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H O W T O J O I N

T H E

C I R C U S

A N D

G Y M N A S I U M ,

T ONY

hm CELEBRATED cmc'

us AND‘

PANTOMIME CLOWN.

h

HINTS TO AMATEURS AND ADVICE TO PROFESSIONAL PERFORM~

WITH PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION IN ALL .

BRANCHES OF THE BUSINESS.

NEW Y O R K

H A PPY Ho‘

U R s C O M PA NY ,

No . 1 C H A M B E R S S T R E E T

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1877, by

0. A. ROORBACH,

in the omoe of the Librarian of Congress atWashington .

T H E C I’

R C U S .

PA S T A ND PR E S E N T .

FROM THE SHOW WHICH PLEASED GEORGE WASHINGTONDOWN TO THE DAYS OF BARNUM- ‘ GAINING IN GLITTERAND LOSING IN SOLID MERIT—PAD RIDING , CALICOHORSES, AND OTHER MYSTERIES OF THE SAWDUSTARENA .

THE first circus in the United Sta tes was run in 1780 bya man named Ricke ts . Definite information a s t o i ts or

ganization is now of course una tta inable,bu t if reproduced

a t this day , and put in contrast with the enormous circusesnow compe ting for public favor , it wou ld doubtless be con

sidered a very small affa ir . Such as it was, however , Gen .

Wa shington a nd his staff patronized its performances inPhiladelphia , and it wa s deemed qu ite a high-toned '

amuse

ment for tha t city in 1780. Two or three year s la ter a

Frenchman namedBoschard was associated in management

w ith R icke ts , and when the latter died the enterpr isingGau l for some time had the busine ss

“

all to himse lf. His

success encouraged r ivals,

and severa l circus compani esSprang up during the latter par t of the last and the beginning of the present century . It IS very doubtful, however ,

_4 THE omens .

if all combined would have made up a show as big as Barhum’

s wa s in 18 75 , or if their expenses or r ece ipts dur ingthe for ty years be tween 1780 and 18 20 would have fi o ured

up as large a s those of any one of a dozen circu ses of thepresent time for a single season .

Few people have any idea how very crude a thing theAmer ican circus was a s la te as 18 28 . A t tha t time n inehorses and seven men constituted a full troupe . The bandwas made up of a burdy-gurdy , a cla r ionet , and a bassdrum there was no roof to the r ing enclosure the largestposters were abou t 16 by 44 inches

,and their pictor ia l

ornamenta tion was confined to a r ude wood cu t abou t sixinches square , in the centre of the shee t , and pa inted inblack ; and performances wer e rarely given a t night , exceptin the ve1y la1gest towns , where means for feebly illuminating the r ing with candles cou ld be 1mprovised . Gipsy-likethe

D

circus men of that day went from place to place bynight , moving a ltogether by wagons

,oft-times sta r tling

early-arisen s villager s into joyous expecta tion by the ir whitecanva s fence a t b 1 eak of day waking the echoe s with a solita1y trumpet ’s sh1 ill notes

,procla iming tha t the show had

come to town , infusing an unwonted excitement into all

human and anima l life in the vicinity by the ir wondrouspe1 formances during the afternoon and evening , and withthe shades of evening folding the ir tent (only

b

it wasn’

t a

tent ) like the Arab and qu ie tly s tealing away , leaving behind them a s-a tangible r eminder of van ished joys the r ingin the ear th , where emulous boys wou ld tumble and pranceand scuffle

,until ram and sun and frost had bea ten it ou t of

sight .But there were things then for which the old circus men

of to-day sigh va inly . The tavern keepers ’ cha rges we1 e

bu t thirty-seven and a half cents a day for ea ch man, and

xery often even that wa s r emitted,the plea sure of the show

man’

s company be ing accepted as compensa tion for theirenter ta inment . There wa s no l icense to pay ; no groundr ent was demanded ; one little poster of the smt desc1 1bed

was generally deemed sufficient for a town no costly trap

fl

PAST AND PRESENT. O

pmgs, costumes , and paraphernalia were_

expected or re

quired forage for the horses was cheap ; newspaper s werefew , and what there wer e did not expect column advert isements , and the percentage of dead heads in the audienceswas exceedingly small . Merry days those for the circusmen.

SIMPLICITY GIV ING PLACE TO GORGEOUSNESS .

In 1830 began to be inaugurated the new order of things ,where in costly luxury made insidious in1 cads upon the

p1 i1nitive simplicity descr ibed . Purdy, “releh Co .

’

5

mammoth show star ted ou t upon a scale of such magnifi

cence a s dwarfed all its predecessors and r iva ls . It boastedtwenty-four gray horses , and—a thing until then unheardof, and a ssociat in the popular mind with royalty, unbounded wealth , and lavish prodigality—it actually had a

brass band of e ight piece s . It also encouraged a new dignity on the par t of performers . Pr ior to that time upon theaccompl ished artist who ground the hurdy

-

gurdy , the

talen ted mu sician who manipulated the bass drum , and the

distingu ished foreigner who blew the clar ionette, used to devolve the du ty of pu tting up the canva s , while that inimitable humor ist , the clown, a ssisted by the dignified r ingmas

ter , the unequalled tumbler,the wor ld-renowned equestrian ,

and the cour teous and enterprising manag’

er , u sed to wieldthe shovels and rakes for making the r ing and spreading thesawdust (when ther e wa s any to spread) .

Bu t after a time canvassmen appeared on the scene to doall that rough work

,and spar e the delicacy of feeling of the

var ious professiona l ar tists . Then , too , to enable the maintenance of such Or iental splendor , the range of performanceswas increased . A tent was substitu ted for the old-fa shionedcircus fence , tha t showers might no longer b e actual calamities , and an arrangement was made for ligh ting it withcandles on a frame about the centre-pole , so that night performances might be given .

