The Washington times., 1916-12-02
LEARN TO FALL In
FALLING FOR FILMS
Thus Escapes Broken Bones In
Thrilling Feats for
= PhotopIays.
BY GEORGE LARKIN.

had stolen auietly--those are
the words--into O picture theater in
Los Angeles to see for the first
time a picture In which I had
played the doughty, aiways-on-the-
Job hero.
Taking a seat in the last row Of
the house I found myself beside q
chubby youngster of thirteen or
fourteen, with the red hair and Arm
jaw that bespeak real grit. He was
given to audible comments on, the
pictures and II was just following
over n thirty.foot cliff that he made
the remark which has given me an
idea for this article.
Gee" he said, his fists clenching,
"Id be willing to do that for his
salary. I amt afraid OF anything.
do anything anyone else did"
When the picture was over 1
stepped Into the box ofhce for q
chat with the manager. with whom
I was acquainted. A few minutes
later the door banged open and In
s s%nsn, 'a AFRAID Ia' ~ anythinss I was
glad OF tho opportunity to talk
Don't you know that you would
be killed IL you attempted that
scene?" 7 said, after introductions
nhu utttloEtu Nnht nv "es NV 49,
OF the theater manager
where Skill Counts.
"well, you weren't" was his re.
ply. "And wouldn't mind being
hurt, so long as ] wasn't killed.
''But do you know how to fall7'
I persistented. And there he was
stumped. He seemed surprised to
know that there was such h, thing
eiifr. That /. the subject / wish
10 take for this article.
There IL q "science of daredevil.
try" To be a dsre-devil-and
suppose folks will persist IN think,
ing of me only as that, though ]
for my actipg-it 10 not. sufficient
10 have courage. Blind courage.
alone means that the dare devil will
not live beyond his second or
third feat-if he gets that far.
Knowledge is nece.sary. What
sort Of knowiedgel Well, the first
tion and control OF the muscles.
This IL the result only OF years OF
labor. I was fortunte In that, be.
fore I entered the stage. I was for
a number OF years q circus acrobat.
The rigorous training received then
the strenuous screen game.
with the muscles under absolute.
control quick spiitsecond thinking
IL the next necessity to save the
daredevil from death or serious &C
cIdent. For example, ] will take a
scene we recently staged for Grant,
Police Reporter"
In this scene I was 60 leap from
n first story window into a speed.
ing automobile a. II rounded the
corner. The first time we attempt.
cd this scene there was n slight
error In timing and the car swept
by second too soon leaving me
to land kerplump on the street
pavement.
3. Knew wkes To Relax.
To tho daredevil armed merely
with courage this might have
meant serious injury, or, Mt the
best. q broken arm or leg or 9th
er injuries that would have held
up the picture for a week Rut the
trained daredevil 10 always pre-
pared for such an emergency.
As sprang from the window I
had gone through the air scarcely
ten feet when I saw that was go
ing TO miss the car by inches. Al
most unconsciously then ! IRE.
Taxed" my muscles. and struck tho
pavement such as a sack OF sand
would. instead OF with the sudden
bones. or course, there was many
a bruised patch on the skin. but
those the daredevil always has win
him.
II II "reiaxing" the muscies that
saves the trapeze performer from
pu0T0 pI ave