperor. heari1G Of
the blacksmith's boast. disguised him
self as workman and with a single
companion set ont for the blacksmith's
village On learning Of their errand
! the blacksmith without a word laid
aside his tools and grasping the anvil
with his brawny hands. lifted 1t With
great effort about a foot from the door
Then Peter took hold of the anvii,
raised IT a foot. two feet three, higher
and higher til he finally swung II tn
his shoulder and calmly walked away
with IT,
CbarlemaCne was said 10 be the most
powerful man physically Of bis time.
one Of his favorite feats Of strength
was TO break the heaviest horseshoe by
gripping if with one hand
A worthy successor Of Peter the
Great was the late Car Alexander III.
who was ore- u the strongest men tn