From that time on , improvements , new expenses,and a t

tractions were constantly being added to the circus until it

6 THE CIRCUS.

was what we see it to-day ; How small doPurdy W’

e lch ’stwenty-four gray horses , and even their band and tentwondrous in the ir day—appear now by contrast with sucha show as tha t run by Barnum Co . during the summer of18 75

,in which there were four hundred men and women,

one

hundred and e ighty horses , a gr eat museum,and an enor

mous menager ie , the combined expense s of which reachednearly per diem . Why , the poster printing for sucha show alone costs much more in a single season than theentire outfit of several old-time circuses . Barnum in 1875had near ly 87 wor th of colored posters , some of them64-

‘

s

‘

heet bills,the largest known—each just about one hun

dred ‘

and twenty-e ight times as large as the poster whichfilled the wildest desi res of the showman of 1828 .

LOST ARTS OF THE RING .

Bu t if the shell o f the circu s nut has been more handsomely gilded, it does not follow that the kernel has beenimp roved in proportion . On the contrary , if the judgmentof some of the oldest circus men in the country be taken as

au thor ity , there has been a marked decadence in the qualityof r ing spor ts and the excellence of r ing performers in la teyears . A t least four of the finest “

acts knownin the r inghave entirely passed away or been supplanted by other and

infer ior ones .

The “running vaulting

,by all the company upon and

over a free hor se go ing a t full speed in the ring, was one of

these , and few, if any exercises were better ca lcula ted to

display grace and agility th an the “ lady ’s vaul t,”

gentlemen’

s vault ,”

and round-abou t vau lt,pra ctised in this

performance . 0 . Bacon , E . Dar ius , and Cadwallader wereonce famous in this specialty

, but now no company a ttemptsi t.

The “ Spanish trampoline was another fine old timeact

,now seen no mor e . It was also a company act , each

member vaul ting over a standing horse from a very highspr ing board—technically known as a trampoline boa rd—which was taken at a run from an inclined plane . Bob

PAST AND PRESENT . 7

e clown, who died - in 1839 d own 1n New Or

with Sam S tickney’s circus, had the r epu tationo f be ing the best “ trampoline performer of his day . Now

ba ttente leapmg has taken the place of the old act, and

be ing lively, has been accepted with favor by the public,

bu t profe ssionals do not deem it so graceful or difficult .The best leapers of to-day are believed to be WilliamBa tchelor , Bob Stickney, and O

’

Br ien . Levi J .

Nor th was in his day a famous vaul ter , and went over toEngland m 1838 to compete with Pr ice , who was esteemedthe

c

English champion . He beat Pr ice, afterward took tor iding, and it is now mainly

/as an eques trian that he 1 8 re

membered . The old timers speak of his r iding with positive enthusiasm . One of them says ! “ There never was

,

and there isn’

t , and there never will be such another r ideron a horse—one so dar ing, yet so gracefu l . Why, he wasa Fanny Ellsler on hors eback , he was .

”

HUMAN GYROSCOPES .

To return , to the obsolete acts, still vau lting was ano

ther . That consisted of backward free somersaults- to ex

pla in it easily to the non-

profossiona l—upon a small space

marked ou t on a level springing board . The performe 1’

S'

skill was measured by his grace , and the number of t imeshe could thus twi1 l himself around like a pin-wheel l n theair . Some performers have cla imed to do it one hundredt ime s , but the ir claims are seldom a llowed by experts .

WVilliam 0 . Dale did do it eighty-mne times successively,as F1 ankWhittaker knows , for he Counted them, and TomMcFarland r ea ched seventy-eight . Now ther

'

e 1s p1obab lyno t a single performer in the country who could r eachtwenty

-five times,with the possible exception of Nat

Austin .

The fourth of the “acts pu t away among the lost ar ts

is the forming of “ pyramids of men,from seven to e leven

in number ,‘

upon horses in the r ing,with flankers , as they

might be ca lled , of from four to e ight men and boys on thes ides to complete the tableaux . This was not only a very

8 THE CIRCUS .

difficult act, but a dangerous one , simple as it looked , forthe slightest movement of one of the

'

horse s upon which the

pyramids were formed , or of the “understanders ,

”a s the

first row of men were termed , would inevitably spill in a ll

directions all who were above them , and there being no possible chance for anybody saving himself in this genera ltumble—wi th sometimes the additiona l danger of be ing '

trampled upon by the star tled horses—scarcely a performance of the pyramids went by withou t some Spra ined ankles,bloody noses , and contusions .

Among performers themselves there are no expressions ofsad regret that “ pyramids are things of the past, for evencircus men have some tender consideration for t heir own

noses and limbs , bu t the public is certainly the loser , nothing so good having been substituted in pla ce of this act .

In all these a cts , i t will be observed tha t they call forgenera l ability among the company, and for the ir successdepend largely upon the excellence and uniformity of tra ining of all , and it is m precisely this r espect tha t the systemof

!

organization of the ci1 cus of to-day 18 most wide ly different f1 om that of the olden time . Now a circus t1oupe ismade up largely of Specia l performers , some ofwhom do“ brother acts

,

”others pad r iding

,other s tumbling , others

bare-back r iding, others trapeze , o1 juggling , or“scene ,

”

r iding,or hurdle leaping, or slack rope dancing , or some

thing e lse for which they have been e specially trained ,while in everything else than the one specialty selected bythem they are b u t mediocre, or even poor . Thus the troupeis made up of disintegrated parts , like a var iety Show

,and

well-done , important company acts are no longer practicable .

Old performers aver that this 18 not becauseo

of any changein public taste

,bu t a consequence of the practicable aboli

t ion of the system of apprenticeships which once obtained .

THE OLD SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.

