Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-12-23
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous Monarohs That RivaIed
 the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING FEATS OF MUSCLE.
The Emperor Maximianus Could Lift Three Mon With One hand--Ausus- tus the Strong of ssxony Carried . Horse and Its Rider on His Back.


 of the notably strong men of history have been of royal blood. One of the earliest of these royal athletes was Maximianus, called "Maximlanus Her cules" because of his great strength. He was the son of a peasant and had an enormous physique. He became q common soldier and was finally made emperor by acclaim of his fellow sol diers during a stormy period of Ro. man history.
 Maximianus' strength was prodi- glous. It was said that on foot he could run down fox, that he could lift three men with one hand and that by gripping the wheel of q chariot with one finger he could resist the pull of three horses. Like most men of great physical strength Maximianus was heavy eater. History records that his daily allowance was forty pounds of meat and eighteen bottles of wine
 Augustus the Strong of Saxony was another of these royal Samsons. He would often seize two of his courtiers grasping one with his right hand and another with his left, holding them up at arms length and playfully twirling them about.
 On one occasion the horse ridden by one of his attendants became balky and refused to budge. After some min utes of coaxing the king dismounted, placed his Herculean shoulder under the horses chest, grasping it by the fore legs, and calmly walked away with both horse and rider This re. markable performance was witnessed by, number of courtiers and attend ants.
 King Richard of England C'Coeur de Lion'p had tremendous strength Dur ing his captivity in Germany he gave a terrible demonstrate of his physical powers. The son of one of the ward ems was a youth locally renowned for his muscular strength and in his as surance invited the royal captive to an exchange of buffets The young man by a cast of the dice won the right to the first stroke and struck the king a staggering blow on the side of the head. It was then the kings turn, and be landed blow just behind his op- ponent's ear so heavy that the man was instantly killed
 This incident is used in Sir Walter Scott's famous historical novel "Ivan- hoe where King Richard, the "Black Knight" and the jolly outlaw Friar Tuck have an exchange of buffets, without. however, any fatal result
 Dom Pedro r., emperor of Brazil, is also on the list of royal strong men. On the occasion of a carnival he ar ranged matters so that he was stand Ing on the bow of the royal barge be- tween two of his stateliest courtiers Suddenly in the midst of the festivities the king reached out, grasped a court Ter with each hand, and, after holding them for few moments squirming In the air and begging to be released, he relaxed his grip and 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 drenched courtiers thought about this exquisite joke is not recorded.
 Peter the Great of Russia, like Char lemagne, possessed great physical as well as mental power. His years of work as blacksmith and ship carpen- ter had so 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 boasted that he was the only black smith in the world who could lift bis own anvil The emperor, hearing of the blacksmith's boast, disguised him self as workman and with a single companion set out for the blacksmith's On learning of their errand the blacksmith without word laid aside his tools and. grasping the anvil with his brawny hands. lifted it with great effort about foot from the floor. Then Peter took hold of the anvil, raised 1t foot, two feet, three, higher and higher, till he finally swung 1t to his shoulder and calmly walked away with It.
 Charlemagne was said to be the most powerful man physically of his time. One of his favorite feats of strength was to break the heaviest horseshoe by gripping it with one hand.
 A worthy successor of Peter the Great was the late Czar Alexander III.. who was one of the strongest men in the world. He was often called the Samson" The czar's regular visiting card was a Russian coin some what larger than our silver quarter, which he would bend almost double with his powerful fingers.
 Alexander was also fond of breaking and 1t is said he never found one he could not break In two He could take two fresh packs of cards and by gripping the ends with his hands tear them straight down through the middle
 It is said that on one occasion a wo- man companion expressed a wish for