LEAPING AND TUMBLING.
One of the great features of all travelling tent-shows and, indeed, in
the long years a very prominent feature of the legitimate show when
juggling, tumbling and things of that kind were either interspersed
between the acts of a tragedy, or filled the intermission between the
tragedy and farce, was the acrobatic artist, the athlete, the gymnast,
or whatever else you may feel like calling him. At the beginning of
this century there were several renowned acrobats, and the number has
increased to such an extent--and the general desire for exhibitions of
physical skill--that acrobatics have taken possession of many fields.
The song and dance man aims to introduce as much as possible of it into
his act or sketch, and even the equestrian and equestrienne attempts
and succeeds in combining perilous somersaulting with skilful riding,
and the nearer the performer goes towards breaking his neck the better
the people seem to like it.
The athlete who displayed his prowess or skill in the arenas of ancient
Rome or Athens was a much more important personage than the circus
performer of to-day. It was the passionate love of manly sports which
produced the matchless Greek form, the acme of physical perfection.
The successful athlete, acrobat, or charioteer of two thousand years
ago was a popular hero, and his triumphs, loves, and career were
immortalized in poetry and song. A successful athlete was then of
more importance than the congressman of to-day. And yet the modern
athlete, while occupying a much lower social scale than the ancient
practitioner, is just as strong, and the acrobat of to-day is even
more skilful than his classic predecessor. The circus performer thinks
nothing of executing feats which no later than a century ago were
deemed impossible.
[Illustration]
Nearly every man and boy who appears in the circus arena now-a-days is
counted a member of the corps that does both grand and lofty tumbling.
In small shows the corps of leapers and tumblers is increased by
the addition of several dummies who can do little more than turn a
hand-spring or a forward somersault either on the sawdust or from
the spring-board. Many of the best acrobats have begun their studies
in the open streets by walking on their hands or hammering their
heels against the bare bricks in somersaults or hand-springs; others
have been educated in the ring following their fathers and sometimes
grandfathers into the arenic profession. From the ranks of these two
classes some of the best acrobats and athletes have sprung. I can
recall several very good leapers and tumblers, whose earliest efforts
were witnessed and wondered at in some vacant lot or friendly stable
yard--where spring-boards were improvised and feats as dangerous as
"revolving twice in the air without alighting on their feet"--as the
ring master usually announces this act, in his most grandiloquent
style--were attempted at the peril of young and frail necks. So too
with many horizontal bar and trapeze performers. But to come back to
the leapers and tumblers. The band gives a flourish and in they troop
for the "ground act." They form in a row, and bow to the audience and
then away each one whirls in a hand-spring and front somersault. Then
they retire and singly, the men begin to tumble backward and forward
across and about the ring, heads and feet are kept in a whirl until
the final effort is reached, when the clown, who is frequently as
good an artist in the business as the rest of his tumbling confreres,
chases the swiftest of the number around the ring, the clown winding
him up while the latter rolls like a wheel, in back hand-springs along
the inner edge of the ring. A short interval, and the leapers come
in,--the same men as those who have done the tumbling,--bow, and retire
to follow each other rapidly down an inclined plane, bound from the
spring-board, and after a forward somersault land safely and gracefully
in the soft mattress beyond. One, two, three, four, and five horses are
brought in and placed in front of the spring-board while the mattress
is drawn farther away. As the number of horses increases and the
peril and distance grow greater, the number of leapers decrease till
at last three appear, or perhaps more horses are added to the equine
line, the mattress is placed at the farther end of the ring and the
ring-master--sometimes it is a lecturer like Harry Evarts, the "little
Grant orator," of Coup's show for the past and present season--mounts a
pedestal near the entrance, and with stentorian voice remarks: "Ladies
and gentlemen, Mr. Batchellor, the champion leaper of the world, will
now throw a double somersault over nineteen horses [sometimes fewer
elephants are employed]--that is to say, the gentleman will revolve
twice in the air before alighting on his feet on the mattress--a feat
that no other performer in this or any other country can accomplish.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Batchellor," and Mr. Batchellor, who is an
excellent leaper, and shares the championship with Frank Gardner,
formerly of Cole's show, but now with Barnum, makes the leap in a
clever and comparatively easy manner.