It u sed to be the practice for nearly all first-class performers to take boys a s apprentices

,who were bound - to

them for a stipulated length of time , dur ing which theywere taught leaping, vaulting, somersaulting, riding and

PAST AND PRESENT. 9

everythmg else within the range of the teacher ’s ability .

These boys,it is cla imed , were uniformly trea te d with kind

ne ss , prdperly taught,and when they l n the ir turn became

i t was in a bu siness for which they had a na t

and a thorough knowledge .

ry few apprentice s ar e taken,and the ranks ar e

performers , who have learnedf the bu siness in gymnasiums ore beneficia l exper ience of expe ri

s discipline,and it is these crude

who by their treatment of childiscredit upon the old , kind-hearted and genu ine

men who do not r ea lly deserve i t.

THE MECHANIC .

Inthe tra ining of pupils for the circus r ing now , by systematic professiona ls , injuries ar e never inflicted . Even in

them to r ide an ingeniou s appliance known a s the

possibility of dangerous fa lls .

The mechanic wa s invented byM r . Stokes , the man who

b rought ou t Ella Zoyara , and is Simply a strongly bracedarm

za

standing ou t from the centre-po le a t 1 ight angles withnd so arranged that i t can easily be moved around thea t any ra te of speed desired . Through a little pulley

‘

this arm a rope is run . A t one end of

snap-hook which is fastened e ither to a

to a harneSs,

”something

of $ 11Spender braces and belt, which0 wear . The other end of the r cpe is

Thus pr epar ed the pupil is moun tedor broad , fiat saddle, on a h01 se and startedthe 1 ing. The rope dangles loosely over

e the pupil practices balancing, turning , jumping ,and when somer sau lts ar e to be a ttempted isto one side by a thin line a ttached to it , so a s to

the way , bu t the.instan t that the pupil loses bal

10 THE CIRCUS .

ing . on the rope, swings the pupil in the a ir , and lets him

down safe ly,while the horse goes ga lloping on .

MODERN COLLEGES FOR ACROBATS .By such an arrangement a t Eaton Stone ’s handsome private hippodrome—near Franklin sta tion

,on the line of the

Er ie road—little Miss Viola River s , better known to the

public as Mlle . Viola , one of the most charming and

a ccomplished equestr ienne s of this country,has

o

beentra ined withou t ever once having had a fa ll . Her father ,Richard Rivers

,a famous old-time equestr ian , has been her

teacher .

There are two other pr ivate tra ining hippodr omes in the

vicinity ofNew York , one kept by Barney Carroll a t West

Farms , and the other by J . Cooke a t Newtown , L . I .,bu t

none are or can b e more perfect in the ir appointme nts thanEaton S tone

’

s . Former ly the performer who owned hisown horse was an exception to the general r ule , and theanimal so owned was e ither a tr ick horse or an especia llyfine one kept by some star

' ” bare-ba ck r ider . Managerswere expected

'

to furnish pad horses, and even horsestrained for two and four-horse ac ts , so that a performergoing from one troupe to another wou ld always find anima lsr eady for him to j ump on , and, with a little practice to learnthe ir ga it and dispos ition , go before the public wi th .

Now,the performer cla iming to be first, or

_even second

class , who does not own his or her own horse , or

horses , i s the exeept1on to the rule . Dick Dockrell for instance , has ten horses . He is a

“scene ” or

“ drama tic ”

r ider ; tha t is , he r ides a cts which involve changes of costume , or impersona tions of character , and i n this line IS

deemed one of the best in the county, while his wife isprobably the best and most dar ing

’

female bare-back r iderin the world .

0

WHAT STAR RIDERS ARE PAID .

James Robinson , who is generally believed to be the

most dashing and finished bare-back r ider now in the r ing,has Six finely

-trained horses , and Char lie Fish , who ranks

1

PAST AND PRESENT .

next to him in this line , has four or five . The Melvillebrothers , three of them , have six horses , for their sever a lacts, Frank is a y ery fine pad and George a bare-back r ider .

So the list might be extended a lmost indefinitely . In one

respect th1s 1S a ga l n to the general excellence of the profes

as it enables performers not only to bring their hor seshigher tra ining for their specia l lines of business, butmore thorough a ccord and understanding with them5,an element the importance of which is fully tinder

e performers themselvesnot increased in proporem and lightening of the

er . They are only employed lessan average , bu t dur ing all the othert heir horses and keep them in train

comfortable pay ; James Robinsonfor himself alone and last season

we boys . Charles,Fish

$150 ; the Bi elville brothers, $350 ; Dockrell

These'

are , of course , the largest salar ieswho are the best pa id per sons about a

gr ade ofp ropr ietor , bu t it may be saidpay of pad r ider s runs from $90 to $ 100

from $100 to $200,and popu lar ity and

pad r iders gener ally accepted as the best in the

at the present time are,in add ition to those men

Ch . F. Reed , Wm . Dutton , Romeo Seba stian , Bob

Burdeau , M rs . Cook ,The la tter is a daugh

finest menage equestr ienn'

e who

and who travelled the season of

Queen’

s circus . It would be un

insinuate , how many yea rs Mme .

of the queens of the r ing, bu t ifabout cir

‘cu s life promoting longe

TZIE CIRCUS .

vity and ma inta ining a perennial youth , let him hunt .uptha t lady in the r ing , gaze upon Frank Whittaker ’s brownlocks, and , then a sk some well-posted old-timer how theyboth da te to the na tion ’

s bir thday .

THE FIRY, UNTAMED, CIRCUS’

STEED.

