Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-12-05

likely had been the cause Of Peters death.
The steel cable lay straight, unknotted
not twisted. But two of the rubber cables
were disconnected The others had not been
strong enough to brake Peters fall and his
neck had taken the full force of the shock
when he reached the end of the steel cable.
The disconnected cables answered the
question of what had happened. but they did
not explain why. Why, after thirteen years
and for the two thousandth time, should
Peters fail to see that the cables, literally his
life lines, were not hooked up? What mental
lapse had betrayed him?
A psychologist might say that Bill Pape
right. Alloys Peters might have been
worrying about Catherine and dreading the
thought of performing without her. Worry
might have blinded him to the loosened cables
But nobody will ever know.
This time it happened, that's all.
Next night the audience Of six thousand
had sweled to eleven, and the night after
that, to thirteen thousand. The Great"
Peters was dead, but there were other aero
bats and riders-after all, you never can tell
maybe this time something would happen
again.
There is always talk of "premonitions"
and hoodoos" when accidents happen to pro-
fessional thrill performers.
Actually, though. the premonitions are
those of the spectators, many of whom suf-
fer far more apprehension. than the performer.
People of this type, psychologist would
suspect, are. those whose early homicidal i'm
pulses have been strongest and also most
strongly suppressed.
Performers. in addition to- being especially
trsi0ed for their tasks, are eharacteristesS..
fatalsts.
What appears to have been an actual pre-
monition, however, was experienced by Lillian
Leitzel, the famed circus aerialist.
1t was in Copenhagen, in her thirty-sev-
enth year of life and thirty-fourth as a per-
former. She was starring in the act in which
she eXcelled over any other acrobat, man or
woman-the giant half flange."
In this act, grasping with one hand a fly
ing ring fifty feet above the ground she
literally threw herself over her own shoulder
not dozen times in succession, but hundreds
Of times. Her record was 249 times; usually
If the audience become bored, she made it
an even one hundred.
1t took tremendous physical endurance
to do this, OF course, and tremendous daring.
too, for, In order TO make the act more thrill
ing. TO satisfy the audiences craving for
vicarious danger, she never worked with a
safety net beneath her.
On this afternoon in Copenhagen she told
she had had bad dream. She dreamed she
was doing the flange and. in the midst of it,
lost her nerve, loosened her grip on the ring.
and fell.
Yet it cannot be certain that this was a
real premontion. Actually, Miss Leitzel just
may have not been feeling well that night
and mental depression may have made her
perceive the real danger Of her way of MAX
ing living.
The one thing that is certain is that there
was bigger crowd of spectators tho next
night. Somebody had been killed and some
body else might be. So subconseious homi4
cidal urge, born in some forgotten moment
of childhood, sent them back on the possible
chance that they'd be in at the death this
time.