This difficult feat, never executed, it is asserted, till within
the past one hundred years, can now be witnessed at almost every
first-class circus performance in this country--but not always for
the same distance attained by Messrs. Batchellor and Gardner. Forty
years ago the British performer who could throw a double somersault
was looked on as a wonder. The writer, some thirty-three years ago,
saw Tomkinson, a famous British clown and acrobat, execute this feat
in Franconi's circus, then stationed for the season at Edinburg,
Scotland. It was the same Franconi who afterward managed the hippodrome
in New York in 1863-4, and the company was booked as first-class in
every respect. The double somersault was performed by Tomkinson at his
benefit, and the announcement of the then great feat packed the wooden
building to suffocation. When the ring-master had made the preliminary
speech, and Tomkinson retired up the steep incline which terminated in
the spring-board, every heart stood still. A quick, impetuous rush down
the board, a bound high in the air, a slow revolution and the gymnast
descended nearly to the ground. It seemed impossible to do it, but in
the last six feet the curled up body turned once more, and Tomkinson
alighted on the big, soft mattress on his feet, but staggering. He
was prevented from falling by the ring-master, and as he turned to go
inside, Franconi, the enthusiastic French manager, patted him warmly on
the back, amid the applause of the vast audience. It was a rare feat
in those days. Tomkinson and the few other British double somersault
performers did it only at infrequent intervals.
In this country Costella, a noted circus leaper, made it more difficult
by clearing a number of horses at the same time. But soon a number
of acrobats were able to follow his example, and even excel him in
height and distance. Nowadays a circus acrobat who cannot do a double
somersault is not considered anything but an ordinary performer unless
he can do other sensational and original feats. Last year Barnum had
a corps of acrobats, of whom seven performed double somersaults every
night during the season. John Robinson has five men who can do it.
The most surprising and unexcelled feat of double somersault throwing
was that of the Garnella Brothers, who performed it in variety halls
and circuses a few years ago. Standing on his brother's shoulders the
younger Garnella sprang up and revolved twice, landing again on the
shoulders. When it is considered that the double somersault by other
performers is accomplished by a short spurt, a spring-board, and no
restriction as to the spot of alighting, the feat of young Garnella
must be classed among the unprecedented marvels of the acrobatic art.
The triple somersault is a dream of every young and ambitious acrobat.
It requires phenomenal dexterity of body, and is known to be so
dangerous that few have even attempted it. Fame and fortune awaits any
performer who can do it, say twenty times in one tenting season. Were
it not that circus managers know that the feat, or even the attempt, if
repeated a limited number of times, will certainly result in a broken
neck, they could well afford to pay the performer $10,000 to $20,000
for a season; and were it not, too, a proven fact, it would seem that
the laws of gravitation and the limitations of physical dexterity
forbade the turning of a triple somersault except by accident. In
turning a double somersault off a spring-board, it is necessary to make
a leap at an angle of about thirty degrees to obtain the necessary
"ballast" or impetus to turn twice. If an almost perpendicular leap
is made, the leaper would not have leverage enough to turn. In order
to make the double somersault the performer has to leap from the
spring-board with all his might to get the proper angle as well as to
attain a sufficient height, so that he may have time to turn twice over
before alighting. The same conditions govern the triple somersault,
only it is necessary to go about one-third higher into the air.