Some horses can never be broken or trained so as to be

r eliable f0 1 service in the r ing , while others evince a nat

u 1 al apti tude , 0 1 pe1haps talentC

for i t, and learn very easilya ll tha t IS r equ ired of them . Generally i t takes from e ighteen months to two years to get a horse so well trained forpad r iding tha t he will not shy , or bolt , or break his ga it inthe r ing ,

t

bu t will keep steadily on h is r ound ,i ndifferent towha t 13 going on upon his back , or beside him , or evenu nde1 his feet , if the luckless r ider ha ppens to tumble there ,where he has no bu siness to be . In some instance s , however , horses have been known to work well

.

before an audience the very first time they have been put i n a r ingGenerally a horse is educated for but a single

o

service .

If for pad r iding he 1s kept to tha t ; if one of two or four

tra ined together for the comparatively 1 are double and

quadrupleD

a cts , he is not allowed to muddle his equ inebra ins by striving with a knowledge of hurdle leaping ortr icks and so on . Generally old horses ar e best

,because

they have se ttled into a steady g a it, and if they have no

ingra ined vices,are most r eliably phlegmat ic under extra

ordinary but possible circumstances.The hallucina tion pervades many minds that circus men

have secret and 1ngen1ous ways of frescoing their r emarka

ble calico horses ,b

using walnut juice and other compoundsto dye patches on milk-white steeds until the par ti-coloredeffects a re obta ined . This is an er ror , however . Theybuy up horses which , like the darkey in the minstre l story

,

are“not colored

,but born tha t way . No Specia l breed of

horses produces these freaks of color,bu t the finer bloods

,

i t is sa id , seldom Show them .

“We 1 ecruit from dunghillstock ,

”says an old circus m an

,

“and why they come that

way we can’

t tell, any mo1 e’

n Jim Fisk could answer hisown conundrum , Why God makes the little apples o cu

C ONT ENT S .

PAGE .

0

FREE MovEHENTS,

ING WITH CHAIRS,

NC , ETC .,

VAIILTING HORSE,

LING, SOMERSAULT THROWING,PARALLEL BARS

,

THE HORIZONTAL BAR ,

LLAEBOSTATION, OR FLYING TRAPEZE ,

RIDING,

THAT WHICH PLEASES LONG , AND PLEASES MANY, MUSTSSESS SOME MERIT .

” —Dr . J;ohnson .

STAID , decorous , elderly friend ofmine , came into myone day , a s t he members were in the height of

enj oyment , revolving . ar ound the horizonta l bar at

length,others were sitting on the bar , and continually

g backwards , passn under and coming upaga in tooriginal position, some were turning somersaults, dipaud hand springs, some jumping the wooden h orse ,S climbing and all engaged in the most pictu resque

as well.

as s trengthening and hea lth gi vmginstead of be ing struck with re spe ctfu l ad

asked in rather a derogatory manner,What

good of it a ll ?’

And thus those who have neverany attent ion -to gymnas tics are totally unable to '

see

se in it ; whe reas, if they -would only begin with apractice

,a liking for it wou ld be induced and

theywo uld feel the gr ea t benefit ar ising fromit .gyuastic art consists in regu lating the voluntary

the body, and giving them more strength and

The immediate effect is an increase both in size

16 INTRODUCTORY.

and power of the par ts exercised,in consequence of an ad

mirable law which obta ins. in l iving bodies , that (withincer tain limits ) in prepor tion to the exertion which is re.

qu ired to be made , a par t increases , not only in strengthand fitness , but also in size .

‘

If, then, bodily exerCises a re

neglected, as they too often are by those who follow a se

dentary occupation , the ill effects are soon exhibited,not

only by people who are employed indoors but by otherswho neglect to take some active exercise in the ir leisurehours .

It has been an object of common r emark tha t nearly allclasses of the community have

'

more or less contractedhabits of stooping or other species of distor tion . A per

fectly Upright, erect form is rare , whilst among the masses,scarcely

'

a thought is bestowed upon health , elegance , orbeau ty . There have be en but few a mongst the bra inworked

,desk-tired

,indoor toilers and students of the pre sent

day who have not from time to time unfavorably comparedthe ir c apa city for work in middle age ,

'

with the ir younger,

and more active days , when work began pleasantly and was

carr ied forward with enjoyment ! They ar e apt to lookupon those days a s e ither gone foI ever , or only replaced byan expenditure of time and money which they know too

well it is . va in to think of,or sigh for . To such as these

gymnastic exercises will be invaluable . They will soon become pleasant , whilst the result will be , to many , astonishing.

And here let me say a few words as to the supposeddangers of gymnastics . Now we have sometimes been toldtha t we must not attempt certa in performances, becausethey are fraught with danger , and so on ; but the danger

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18 INTRoDUCToRY.

perseverance , attain excellence. Therefore , I‘

shall devotethe pr incipa l por tion of this work to gymnastics which arerather more advanced , and which excite a greater amountof inter est in their performance . And also because someof the first movements on the appara tus are so simple and

easy, that they will require no preliminary dr illWhatever,and m ay be g one through by those who -h ave never seen

any gymna stic exercises at all , if there are any such benighted individuals .

The true method of practisiug'

gymuastics is , to commenceeach one with a su itable and gentle exercise , increasing indifficulty in regular degree

,a ccording to the strength and

agility of the learne r ; always taking care not to confinehimse lf to movements which only exercise one set ofmusP

cles, but by the u se of different apparatu s to bring all partsof the frame into play ; and though ,

'

of course,all cannot

expect to attain to the accomplishment of the most difi cultfea ts , yet we may depend upon it, ,

that the re' is no one , from

boys whose‘powers are not yet developa l , to elderly per.

sous whose'

streugth is on the wane , if they possess an average ,

amount of muscle,but wou ld find themselves greatly

benefitted by a course of suitable and judiciously directedgymnastics .

A nd we must also bear in mind that these exercises may

be made very attractive , especia lly to the young, as boysin health have a natura l liking for all kinds of active mo;t ion , such as climbing , &c. , and thus, although perhaps themotive to these exertions may be only emu lation

,or the

wish to perform certain feats ofmore‘

or less difficulty,theresu lt must 'hs , under judicious direction , very benefi cial .

