The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-04-24
R|sNING LIVES FOR
AMUSEMENT POPULAR
.r.TH INVARIABLY THE END
nop STUNT" HEADLINERS.
Deadly TO TAKE CHANCE.
GRAVES YAWN FOR me-

Thousands watched Harry S.
vonng the human fly" climb the
.;do Of a New York hotel few weeks
.oo his fingers and toes securing
orerarious hold in the inches in the
,,,u The thousands got their thrill
u n,ben they saw his form hurting ten
.+ories through space. and with a sick
sning thud fatten itself on the pave
rant below, where it lay, broken and
bseding. A few days later Harry
= Gi' yorng was buried. Only eight per-
cons were at the grave side.
Crowds Interested Only in Thrills.
The crowd was. no longer interested
IN him. He had furnished it a thrill.
He had satisfied that craving in the
human soul that centuries ago drew
the Dopulace of Rome to the arena
IN witness the mortal combat of hui
man pIadiators, the same craving that
attracted the crowds to the guillotine
in France when prisoner was to be
beheaded. 49,. m
# is the craving for thrill" that
i TODAY satisfied by the daredevil
aviator, the automobile racer, the
parachute jumper, the steeplejack, the
Nastunt movie-actor."
There is an organization in New
+ York called the Safety Last Society"
r rs members are men and women
whom insurance companies have re-
Unused as risks. They are in the same
class as Harry Young, the human
Inv" men and women who parade their
daring to furnish a thrill to their fell
low man.
Insurance companies refuse them as
risks and for a very good reason.
Nearly every one of the dare-devils of
Hive years ago, including the popular
stunt aviators, is now underground.
NUnder the law of averages death for
#these men and women is a certain
matter of few years at the most.
Public Must Be Satisfied.
Yet their ranks are ever full their
peculiar deeds are ever in demand.
sThe public must be satisfied. Their
pay is certain fame while they live,
but always sensational death in the
Ind, in two, three, or five years.
Wild animal trainers belong to the
Safety Last Society" They are ia
boo with insurance companies. A
lion, tiger, or elephant may meekly
Cbey his trainer for years, but at any
&moment may come the spring, the
sinking of the fangs into the flesh, or
4 he swing of the trunk that means
death.
A number of years ago Hamburger
SwaS the most celebrated lion tanner IN
\ the world. A story is told of him that
illustrates the craving for a sensation
+ that found its parallel in the case OF
4 the human fly" in New York City.
4 certain person followed Ham
burger from city to city, always APP
Spearing on the outside of the cage
whenever the performance started.
A The lion tanner, his curiosity aroused,
& said to the persistent spectator one
F day:
My lions seem to interest you very
much, sir"
N The man replied:
No, l am waiting to see them
make a meal of you"
And in the end the lions won.
Movies" displaying sensational
4 decds OF the actors and actresses, are
Nthe best drawing cards. They give the
thrill the public desires, that tense
expectancy eXemplifed by the man
who was waiting to see the lions make
p meal OF the lion tanner.
Circuses Furnish Their Share.
Ilght-rope walkers, with circuses or
( aS individual performers, swaying pre-
canously at dizzy heights, keep the
spectators in awed suspense, nerves
'ngmg at the prospect of what
might happen" And sooner or later,
the thing does happen. Thousands
Cheer the daredevil during the per
1ormance, but few gather at his grave
alter the fms OF his life has been writ
ten.
n A trip in balloon or airplane is
HaWays attended with a certain amount
\ ot danger. So many things may go
wrong. But the aviator who goes up
Tor the purpose of looping-the-loop,
GONG a few nose dives, or to write
MS name in the sky with his machine
70 thrill the thousands below is about
dS certain of death in the end as he
would be were he to subject himself
10 battery OF anti-aircraft guns with
HnoseS pointed at his plane. The names
VI great aviators of five years or more
ago are no longer heard. They are
seen only on the headstones of their
graves.
Then there is the parachute jumper
Lay county and state fairs. Plunging
through space to have the descent sud
yg9fnIy checked by a frail umbrella
ke affair is about as risky an occu-
patton as can be imagined. Needless
say, they carry no insurance on
nelr lives, for the simple reason the
'onpanles won't write them UP"
Many Others Flirt With Death.
he automobile racer also hirts with
Gealh every inch of the way around
a we racing bowl. He belongs to the
tsdiety. Last Society" Every year
Ge obituary of one or more of this
0eSS IS written.
there is also the steep1e-jack, the
.ash diver, the bareback rider, not
~. ~ mention the bullhghter of Mexico
T.l Spain-all eligible to the Safety
,."St Society" All taboo with insur-
. saCe companies. All furnishing the
b l!Hl that man has craved since and
lore the time the populace of Rome
55II'e the sign thumbs down" in the
h. b,'ouy arenas, the suspense that can
NJ, translated by the words what
might bapDarV a.I "a ,,e,,o1lxr docs