An American named Turner accomplished a triple somersault once in this
country and again in England. He tried it a third time and broke his
neck. It is claimed that with this exception and the exception of Bob
Stickney, of John Robinson's show, and Sam Reinhardt, an ex-leaper, no
acrobat has been successful. The skeptic may say triple somersaults may
be accomplished by the aid of higher and more powerful spring-boards
than those in use, but that would merely change the angle, and the
result would be the same. Of course the board could be placed high
enough, but the specific gravity of the performer's body would be
increased while descending. The height is not the only trouble. If it
was only height, such men as Stickney, Batchellor, Gardner and one or
two others, by improved appliances and practice would overcome that
difficulty. But after the double somersault is accomplished and the
performer is ready to turn again, he "loses his catch" or the control
of his body, and is governed in his descent by gravitation alone. His
head being heavier than his feet, he is very apt to light on it first
and break his neck.
The first recorded attempt to throw a triple somersault in this country
was made by a performer in Van Amburgh's circus at Mobile, Alabama, in
1842. He broke his neck. Another attempt was made in London, England,
in 1846. It was made in Astley's amphitheatre, then leased to Howe
& Cushing, the American managers. In this company was M. J. Lipman,
a fine vaulter, Levi J. North, now in Brooklyn, New York, a famous
equestrian; the late William O. Dale, a native of Cincinnati, who died
here, blind and broken down, and who was an acrobat and equestrian of
great reputation, and Wm. J. Hobbes, a fine leaper. It was previously
announced that Hobbes would attempt a triple somersault, and the house
was jammed. He tried it, and was instantly killed. The next to try
it was John Amor, who was born under the roof of Dan Rice's father's
domicile, near Girard, Pennsylvania. Amor travelled for years in this
country with Dan Rice's circus, and in that day was considered the
greatest gymnast in America, if not in the world. He is said to be
the first performer in America to turn a double somersault over four
horses. In 1859 he went to England and travelled with a circus all
through the united kingdom. In the same year he attempted to turn a
triple somersault at the Isle of Wight, but landed on his forehead and
broke his neck.
Billy Dutton, it is said, performed the great feat while a member of
Lake's circus, at Elkhorn, Illinois, in 1860, at a rehearsal, in the
presence of John Lawton, the famous clown, now with Robinson's circus.
Dutton was ambitious to have it to say he did it, and did not make the
attempt with the intention of repeating it. He made the leap from a
high spring-board. Dutton said then he would not try it again, and that
his lighting upon his feet was an accident, as he could not control his
body after turning the second time. Frank Starks, who was well known in
Cincinnati, undertook the feat at the fair grounds in Indianapolis in
1870, for a wager of $100. In the first attempt he turned three times,
but alighted in a sitting posture. Every one was satisfied with the
result, and the money was tendered him. He proudly refused it, saying
he would repeat it, and light upon his feet before he felt sufficiently
justified in taking the $100. He did repeat it, but struck on his head,
dislocating his neck, and death resulted a few hours afterward. Bob
Stickney accomplished the great feat when fourteen years of age, while
practising in a gymnasium on Fourteenth Street, New York. William
Stein, an attache of Robinson's circus, was one of the persons who held
the blanket for him to alight upon. Stickney says he believes he could
do it again, but would not attempt it for less than $10,000, being
fully convinced that the chances for his final exit from the arena
would be good on that occasion. Sam Reinhardt, a former leaper, now
a saloon-keeper at Columbus, when with the Cooper & Bailey Circus at
Toledo, in 1860, not being satisfied with turning double somersaults,
tried to add another revolution. He turned twice and a half, alighting
on the broad of his back, and was disabled for a short period. The
fact that a triple somersault was ever accomplished before a circus
audience, after due announcement, and under the same conditions as
double somersaults are performed--namely, landing on a mattress--may be
seriously doubted. The best informed circus men say that it cannot be
done with anything even like comparative safety except in the sheets,
a blanket held by a number of men being used to catch the alighting
performer. It is claimed, also, that it has never been accomplished
except in that way.
[Illustration: BICYCLE RIDING EXTRAORDINARY.]