STRONGEST MAN ON EARTH.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2586, 21 August 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

STRONGEST MAN ON EARTH.

AMAZING FEATS OF MR. ARTHUR SAXON.

Can the. human frame support a weight of nearly one and three-quarter tons? An emphatic “No” would probably be the reply to thns question in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Nevertheless,' 1 tho feat of sustaining 3,8651 b. by muscular strength alone has been performed many times by Air. Arthur Saxon known in the athletic world as the strongest man on earth. While lying on his back Air. Saxon balances a huge plank, 40ft. long, with his feet, /and a 2001 b, bar-bell. Thirteen men sit on tho plank and threo on the bar-hell, the combined weight being 3,8681 b. An evenjpeater test of strength is mads® £«en, with his brother Hermann, he supports a bridge weighing over two tons while an automobile, "carrying six people, runs over it This is a combined weight of over three tons, and if his strength should give way—even for a second—it would moan instant death, or, at least, terrible injuries. FROAI SCULPTOR TO WEIGHT LIFTER. Equally striking is Air Saxon’s feat of lifting 3711 b above his head with one hand, and 4481 b with two. Just consider what this means for a moment. With one hand this professional strong man raised above his head a weight equivalent to over 3icwt of coal. There is no trick about it, Air Saxon will tell you. It is simply a question of strength —strength inherited from a race of strong men and women, and developed by years of exercise and temperate livin° r . And yet Air Saxon never lifted a weight until he was sixteen years of age; and he is now thirty-one. “I was studying to become a sculptor,” ho remarked) a short time ago, “when my father caused me to join a weight-lifting club. I was fairly muscular, and my strong frame enabled me lift greater weights than any of the other members. I also learned wrestling, and developed into a good ama- ' teur, and later into a fairly good professional. I was abl© to lift such heavy weights, however, that a circus manager wanted me; and as he offered me more than I could make as a sculptor, I became a professional strong man. I was then only seventeen years old. WHY HE GAVE UP WRESTLING. “For the next few years I travelled all over the Continent and England, lifting heavy weights and wrestling. For years I gave exhibitions of weightlifting and wrestling every day. Naturally, I did not need any other exercise. I found, however, I could lift heavier weights if I did not wrestle, so I gave it up and devoted all my efforts to the weights. The reason for this is that quickness and suppleness are needed for wrestling, while for lifting weights one should be stiffer than a good wrestler can afford to be. Air Saxon, by the way, tells an amusing story of the manner in which he induced the local strong men of a certain town to try for the £SO offered to anyone who would lift his heavy, barbeil. No one seemed eager to attempt the feat, so the bell was unloaded, and thus made quite light and empty, and left on show at the entrance to the place of entertainment at which Air Saxon was appearing. \ A PUZZLING BAR-BELL.

“Naturally,” says Mr Saxon, “the strong men of the town came round and tested the bell privately, and, on finding how easily they could ■ lift same, they all were certain the £SO was as good as in their pockets. That night, instead of a dead silence as before, when my challenge was issued, quite a number of eager weight-lifters, anxious to improve their financial position, jumped into the ring and rushed for the bell, which I had raised easily with one hand; but much to their surprise the 1501 b. bar-hell had changed into a 3001 b. one, and the disappointed weightlifters retired scratching their heads in an endeavor to understand the trick which had been played on them.” Perhaps one of the most darmg feats ever performed by Mr Saxon was that of throwing from one hand to the other overhead a bar-bell weighing 3151 b. On another occasion he laid on his back and brought over his forehead on to his cliest a bar-bell weighing 3861 b. with both hands, after pressing it upwards to arms’ length. NOTHING LIKE BEEFSTAKE. Strangely enough, this man of muscle never diets himself. “While I do not drink or smoke habitually, ’ he says, “I drink beer if I feel I want it, and often' smoke a cigar or two a day. Smoking, and. drinking in moderation are not injurious, and I know positively that they do not in the slightest affect my ability to lift heavy-weights. The same thing is true in eating. Ever since I became a professional strong man I have eaten what I wanted. I eat three big meals a day and everything I want. I have never dieted. If -my stomach craves any particular dish t eat it—always in moderation, of course. I am fond of meat, particularly beefsteak, and'l eat meat three times a day. There is nothing like beefsteak to make one strong. “ ‘Everything in moderation’ is a good motto, to be observed on all oc-casions.”—“Tit-Bits.”