I remember On one occasion , having been engaged in

INTRODUCTORY. 19

tending the erection of some apparatus at a largemetropolis

,and the boys seeing me examin

it in company with the gymna stic instructor , to maketha t it was secur ely pu t up , and they knowing me togymnast , r equested me to oblige them with a specimen

ould be done in tha t way . This of course I imdid, a nd showed them a few of the advancedon the horizonta l bar and parallels , to the im

e delight of the pupils , bu t also to the intense horrore instructor , who consider ed them too dangerous forto attempt! When I had finished, the boys cameg around me

,and asked me to teach them these

exercises , and I showed them the way to do two

whi ch I considered most su itable for their power s,

f them proved such apt scholars , tha t theycould perform them before I left .Now mark the r esu lt ! About three weeks afterwards I

occasion to go there agaIu , when rather to my surI found that near ly all the boys could perform the

I had shown them on the previous occas ion and theyme to Showthem some more of my “ bully exer

as they somewhat irr everently termed them , saying,no amusement in what our instru ctor showsover hand exercises on the bar ; r eally wecannot do anything else.

”

theretore I strongly advise instructors of gymnas

tics to bear always in mind the importance of rousing theof young beginners , by setting them , as soon as

consistent -with safe ty, to exercises which keep’

tention alive , thus giving them something to amusehile they are practising. A s I told you, my prin

20 INTRODUCTORY.

cipal object in this 11 ol k is not to show you what youcan do ah eady

,bu t to bu ng before you those advanced "

exe1 c1ses which you m e anxious to learn . I now suppose

you to have gone through the e lementary exercises , tha t is ,

you can walk,r un , jump , cl imb a rope or pole

,and , in

fact , do wha t a lmost any y oung man in good hea lth and of

ave1 age strength can perform .

Now I w ish you to unde1 stand tha t all the exercises I

am . abou t to descr ibe to you , I have often performed myself

, and I am acqua inted with many performer s and ama

teurs who can do them qu ite as well , and some be tter .

A nd I r epea t , in concluding these introductory r emarks,

le t me say tha t , without underva lu ing genera l manly exer

cises or calisthenics , I address myselfmore par ticularly tothose who requ ire something further

,and who

,having seen

these performances,wish to learn how to do them ; and to

th em I offer this work, feeling sure tha t , a s this is the firsta ttempt to br ing advanced gymnastics before the public,any shor tcomings that may be observed will be pardonedfor the sake of the intention . In conelnsion let me say thatany person becoming proficient in the following exercises ,has only to go to a circus manager , and show him wha t hecan do

,and with his knowledge of gymnastics , and the a id

of the mechanic , (explained in the first ar ticle ) he can soon

become an adept as a circus r ider,and the manager as he

wa tches his progr ess w ill gladly adver tise himt o the heightof his ambition and willingly pay him a most liberal salaryfor his services .

The Public’s Servant,

TONY DENIER ,

Circu s and Pantomime Clown and Professor of Gymnastics .

TO JOIN A CIRCUS.

CHAPTER I .

F R E E M O V E M E NT S .

TfiESE movements may be practised on a hard mattrasswhat is much better , on the floor ; the first exerciseto lay your self on your back

,keep “

the body stiff and

your arms lie close to your side , legs and heels to liethe same line . Now

, ,

withou t mOV ing the lower limbs ,e the body perpendicu lar ly from the hips upwards , ifcannot get up the fir st time lie down and try

. aga in,

cross your arms over your breas t , and “try again ,

”

the hands over the h ead , and r a ise the body as

keeping the arms on a line with the shoulders .

your back will bear the stra iuf endeavor to ra isewer extremities so a s to touch the ma ttrass behindove your head , this is not a t all difficult , and is

practice for the posterior muscles of the human

22 now TO JOIN A ct aocs .

For the next exercise , turn your face downwards , and

extend the body longitudina lly, suppor ting yourself by thetoes and the strength of your arms, the hands must b eturned inward

,the fingers pointing towards each other .

Now a llow the“ body to sink slowly , bending the arms

gently, still keeping the body extended , w ithout permitting

the stomach to r est, touch the fingers with the lips and

slowly re turn to first position ,.

deliberately repeat the movement again and aga 1n .

F1G . 1

On r ising from‘

the bed , lowe r the upper sashes of yourbed-room windows, place yourself in an erect posture

,

throw your chest forward , and your shoulders back , now

take a long inspiration , purse up the lips and draw in

all the air you can, inhale nature’

s universa l medium ,

the common a 1r, so as to fully infla te the lungs , now throwyour arms behind you, holding your breath as long as

possible , and repeat to or three times , now for sponge or

wha t '

is better , a shower ba th , rub yoursel f dry with a

coarse towel , until you are tired , do not be afra id of. a

little fr iction, or tha t you will rub the skin off. Beforethe gymnast proceeds fur ther , a draught of water and a

crust of bread will materially assist him in his morningexercise , he may then try a very simple movement.

HOW TO JOIN A omens. 23

FIG . 2 .

is placed in an upr ight position,wub the feet

arms extended , and the body thrown on al

sides, (as shown in “

the above diagram ) until theear ly touches the floor , this exercise may be con

withou t any waste of force "

and may be variedto the strength of the pupil . By . this time he

“ have acquired a knowledge of wha t muscle s -

he has,

of some of the u ses he can pu t them to,simple as

exercises have been i t. will be found that some of the

have become st iff and are not easily moved, ye t

oon wear off,and he will afterwards rejoice in the

m of his limbs .

He may now p roceed to the extension movements .

