JUGGLERS AND ACROBATIC PERFORMANCES.
JUGGLERS.
The tricks performed by jugglers afford a most wonderful example of the
perfection that our senses and organs are capable of attaining under the
influence of exercise.
The juggler is obliged to give impetuses that vary infinitesimally. He
must know the exact spot whither his ball will go, calculate the
parabola that it will describe, and know the exact time that it will
take to describe it. His eye must take in the position of three, four,
or five balls that are sometimes several yards apart, and he must solve
these different problems in optics, mechanics, and mathematics
instantaneously, ten, fifteen, twenty times per minute, and that, too,
in the least convenient position--upon the back of a running horse, upon
a tight-rope, upon a ball, or upon a barrel that he causes to revolve.
His dexterity is wonderful. Many jugglers are content to perform their
feats of skill with their hands, and, in addition, do balancing worthy
of remark.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
We can obtain experimentally some idea of the dexterity shown by a
juggler by trying for ourselves the simplest of his tricks. Whoever is
capable of throwing two balls into the air at once, and catching them in
succession while standing steadily in the same spot, and without being
obliged to step to the right or left, or undergoing contortions, is
endowed with an undoubted aptitude for juggling. On the other hand,
whoever can stand upright upon a rickety chair without any feeling of
fear, or cross a country brook, not upon a tight-rope or wire (which
would be too much to ask for a _début_), but upon a plank of two hands’
width, and do this without a quick palpitation of the heart, has an
aptitude for tight-rope walking.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
To perform with a couple of balls, however, is quite simple, and many
children succeed in it after a few days’ practice. They proceed as
follows: Having a ball in each hand, they throw the one in the right
vertically into the air, pass into the right the one that is in the left
and throw this up too, receive the first ball in the left hand, and pass
it into the right, throw it up again, and so on; so that the two balls
are almost constantly in the air, save during the time it takes to
receive the ball with one hand and pass it into the other. If, instead
of using both hands, the child employs but one, receiving and throwing
one ball while the other is in the air, the difficulty is greater, and
the young man who can perform this operation twenty times without
dropping one of the balls can treat the artist of the circus as a
_confrère_. To perform with three balls it is necessary to have been
taught by a professor. Moreover, it should be remarked that the art of
juggling has sufficient advantages as regards the development of the
touch, the quick calculation of distances, the nimbleness of the
fingers, and the accuracy of the eye and of motion, to cause it to be
added to those gymnastic exercises which children are taught at school.
It is to this art that the celebrated prestidigitateur Robert-Houdin
attributed the dexterity and accuracy that he displayed in his tricks.
In his memoirs, he relates that, while taking some lessons from an old
juggler, he applied himself so closely to the exercises that at the end
of a month he could learn nothing further from his instructor. “I
succeeded,” says he, “in performing with four balls, but that did not
satisfy my ambition. I wished, if it were possible, to surpass that
faculty of reading by appreciation, which I had so much admired in
pianists; so I placed a book in front of me, and, while the four balls
were flying in the air, accustomed myself to read without hesitation. It
could not be believed how much delicacy and certainty of execution this
exercise communicated to my fingers, and what quickness of perception it
gave my eye. After in this way rendering my hands supple and obedient, I
no longer hesitated to directly practice prestidigitation.”
In order to keep their hand in, professional jugglers have to exercise
daily, since a few days of voluntary or forced rest would necessitate
double work in order to give the hands their former suppleness and
dexterity. As is well known, the same is the case with the agility of
the _danseuse_, with whom one day of rest often means more than eight
days of double work.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
Some jugglers perform with objects of the most diverse nature, throwing
up, for example, at the same time, a large ball, an orange, and a piece
of paper, and giving these articles of different size and weight such an
impulsion that each falls and is thrown again at the moment desired.
Some jugglers, as a support, use merely a simple wooden bar held
vertically, and upon the top of which they perform their various feats
of dexterity or contortion. It is the same apparatus formerly used by
Greek acrobats, and, by reason of its form, called πεταυρον (perch for
fowls). Some acrobats even balance themselves on the head at the top of
this perch, with their legs extended in lieu of a balancing pole. Their
arms are free, and they eat, drink, smoke, shoot off a pistol, perform
with balls and daggers, and, in a word, perform the most diverse feats
(Fig. 2).
