The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1909-01-07
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous Monarchs That RivaIed
the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING FEATs OF MUSCLE.
The Emperor Maximianus Could Lift
Three Men With One Hand-Auaus-
tus the Strong of Saxony Carried a
Horse and Its Rider on His RacL

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 "NIaXimianus Her
cules" because of his great strength.
he was the son OF a peasant and had
an enormous physique. He became Il
common soldier and was finally made
emperor by acclaim Of his fellow sol
dlerS during a stormy period of Ro.
man history
Max1mlanuS' strength was prodi-
gious. 1t was said that on foot he
could run down n fox, that he could
iltt three men with one hand and that
by gripping the wheel of chariot
with one finger he could resist the pull
Oh three horses. Like most meu 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
graspinS one With his right hand and
another with his left, holding them up
at arms length and playfulIy twirling
them about.
On one occasion the horse ridden nv
one or his attendants became ball,y
md refused to bulge. After some min
ates OF coaXing the king dismounted,
placed his Herculcan shoulder under
The horses. chest, grasping it by the
Tore legs, and calmly walked away
with both horse and rider. This re-
mafkaDle performance was witnessed
by number of courtiers and attend
ants.
King Richard of England C.Coeur de
lion } had tremendous strength. Dur
ing MS captivity i'll Germany he gave
terrible demonstration of lis physical
powers. The son of one Of the ward
ems was youth locally renowned for
mis- muscular strength and in his as
surancc invited the royal captive to an
exchange of Luffets. The young man
by cast of the dice Won the right to
the first stroke and struck the king a
staggering blow on the side of the
head. 1t was then the kings turn, and
be landed a blow just behind his op-
ponents ear so heavy that the man
was instantly killed
This incident is used in Sir Walter
SCOTS famous historical novel CYAN
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 J.. emperor Of Brazil, is
also on the 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 courtiers
Suddenly in the midst of the festivities
the king reached out Grasped 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 drenchcd
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 naturally pow
erful physique that he was believed to
be the strongest man in Russia.
The story is told that a certain
blacksmith in n little country town had
boa Stcd that he was the only black
smith in the world who could lift his
own anvil. The emperor. hearing of
the blacksmith's boast. disguised him.
self as II workman and with n single
companion set out 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 it with
great effort about 4 foot from the floor.
Then Peter took hold of the anvil.
raised It foot. two feet. three. higher
and higher. till he finally swung it to
his shoulder and calmly walked away
with it.
Chariemagne 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 Car Alexander Ill.
who was one of the strongest men in
the world He was often called the
Russian Samson" The cars 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
horSeShoeS and it 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 MS