Place the fee t close together w ith the toes a cross a s tra ightso a s to mark the situa tion of the fee t ; the handsdown to the side

,then r a ise them qu ickly above the

and br ing them forcibly and energe tically down aga in;the hands with the palm upwards, then bring the

24 HOW TO JOIN A omens.

fists up close tothe shoulders,dr ive the arms out sideways ,

then br ing them back in the sameway, until the hands are .

close to the sides aga in ‘

, repea t each movement aga in and

again—up, down , forward, backward . This exercise isu seful to young and old , and posse sses the advantage of

your being able to r esor t,

to it in a ll t imes and places ,and br ings into play the thora cic

,dorsal , and abdomina l

muscles.

Now standing a s before , stre tch ou t the hands stra ightat the shoulders l n front of the body and place the palmsof the hands together . Now slowly separate the hands

,

keep them a t the‘

same leve l, with the arms stra ight,andtry to make the backs of the hands mee t behind you .

This , to all , a t the commencement , seems to be imposs i

ble ; yet , as the chest expands,i t becomes perfectly easy,

though a t first it will make the chest and shoulders rathers tiff.You may now try the circular movement, or revolving

the armsy

round and round like a windmi ll , which is oneof the best methods of enlarg1ng the capacity of the air

cells of the lungs .

Amongst the old extension motions taught to our

soldier s, are two which find an appropr ia te pla ce here .

The fi r st practice is to sta nd upr ight , with the heels to- i

ge ther , r a ise the arms stra ight upwards , the palms in

front , bend the body forwards as shown in the annexedske tch , until the fingers touch the ground the knees must bekept stra ight . This must be practised until a coin can be

picked up with case a t each hee l . The next practice was totake a staff or stick about thr ee and a half feet long, grasp

each end firmly over hy t he hands , wi th the ends of the fin

26 now TO JOIN A cmcus .

both thighs with both heels toge ther , to perform whicha shght Spring will be necessary , bring both feet to the

same spot you star ted from and do not lose your balance .

Place both feet toge ther,with the hands on the hips,

kneel slowly till both knees touch the ground, then r iseaga in slowly , without moving the toes or the hands, youmay vary this by crossing the toes , bending the kneesslowly until you sit down , like the Turks a re supposedto sit, r ise again without moving the hands from the h ips ,

repea t this and thank your stars you were not born a Turk

you may probably have a fa ll before you succeed in doingthis correctly .

, Then stand up, extend you arms in front,

ra ise the r ight leg in front, bend the left knee graduallyand sit down in tha t posi tion

,al ternately with both legs,

this at firstw ill seem to you impossible , but with practice

FIG . 4 .

you will find it not near so hard as it seems . This is avery plea sant amu sement for young and old

,and if done

properly , i t is said , calls into play three hundred musclesthe body .

Now place the fee t close together , the hands on the 11

r ise on -the toe s , bend the knees and lower the bodyually until the thighs touch the heels . Then ext end

nowTO JOIN A omens. 27

forward and fall in front, not on your nose but on

hands and toe s,keep the knees straight and body

stifi’

as in figu re 1 , tedi e a piece of chalk in the r ight hand,

reach out and make a mark as fa r as you can , then let

your companions try to exce l you in the distance ma rked ,some back to your or1ginal position with a spring fromh e hand .

S tand with your feet close toge‘

ther ,~

jump up, spread thecgs and close them before al ighting, keeping the toes

minted and the hands on the hips .

Jump through the hands while held in front of the body,with the tips of the t fingers together

,this is a plea sant

sxereise , bu t be ca reful that your knees do not strike yourshin and

~make it unpleasant , wear pumps tor this , as

reels are liable to catch , or take a stick in the handstolding

fthem a yard apart , stooping down place yourzuuckles of the closed hands on the ground before

‘

you ,

hen try to step over the stick , without losing your hold»r the hands from the ground .

Combination exercises ! Two persons may sit down on

he fioor facing each other , w ith the soles of the ir feetouching, then grasp a stick with the

‘

hands toge ther and

null aga inst each other , a lterna te ly bending backwards ,trst with the knee s stiff, second with them bending and

nose and thirdly w ith the legs spr ea d apart . Anothe r is0 stand up , with toes together , then taking hold of eachthers hands lean ba ck and go qu ickly round . A thirdxercise with two pe rsons is to place the left hand on thetips, with the r ight foot forward, lock the middle finger of

ach r ight hand and pu ll backwards and forwards .

Minor var iations of these free movemegts and parlor

28 now TO JOIN A omens .

gymnastics Suggest themselves , part icularly if any partof the body is not exercised by the da ily avoca tions . Eitherarm may be advanced , and the hands turned inwards, upwards and ou twards . Sub rotary and var 1ous twistingmotions of the body may be performed , the head may b e

turned and twisted , and carried from side to side , the bodyturned partly r ound at the loins , or one leg held stationaryand

“

the other m‘

oved round as far as possible on both sides .

A system of free movements by the a id of companions may

be ca rr ied ou t! The exercises may be var ied in manyways—such a s j umpmg over joined hands, by one placinga hand on the shoulder of each companion , and re turningby a backward somersau lt ; he may b e grea tly

'

assisted byhis companions dur ing the leap .

The major ity of these exercises are well adapted forschools and may be performed by a large number at the

word of command . And every one of these movementscan be done in a parlor

,bed-room or study .

a rTEn II .

BA LAN C I N G w rr n CH A I R S .

PREVIOUS to commencing with the regular gymnasticapparatu s,

“

let us descr ibe a means of dome stic practiceeminently adapted for the sedentar y . Pla ce yourself between two cha irs (which mu st b e of—the strong kitchenvar iety ) , the seats turned outwards ,

'

place a hand on’

the

back of each chair,rest the whole weight of the body

'

on

now To JOIN A omens.