Some jugglers are capable of performing extremely curious feats of
dexterity with the most diverse objects; for example, with rings that
they throw into the air, with hats that they revolve by striking the
rim, or with a flag or napkin that they revolve. These hats and napkins
no longer seem to obey the laws of gravity. Others, by means of a
streamer, form helices and graceful curves; and others, again, by means
of a simple bit of paper, succeed in reproducing the Japanese butterfly
trick. Japanese maidens are noted for performing this with extraordinary
grace and skill.
THE LEAMY REVOLVING TRAPEZE.
The application of mechanics to scenic and gymnastic displays has an
interesting exponent in the revolving trapeze, an exhibition which,
after attracting much attention in England, has come back to the United
States.
In the smaller cut we illustrate the mechanism of the apparatus, while
the performance executed upon the apparatus is shown in the larger cut.
From the ceiling of the great auditorium is suspended a vertical three
sided rectangular frame open at the bottom. In its lower extremity is
journaled at the center a four-sided rectangular frame, from whose
extremities two trapezes hang. To the upper side of the vertical frame
is secured a bicycle, which, by gearing shown in the small cut, connects
with the axle of the lower frame, so that when the cranks of the bicycle
are worked the lower frame is turned round and round. It can be brought
into accurate balance by means of shot. The whole apparatus, including
the bicycle, is studded with incandescent electric lamps, and the
performer who rides the bicycle wears a helmet carrying electric lights.
The very striking performance is explained in great measure by the cut.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF THE REVOLVING TRAPEZE]
One of the performers sits on the bicycle and, turning the cranks, as if
riding, keeps the lower frame in rotation, while two performers go
through different evolutions on the trapezes thus carried around through
the air. A switch board is placed at the head of the bicycle, and by
manipulating switches the vari-colored electric lights are turned on and
off so as to produce any desired effect. Independent of the high merit
of the performance simply as gymnastics, the mechanical points are of
value; for ease and safety of manipulation and security from any failure
is an absolute essential. No one has anything to do with its operation
except the three performers, so that it is constantly under their
control. Where any attempt is made to operate such mechanism from behind
the scenes, there is always a great liability of trouble or partial
failure; but here the performer on the bicycle does all the work of
actuating the mechanical portion and has every part under constant
supervision and control, while the illuminated bicycle, located as it is
at great height from the floor, is an added attraction. The length of
the trapeze ropes, it will be observed, is so adjusted as to allow the
performer to pass through the frame without touching it, and the absence
of a center bar in the frame is necessary to the same end.
[Illustration: THE LEAMY REVOLVING TRAPEZE.]
WALKING ON THE CEILING HEAD DOWN.
A performance of considerable scientific interest has been produced in
this and other cities which is presented in the accompanying
illustration.[1] In order to procure a perfectly smooth surface to walk
on, a board twenty-four and one-half feet long is suspended from the
ceiling, and near one end of this is a trapeze. The lower surface of the
board is painted, and is smooth and polished. The performer, who is
known as Aimée, the human fly, is equipped with pneumatic attachments to
the soles of her shoes. Sitting in the trapeze with her face to the
audience, she draws herself upward by the arms, and raises her feet
until they press against the board. They adhere by atmospheric pressure.
She leaves the trapeze, and hangs head downward, as shown. Taking very
short steps, not over eight inches in length, she gradually walks the
length of the board backward. She then slowly turns round, taking very
short steps while turning, and eventually returns, still walking
backward. This closes the performance.
[1] The performer ascends to the top of the audience hall and walks on
the ceiling, head down. The ease with which it is apparently done is
marvelous.
To provide against accident a net is stretched under the board. The
performer has frequently fallen, but so far no serious accident has
happened. There is a certain art in managing the fall, as, if the shock
were received directly by the spinal column, it might be very severe.
