Year: 1876




Fred. Barnaby was educated at llar-
row, and thence proceeded to Germany,
where, under private tuition, he acquired
an unusually perfect acquaintance with
the French, Italian and German ungua-
gcs, and incidentally imbibrd taste for
gymnastics. At sixteen he, the youngest
OF $50 candidates, passed his eNumina-
ton for admission to the army, and ut
the mature age Of seventeen found him
sell II cornet in the Royal Horse Guards
At this time his breast seems to have
been fired by the noble ambition to be.
come the strongest man in the world
He threw himself into the pursuit OF
muscle with all the urdor since shown in
other directions, and the cup Of his joy
must have been full when precise ex.
animation led to the demonstration Ofthe
fact that his arm measured round the
biCeps seventeen inches. His plaything
at AIdrrsllOt was Il dumb.bell weighing
40 pounds, which he lifted straight
out with one hand, and there was
standing bet Of gl0 that no other man in
camp could perform the same feat. AT
the rooms -oi the London fencing club
there is TO this day dumbbell weighing
l20 pounds, and Capt. Barnaby is the
only member vino can lift it above his
head. There is story told of early bar
rack days which pleasantly brings up
"reminiscences Of the Tichborne trial. A
horse dealer arrived ut Windsor with
pair of beautiful little ponies (which he
had been commanded to show the Queen
Before exhibiting to her Majesty he took
them to the cavalry barracks for display
to the officers OF the guards. Some OF
these, by way OF surprise, led the pom
les up stairs into Barnaby's room, where
they were much admired. But when the
time came to take leave ans alarming.dif-
ticulty presented itself. The ponies,
though they had walked upstairs, could
by no means be induced to walk down
again. The officers were in fix; the
horse dealer was in despair, when young
Barnaby settled the matter by taking up
the ponies, one under each arm, and
walking down stairs deposited them in
the barrack yard.


But Curnet Barnaby was as skilful as
he was strong. lie was one of the best
amateur boxers of the day, as Tom Pad
dock, Nat. Langham and Bob Travers
could testify OF their own well earned
experience. Moreover, he fenced as well
as he boxed, and the turn OF his wrist,
which never failed to disarm swords
man, was known in more than one OF the
capitals of Europe. Ten years ago every
body was talking Of the wonderful feat
of the young guardsman, who undertook
to hop quarter of mile, row u quarter
of a mile and walk quarter OF mile
and who could cover the three quarters
Of dstancein ten minutes and twenty Sec
onds. Barnaby had, whilst barely out of
his teens, realized his boyish dream and
become the strongest man in the world.
But he had also begun to pay the penalty
of success in the coin of wasted tissues
and failing health. When man finds,
after anxious and varied experiments,
that a waterloo is the only fora Of
nourishment his stomach will retain, he
is driven to the conviction that there is
something wrong, and that he had bet
ter see the doctor. The result of the
young athelete's visit to the doctor was
that he mournfully laid down the dumb
bells and the toils, eschewed gymnastics
and took TO travel.