‘

29

the‘

wrists, keeping the arms extended, and raise the body

(see figure position must be preserved for some

FIG . 5 .

time, then allow the body to descend and return to yourfirst position , then supporting the body as in the first posit1on, bend the knees and descend gradually until the knees

FIG . 6 . FIG. 7 .

touch the ground (fi g . then r ise in the same manner bythe aid of the

“

shoulders and wr ists to first posi tion. Then

30 now TO JOIN A omens.

place the chairs with the seats inwards , about eighteeninches apar t , place the hands on each edge, the thumbsinwards , the fee t close together , the k nees bent and the

heels ra tsed , then lift the body by the wr ists, lower ing andra ising

,then extend forwards the lower extremities , a t the

same time stra ightening them and thus lower yourselfgently to the ground (fig . 7 r ise aga in in the same mannerand r eturn as you were .

Now place two cha irs , one with the back turned inward ,the otheI with the back turned out , put the r ight hand onthe back of one and the left hand on the seat of the other,raise the legs a s high as possible and extend them in front,the body to remain perpendicular , then raise yourself bearing the whole weight of the body on the left wr ist, and

FIG . 8 .

place both legs on the back of the cha ir and down aga inwith a regular swinging motion and r epeat the same on

the other side (fig .

Place a cha ir firmly on the ground,then place both hands

on the sides of the back , ra ise the body on the wrists andelevate the limbs and body in a horizonta l line (fig .

HOWTO JOIN A omens. 81

FIG. 9 .

then '

a llow the legs to gradua lly descend to first position,you may vary this by extending the whole of the body ina hor izonta l line and seizing the sea t with both hands tryto jump the

'

chair across the room,

’

this is rather hard atfirst, but can be done with practice .

Place two cha irs with t he seats inwards, put the rightfoot between them, the left knee to be bent, place

’

both

hands on the edges of the cha irs and support the body withthe r i ght knee on the edge of the cha ir ,

‘

then endeavorto kiss the floor by extending the left leg and allowing theright to go to the floor (fig . return to first position by

32 now To JOIN A omens .

a contrary movement, and repea t the exercise by reversingthe support of the legs .

Take an old-fashioned arm-chair,placing yourself facing

the sea t, with a hand on each arm of the cha ir , and ra isethe body , a t the same time ra ising and crossing the legs ,pa ss them forward between the arms, straighten them overthe back of the cha ir withou t touching it , then br ing themback

'

to

‘

where you stood commencement and repeat

FIG . 11 . FIG. 12 .

it until the muscles are strengthened , when you can thenaccomplish it with ease (fig .

On a common bench or form stand upright,the toes close

Fm . 13 .

together near the edge, then allow the b ody to descend

34 HOW TO JOIN A omens .

Afte r a steady balance can be kept on one leg on the

ground , you may then try the same on the edge of abr ick ,or a pole lying on the ground

,which i t will be best to ao

complish before mounting the par a llel or horizonta l ba r .

There are severa l ways of mounting a b ar if it is placed noh igher than the knee or thigh , place one fee t on it, with thehands extended in front and gradually r a ise th e body until

you can stand upright on the bar . Another method is tosit astr ide on the bar and with a jumping Spr ing bring bothfeet on to the bar a t once

,with the fee t placed crosswise

on the bar at the heels,then qu ickly ra ise the body to an

FIG. 14.

position , with the same motion and keep on doingit until you can stand there as securely as if you were

terra firma .

now Io JOIN A omens. 35

CHAPTER Iv.

C L IMB ING g n'r e .

CLIMBING the rope is a very useful exercise, whichshould be practised by every one , as it may often be the‘

means of saving life in cases of fire and shipwreck . I

mean climbing by the u se of both legs and arms, it is com

paratively easy to climb aknotted rope or one in whichshort crosspieces are Inserted, but the true gymnast despisessuch aid and pulls himself ,

up by his hands alone ; bu t erehe can attain this dexterity he must make u se of

“

his feet

somewhat . A sailor passes‘

the rope from the hands between his o thighs, twists it round one leg, just below the

kne e and over the instep, the other foot presses on the rope ,by which a firnr hold 15 secured . When descending bewareof letting the rope through the hands to qu ICkly or the skinwill be torn from the flesh , put one hand unde1 another ,and letting go the Upper hand suppor t the body with the

lower hand and thus sli

de .

gently ; down . Some of our

clever gymnasts slide h ead downwards and this is by nomeans difi cult when you have acquired the knack of holding

”

the rope by. the feet ,

Climbingthe pole , e ither hanging loosely from above , or

fixed , only var ies from the same exercise on the rope , by itsbeingrather more diffi cult to grasp frombeing thicker and

alsoo

rigid ; grasp it with both hands , the right above theleft

,the legs should alternately grasp the pole In the ascent

by means of the legs being crossed and held by the backof one foot and the front of the other , In the descent becareful not to come down too fast , the friction must be


thrown on the inner part of the and the hands leftcomparatively free (fig . 15 )

FIG. 15 .

Place a stout board at an of 40°to 50

°against

the wall,then with the hands seize both sides of the board

and placing the feet flat in the centre of the board, slowlyascend by moving the hands and feet alternately you willfind this exercise very beneficia l to the extensor musclesaswell as by the stress on the loins and back will they become strengthened . You may ascend a pole the same wayby rubbing the shoes In a little powdered rosin . You can

a lso elevate a ladder the same way, ascending by gra spingthe rungs alternately underneath , pulling the body up closeto the elbow and hanging thus previously to ra ising the

body by the other arm, keeping the legs straightened and

How TO JOIN ‘

A omens. 3 7

Close together . You may a lso ascend a ladder placed in a

perpendicular position with the hands on one rung and thefeet on the next one underneath , with the body bent hor izontally from the ladder , but this must be commenced onrungs much farther apar t, gradually closing them upas youprogress . On a ladder pla ced hor izontally, high enough tomake you take a good jump to catch hold of it ; then walkalong under the ladder by holding by the hands and leavinggo one

‘

hand advance one rung by swinging the body forwardas the hand grasps the rung In advance , and increasing thelength to as far as you can r each another good exerciseis to place both hands on the outside of the ladder and bya jumping motion of the body and hands propel yourselfalone

.