The attachment to the shoe is, in general terms, an india-rubber sucker
with cup-shaped adhering surface. It is a disk four and one-half inches
in diameter and five-eighths of an inch thick. To its center a stud is
attached, which is perforated near the end. This stud enters a socket
fastened to the sole of the shoe. The socket is also perforated
transversely. A pin is passed through the apertures, securing the hold
between socket and disk. The socket is under the instep and is attached
to the shank of the shoe sole.
A wire loop that extends forward under the toe of the shoe is pivoted on
two studs which are secured on each end of the transverse central
diameter of the disk. This loop is normally held away from the disk and
pressing against the shoe sole by a spring. One end of the loop projects
back toward and over the rear edge of the disk. A short piece of string
is secured to the india rubber and passes through a hole in the
extension, or rearwardly projecting arm, of the loop. The disk when
pressed against a smooth surface is held fast by the pressure of the
atmosphere. If now the loop is pressed toward the surface to which it
adheres, the string will be drawn tight and will pull the edge of the
india rubber away from the board. Air will rush in, and the adhesion
will cease. As each new step is taken, one disk is made to adhere by
pressure, and the other is detached by the action just described.
The power of the disk to sustain the weight of a performer may be easily
calculated.
[Illustration: “AIMÉE,” THE HUMAN FLY.]
Each sucker is 4-1/2 inches in diameter, and contains therefore 16
square inches of surface. The full atmospheric pressure for the area
would amount to 240 pounds. The stud and socket attachment provides a
central bearing, so that the full advantage of this and the disk is
obtained, and a fairly perfect vacuum procured. As the performer only
weighs about 125 pounds, there is about 115 pounds to spare with a
perfect vacuum.
THE MYSTERIOUS BALL.
At the circus of the Champs Elysées, at Paris, a performance was given a
few years ago that would really put the sagacity of the spectators to
the test, did not the performer explain it after his exhibition.
A ball, thirty inches in diameter, is brought into the ring and placed
on top of a sloping bridge formed of two planks with an intervening
platform (Fig. 1). All at once the ball begins to rock a little, and
then moves to the edge of the platform, whence one might expect to see
it roll immediately to the base of the inclined plane; but it does
nothing of the sort. It stops at the edge and begins to descend with
precaution. It seems to hesitate, passes over but a small space, then
ascends a little, stops again, and then starts off again in fine style.
When it has reached the base of the inclined plane, the lower extremity
of which is about twenty inches from the ground, it stops, and then
rapidly ascends to the top again. Here the mystery begins to be
explained. All at once a flag is seen to make its exit through a small
aperture, then a shot is fired from the interior; the ball is certainly
inhabited. This we soon have proof of, for, after rolling rapidly to the
base of the second inclined plane, it falls upon a cushion placed upon
the ground, where a man steps forth from it. It is the clown Lepère. It
is very surprising to see a man of such a stature (five feet) make his
exit from so small a ball.
Although we have seen “india-rubber men” who could place themselves in
so confined a space, we cannot compare their performance to that of M.
Lepère, who not only places himself within his ball, but moves therein
with a skill that is truly wonderful. It is necessary, in fact, to have
a remarkable sense of equilibrium and remarkable suppleness to be able,
in such a position, to continually displace the center of gravity of the
ball and keep it always in the vertical plane passing through the axis
of the bridge. Our second engraving shows how M. Lepère places himself.
After the ball is closed, an equilibrium exists only when he is seated.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--THE MYSTERIOUS BALL.]
When he wishes to make his ball move forward, he must bend over and walk
upon his hands and knees, after the manner of a squirrel in his wheel.
But how many precautions have to be taken to make the axis of the body
coincide with that of the bridge, so that the ball shall not fall from
the inclined plane, which is but twelve inches wide! And what agility
does it not require to react immediately against the velocity acquired
after the ball, in consequence of a displacement, has begun to roll!
Center of gravity, velocity, and inertia are principles of mechanics
that exhibitions of strength and dexterity often put under contribution.
Although clowns do not bother themselves much with learning the
principles of mechanics upon which their performances are based, they
apply them with wonderful dexterity and have a sort of instinct, a
special aptitude, which permits them quickly to find the position of
equilibrium. The performance that M. Lepère presents in so ingenious and
new a fashion is an evident proof of this.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE CLOWN IN THE MYSTERIOUS BALL.]