The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-01-13
ROYAL STRONG ARMS
Famous Monarchs That RivaIed
the Mighty Samson.
AMAZING =FEATs OF MUSCLE.
The Emperor Maximianus Could Lift
Three Men With One Hand-Ausus-
tus the Strong Of Saxony Carried
Horse and It's Rider on His Back.


tus the Strong Of saxony Carried
Horse and It's Rider on His Back.
Curiously enough, a 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 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.
lIaximianus' strength was prodi-
gious. It was said that on foot he
could run down fox, that he could
lift three men with one hand and that
5y gripping the wheel of Il chariot
with one finger he could resist the pull
Of three horses. Like most men OF
great physical strength, Maxinianus
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 courtters,
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 bulge. 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 cider. This re-
markable performa rs witnessed
by number of md attend
ants.
King Richard OF En- r"Coeur de
Lion") had uemen .rength. Dur
ing his captivity il germany he 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. n 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. 1t was then the kings turn, and
he landed a blow just behind his op-
ponent's ear so heavy that the man
was instantly killed.
This incident is used in Sir Walter
Scotts famous historical novel ivan
hoe," where King Richard, the Black
Knight" and the jolly outlaw Friar
Tuck have an exchange Of bufets,
without, however, any fatal result.
Dom Pedro T., emperor Of Brazil. is
also on the list Of royal strong men.
On the occasion Of carnival be 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 TIE midst Of the festivities
the king reached out. grasped court
ter with each hand, and after holding
them for a 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 50 developed q naturally pow
erful physique that he was believed 70
be the strongest man in Russia.
The story is told that certain
blacksmith in a little country town hao
boasted that he was the only black
smith in the world who could LIT MS
own anvil. The emperor, hearing OF
the blecksnith's boast. disguised him
self as a workman and with single
companion set out for the blacksmith's
village. On learning of their errano
the blacksmith without q 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 it a foot. two feet. three. higher
and higher. till be finally swung it to
his shoulder and calmly walked away
with it.
Charlemag gne 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 oy
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 III
the world. He was often called the
Russian Samson" The czar's regular
visiting card was I 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 be could not break in two.
He could take two fresh packs of cards
and by gripping the ends with bis
hands tear them straight down through
the middle.
It is said that on one occasion q Wo-
man companion expressed wish for
bouquet holder in which to place q
large bunch Of roses The car TOOK
pewter tankard from a table nearby
and with a few movements Of his pow
erful hands fashioned 1t into rough
but picturesque and quite efficient bou-
ouet holder.-W. r. C. Latson in New