Year: 1871

/ On saturday afternoon the Nation.


al Theater, Cincinnati, was the scene
of fearful accident. The Sanyeahs


man and wife, were doing the trapeze
business, at a height of forty feet from
the auditorium floor.


The woman descended passed
through the parquettC, took her place
on the perch at the front of the Sec


Ond tier, and grasped the bar of the
trapeZe; the man caught himself, by


a twist of his legs, to the smaller bar,
far up above the orchestra and held


the traPeZe to which the woman was


to catch-by her feet, in the two an


giles made by the ropes and the bar ;


the orchestra struck up a faster tune


the woman launched out and sailed


over the heads of the people, threw
her legs out within the ropes held by
the man, let go the flying bar and


came down, head first-but safe. We
have described this performance thus
minutely that the reader may have
some idea of what followed.


The last and closing feat led the
man to do just what the woman had
done, the bar to which he was to
catch hanging from the ceiling, how
ever, but in the same position as that
he had held for the wOman-but the
woman was to take the awful voyage
with him-fastened to him by wrist
lets. The woman was on the perch
ahead the man, leaving him up in his
old position to carefully adjust the
ropes and a very necessary operation
as the reader will understand. He
did his work carefully, descending
and soon Joined the woman on the
little platform. The man grasped the
flying trapeze" firmly as the woman
passed her hands through the wrist
lets and clasped them around his
neck, and then, with his own life and
hers depending on his grip of hands
and feet launched out on the long
swing. 1t was very pretty and grace
ful-as handsome a picture as one can
well imagine, these fine specimens of
masculine and feminine physical
beauty, sailing through the air in a
grand curve, the woman hanging
loosely at the back of the man, whose
legs were being thrown forward to
.l- landing place. The distance was
accomplished in, say two seconds; the
mans body had passed between the
two ropes, he had thrown mis- legs out
to catch as he came back, and trust
all to his feet and those two anglers;
and in another second he would have
been dashed to the pit head first, with
his own weight and the wOman's.


In the instant allowed them to see
and know, the audience saw that the
mans right foot, as he came back,
mead downward, was not caught. One
could see and feel the great thrOb of
horror that went through the audience


nd hear the painful gulping of its
breath as the thought flashed through
every mind, ''Bas he lost his grip?
The athlete must have instinctively
felt, as he threw his legs apart, that
he would miss it, for even as he al
most lOOsened the grasp of his right
hand, he was seen to fix it again with
q convulsive movement that did not
escape an eye that looked upon him.
The strain upon him was terrible as
he came back, still elinging with his
hands to the trapeze, and the woman
at his back. His left foot caught and
twisted him, and the jar and jerk with
which their added weight brought
the swinging trapeze back in its OppO-
site movement was frightfuIly sug-
gestive of what might have been. In
the next minute, as the trapeze and
its double burden swept forward again
with its now helpless burden, about a
dozen hands were raised to catch the
wOman's heels and release her. This
was accomplished rather awkwardly,
owing to the delicacy of the men, all
of whom seemed to think that it
would be very improper to grasp the
woman by the hips or thighs and re-
lease her, easily and speedily.


An amusing feature in the affair
was the conduct of the leader of the
orchestra. Had their been a fall he
would probably have been crushed. As
he looked up and saw the slip and
heard the jerk he sprang from his
perch and whirled around like a top,
but he never missed a note. He was
frightened and felt it necessary that
he should know what was going on
but he kept on fiddlingI This trouble
and excitement over, the Sanyeahs
went back to their stand, started out
again and accomplished their task
as they have a hundred
times and more.