The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1909-05-06
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous Monarchs That Rivaled
the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING FEATS OF MUSCLE.

} tus tho Strong of Saxony Carried 6
Horse and It's Rider on His Back.
Curiously enough, large percentage
of the notably strong men OF history
have been Of royal blood. One Of the
earliest Of these royal athletes was
Maximianus, called "Maximianus Her
cules" because Of his great strength.
He was the son of a peasant and had
an enormous physique. He became
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-
Rious. It 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 a chariot
with one finger he could resist the pull
| of three horses. Like most men of
great physical strength, Maxim1anus
was a 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 eourtiers,
grasplng 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 bulge. After some min
utes Of coaxing the king dismounted,
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- |
markable performance was witnessed /
by number Of courtiers and attend
ants.
King Richard of England c'Coeur de
Lion') had tremendous strength. Dur
Ing his captivity in Germany he gave
a terrible demonstration of his physical
powers. The son of one of the ward
ems was 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 cast Of the dice won the right to
he first stroke and struck the king a
staggering blow on the side of the
head. 1t was then the kings turn, and
lie landed blow just behind his op-
'onent's ear so heavy that the man
vas instantly killed.
This incident Is used in Sir Walter
'cott's famous historical novel Cyan
loe," where King Richard, the BLACK
Knight" and the jolly outlaw Friar
luck have an exchange of buffets, ,
Without, however, any fatal result.
Dom Pedro l., emperor of Brazil, is :
lso on the list of royal strong men. :
IN the occasion of carnival he ar ;
anged matters so that he was stand =
lg on the bow of the royal barge be- {
ween two of his stateliest courtiers. 4.
in the midst of the festivities
lie king reached out, grasped q court =
r with each hand, and, after holding !,
lem for few moments squirming In !,
lie air and begging to be released, he :
'laxed his grip and allowed them to :,
'op plump into the water, amid the
antic applause Of the huge crowd =
at had assembled to view their mon :
ch. The king Joined heartily In the :.
neral hilarity, but what the drenched
urtiers thought about this exquisite :,
Ike Is not recorded. a
Peter the Great Of Russia, like Char ~
magne, possessed great physical as p
ell as mental power. His years OF g
ork as blacksmith and ship carpen- -
had so developed naturally pow -
full physique that he was believed to -
the strongest man in Russia. I'D
The story is told that a certain GO
lcksmith in little country town had w
asted that he was the only black IN
nth In the world who could lift his co
n anvil. The emperor. hearing of tr'
blacksmfth's boast, disguised him
( as workman and with a single
npanion set out for the blacksmith's
lage. On learning of their errand hu
) blacksmith without a word laid an
de his tools and, grasping the anvil to
n his brawny hands lifted it with de-
at effort about foot from the floor. att
en- Peter took hold of the anvil, q
sed 1t foot, two feet, three, higher full
higher, till he finally swung 1t to bot
shoulder and calmly walked away
b It, ellie
harlemagne was said to be the most anC
verful man physically OF his time. Tir
D of his favorite feats of strength
, to break the heaviest horseshoe by
oping 1t with one hand. &c
worthy successor of Peter the two
at was the late Gar Alexander III. bae
D was one Of the strongest men IN sigr
world. He was often called "the VIII,
sian Samson" The cars regular love
ting card was Russian coin some the
It larger than our silver quarter, Do
ch be would bend almost double Dee
his powerful fingers.
was also fond of breaking
and 1t is said he never rs
Id one he could not break In two. ist
could take two fresh packs Of cards so I
by gripping the ends with his 81
Is tear them straight down through plao
middle. han
Is said that on one occasion a wo- -Cl
companion expressed wish for q
luet holder in which to place a
e bunch of roses. The car took n So