Year: 1876

frederick E.ruaby was educated at Has-
row, and thence proceeded to Germany,
where, under private tuition, he acquiredan
unusually perfect acquaintance with the
French, italian and German languages, and
incidentally imbibed q taste for gymnastics.
AteiIteeu he, the youngest of l50candidates,
passed his examination for admission to the
army, and at the mature age of seventeeo
found himself 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 music with
all the ardor since shown in other directions,
and the cup Of his joy must have been full
when q precise examination led to the de-
monstration of the fact that his arm measur.
ed round the biceps exactly seventeen in
Chez His playing at Aldershot was dumb
bell weighing ITO pounds, which he lifted
straight out with one hand, and there was o
standing bet of s1O sterling that no other
man in the camp could perform the same
feat. At the rooms of the London Fencing
Club there is to this day dumbben weigh
ing 122 pounds, and Captain Barnaby is the
only member who can lift it above his head.


There is q story told of early barrack days,
which brings pleasantly up a reminiscence Of
the Tchborne trial. A horse dealer arrived
at Windsor with pair of beautiful little po-
MES, which he had been commanded to show
to the Queen. Before exhibiting them 10
Her Majesty he took them to the cavalry bar
racks for display to the officers of the Guards.
Some Of these, by way of q surprise, led the
ponies upstairs into Barnaby's room, where
they were much admired But when the
time came to take leave an alarming difficult
ty 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 de-
spair, when young Barnaby settled the mat
ter by taking up the ponies, one under each
arm, and, walking down stairs, deposited
them in the barnck yard.


But Comet Barnaby was rs skilful as he was
strong. He was one of the best amateur
boxers Of the day, as Tom Paddock, Nat
LAnghsm 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 a
swordman, 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 for q small
wager to hop quarter of mile, run quar-
ter of . mile, ride quarter of q mile row q
quarter Of . mile and walk q quarter of
mile in quarter of an hour, al who Gov.
cred the mile and q quarter CT distance in
ten minutes and twenty seconds. Fred. Bar
naby bad, while barely out Of his teens,
realised his boyish dream and became tho
strongest man in the world. But he had al-
10 begun to pay the penalty Of success il
the coin Of wasted tissues and failing health.
When man finds, after anxious and varied
experiments, that q water ice is the only form
Of rcurishment that his stomach will retain,
he is driven to the conviction that thero is
something wrong and that he had better SEE
the doctor. The result of the young ath
iet.s visit to the doctor was that ie mourn
fully laid down the dumb bells and tho foil


.schewed gymnastics and took to tr.v.l