The Washington herald., 1911-03-26
CIRCUS ACROBATS CONTINUALLY WOO
DEATH, But RARELY HAVE ACCIDENTS

seven wars that have been with the
fall.
| Snapped Both Wrists.
That was the sensation fall made on
the opening night last year in New York
An acrobat had not properly knotted the
ropes from which he was to be swung in
midair; the strain came entirely upon his
| wrists. Both of his wrists were snapped.
and he fell to the net below. But even in
| his manned condition he kept his wits
about him and landed on his shoulders.
He is alive and well to-day except for
those injured wrist bones. They, of
| course, put him permanently out of the
acrobat business
And there's the answer to the uues-
ton: Why are there practically no acci-
dents in the circus? Every performer
knows his stunt from A to q. A miscaI-
culated fraction of an inch or of a second
would cause a mishap; but eyes, nerves
and muscles have been so thoroughly
trained that those miscalculation do not
occur
Take the Clark brothers, aerialists
known professionally as the Clarkonians
Ernest, the younger of the two, is the
only man in the world who can turn a
double somerSault and a twister in the
air. They began when they were seven
years old, and have been working at 1t
from five to seven hours a day ever
since. They neither drink nor smoke.
probably the most dangerous featS of
the arena are the acrobatic equestrian
acts. Starting when they are about six
years old. the performers are trained for
four years on the ground before they are
permitted to stand on a horse. 1t is
harder to teach a girl to ride than a
boy, one reason being the formers lack
Of strength and stamina. Only a girl
with physique very like a boy can hope
to succeed. 1t is difficult for any woman
to turn somersault and it is possible
only for those who have the adolescent
figure.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
mo adequate idea can be conveyed Of
the hard work that brings rider like
Josie de Mott to such a position as hers.
For ten years she worked each day until
she had reached the absolute limit of
her strength, being careful not to over
tax 1t is all practice. practice practice.
TT does not take so long to train aero
bats or aerialists as it does riders. But
in this branch, too, they must start as
children. When a circus performer wish
es TO damn another he says: Started
to learn after his feet stopped growing
Like the riders. the boys and girls
who do acrobatic and aerial feats begin
with the rudiments of tumbline and
They must have control of
their bodies to degree not realized by
outsiders A really fine acrobat can
stand In the middle of five circles whose
peripheries touch. start to turn a somer- |
sault and land In any one of the five |
circles that is indicated while he is in |
the air.
Just to show you in what a matter |
of-fact manner circus people regard the |
dangerous work they are doing daily I |
want to tell you about Lily Allen. an |
English girl who was a high trapeze |
performer. Every day. away up in the
big top she would swing to and fro in |
nid-air, and 1t did not mean any more to |
ler than walking across the street does
ioes to US. One night she went to an
park with some friends. /
When they wanted her to shoot the
,hutes there was nothing doing. She
would not think Of It: she was scared
'tif. She simply could not understand
low people could do It. and when II came
o the loop-the-loop, all the money In
:reation would not bulge her"