The Washington times., 1921-10-30
vERYBoDY who goes to vaudeville OF

- Dooley. of the famous Dooley team,
whose knocka bout acrobatic tumbles and
falls startled the audience. Dooley would
fall over the footlights and land on top of
his head on the piano In the orchestra en-
closure without a scratch. If anybody else
in the theatre tried this It would result in
a broken neck.
William Dooley's brother Gordon, VIII,
worked In the act with him. would Jump
into the air and kick William with borh
feet in the chest But when Dooley fell
with full force on the base Of his brain
nothing happened except a smile on the face
of the acrobat as he picked himself up on
his feet again.
BY quite extraordinary irony Of fate,
the expert at tumbies and falls stubbed his
toe in getting out of a taxicab the other
evening-apd fractured his skull and died
from the INJURY
or course, there is trick about these
tumblers and their startling falls on the
stage. They are all carefully practised and
rehearsed, and the acrobat manages to fin1
a way In each case to take the shock Of the
fall so that he does not break his neck,
crack a rib or fracture his skull. Poor
Dooley happened to stub his toe and take a
rather gentle fall IN the sidewalk which he
had not had the opportunity to practise,
and the tumble cracked his skull.
AT the circus when we see a number Of
leapers jump over a couple of elephants,
clearing them with inches to spare, we are
thrilled When the clown who follows the
leapers attempts the same stunt and falls
on the elephant, instead OF being thrilled
we laugh at his misadventure.
Yet the clowns work is much more diff
ficult more dangerous and in the long
run more harmful than the work of the
others. He must be as good leaper as the
others must be able to gauge his leaps ac-
curately, so that he will fall upon part of
the elephants anatomy that has no hard
surface or points; he must fall in such a
way that the impact comes on the padded
seat of his breeches and not on his back or
side, and the fall must be funny and draw
laugh.
The business which makes the fall funny
also makes the fall dangerous, for 1t must
give the appearance Of hurting the per
former, or it must be grotesque. and this re-
quires special acrObatic or contortionists
skill. A slight miscalculation may lead to
a serious injury, such as happened to AL
Nash when he was a clown acrobat. In
stead of falling on the sloping side of the
elephant, sliding down and falling again
on the padded seat, he hit on the side be-
low the slope the impact came above the
pad, scraping the skin off his back and the
momentary shock and pain caused him to
put out his hands as he fell to the floor,
causing a dislocation at the wrist. Trivial
injuries are of almost daily occurrence In
- &ha and tho
batic comedian.
Permanent damage results In many cases,
not through accident but as a consequence
of frequently repeated slight shocks sucl
as happen in the falls, trips, slides and col
usions that are part Of their work. There
is a Jar to the nervous system and Jars to
the organs that are In the line through
which the jar is transmitted When one
expects to fall upon his feet he will in
stinctively bend the knees and hips at the
moment of impact and very little Of the jar
reaches the body. If one sits down heavily
even If protected by thick rubber pad, the
lar is carried through the body, shaking
the heart, lungs. liver, stomach and bowers,
and even the brain II the jar Is strong
enough In the clowns fall he can lessen
the force OF the impact, but he can do
nothing to prevent the jar to the Internal
organs
1ne udIlde5t thO iVhpO'o
are exposed to is the same that threatens
every athlete, namely hypertrophy or en-
largement of the heart. In all strenuous
physical work there is waste of muscle
which must be repaired from the blood.
The heart must work faster to send more
blood to the wasted muscles, especially IL
there Is rapid waste such as occurs in
short but intense physical efforts as In the
,sprint, high jump, broad jump, pole vault,
throwing weights, etc. II these are fro
ouently repeated the heart walls become
thicker and the heart Is thus able to send
the blood with more force through the body.
But there is limit to this hypertrophy
or thickening of the walls Of the heart.
when that limit is reached further strain
causes change in the character OF the
enlargement OF the heart. The heart muscle
then loses its elasticity and becomes
stretched and thinner. The heart is then
unable TO contract completely, the valves
do not close, the cavities become enlarged
and heart action is weak and irregular.
This condition, which is called dilatation oil
the heart, is very dangerous and under
slight exertion or excitement may cause In
slant death. When the athlete finds that
he gets palpitation OF the heart, shortness
of breath or faintness after practice which
Is not as severe as the final effort Is ex'
h..