Jumping is also a very good exercise and one very provocative of emula tion when severa l join in it, and may be

practised by jumping over a line suspended over pins inholes in two standards

,beginning very low and increasing

the height by raising the pins every time the former helghtis accomplished . Jumping with a pole consists in seizinga pole about six or e ight feet from the bottom and takinga run stick the lower end of the pole in the ground in frontof you , at the same time taking a leap forward you willr ide up on

‘

the pole,andfleaving the pole to fall backwards

when you are at the highest point youwill be surpr isedat the he ight or length of the leap you have made , a poleabout ten feet long is the best to commenceWith , althoughprofessional jumpers in the Scottish games use them fifteenand sixteen feet ; this is a usefu l accomplishment in leapingditches , fences and even In crossing narrow r ivers .

There are“

also many other exercises that I couldmention,

38 HOW TO JOIN A omens .

such as Indian clubs and dumb bells, the sand-bag and

health lift , and a course of exercise with any nof them willbe found very beneficia l by those who have no Oppor tunityof practising on other . apparatus, but let me caution youaga inst the use of heavy weights in the first practice , commence easy at first, and increase as you progress .

CHAPTER V.

TH E V A U L T ING H OR SE .

PERHAPS this is the most neglected of any gymnasticapparatus in use in this country, the r eason is they do not

have them properly made , and the students often hur tthemselves and then give up the exercise altogether, andit is to be regretted as some TOf the most amusing and ex

citing feats may be performed onit by the class in rota tion.

The sketch No. 16 will give a view of a correct vaultinghorse as

- it should be made and I will alsogive you a de

ta iled descr iption Of the same .

There are various lengths these horses can‘be made ,

but the most useful and those in use in the Paris gymnasiums are sixteen inches across the back and six feet

long , they are evenly padded with horsehair and covereda ll over with a dressed cow-hide , the smooth part of theleather being on the outside , and is made with one end

smaller and raised, corresponding to the neck Of the horse ,and this gives it i ts form and is useful as a mark wherethe hands should be placed . T wo . pommels (or saddle )

now TO JOIN A omens . 39

are placed about e ighteen inches apart in the centre , in a

groove and ra ised up from the back of the horse aboutfour inches from the centre , with two dowels to keep them

A in place , a nd left loose , so; that fiush p ommels may be

placed in their stead, to be used when requ ired . The

legs'

must ‘ be made to slide up and down in the mannero f a so that the -h orse may be used at heights

FIG . 16 .

varying from three feet , six inches to six feet . For a

beat ofi’

, which is very necessary to mark the place to

place the feet when doing any long jumps , get a solid pieceof wood abou t two feet

,six inches square and r ISIng In

thickness from a’

quarter of an inch to four inches, placingit near to or

'

far‘

from the horse as required .


There are a number of exercises on the vaulting horsethat have a great similarity to the same exercises on theparalle l bars , so I shall only instruct you in the exercisesthat have a distinctive character , belonging to the vaultinghorse .

So ,to commence jump on the horse with the hands onthe spommels supporting t he whole weight of the body, thelegs hanging s traight down as in Fig. 16 . Now br ing

your legs over the body Of' the horse , in between the pommels , and bring them b ack aga in, then br ing one leg

through the hands and back'

aga in and repeat with the

other leg a lternately without letting the foot touch the

horse . Now try to change the legs simultaneously, . that

is, while one is being brought forward , the other is tobe withdrawn, the body still supported by the arms .

The knee jump is the next exercise and is performedin the following manner ; ra ise yourself on to the horseas in figure 16

, and then br ing both legs into a kneelingposition on the back , then give a good Spr ing up assisted bythrowing up the arms, then throw out your feet and youwill land on the other side of the horse on your feet ; yOuhad better get some one to assist you in this at first asfear may br ing you to gr ief. To jump through the handslower the horse as far , as possible , placing the board tojump on about a foot

/from the horse , run and jump on

to the board with both feet down at once , fiat-footed, thenspr ing off the toes , (as you will find you will have to doin all jumping movements, as if you alight on the toes allyour Spr inging power is gone ) , with your hands one on

each pommel , throwing the weight On them raise yourself up and pass the legs through the hands and shooting

42 now TO JOIN A emens.

some one in front to ca tch you should you fa il in your firstattempt.You may vary these exercises by still vaulting or saddlevaulting , that is , to get astride the horse , but at the backof the pommels , then seizing the pommels one m eachhand , and bear ing the whole weight on the a rms

,make a

spring up with the legs and making a kind of a twistwith the body and describing a semicircle with the legs,br ing yourself round the other way , seated in front of thepommels , it is good to practice this exercise from left tor ight and when you are well advanced in it you may praetice this movement in a swing that is from left

,to r ight

and v1ee versa . Now with some practice you will be ableto do a very pretty fea t called the one hand hor izonta l ,this is done by getting on to the horse as in Fig. 16 ,

then gradually draw the body on to the elbow, of the

one hand on the aftermost pommel , and leaning the

stomach on to the elbow as far as you can,stra ighten out

”

the legs to ahorizonta l position , and raise the other handover the head , until the whole body with the ex

Fle ; 19.

ceptio‘

n of'

one arm assumes a horizontal position, youmay also turn the body on the wrist, forming a semi


circle with the feet and also the extended hand, then bringthe hand down on to the pommel of the horse , and gradually raise the body into a hand balance , and conclud

ing the exercise with a halfC

handspring to the groundthe whole making a very pr etty combina tion of tr icks .

You may also vary this by doing a flying- handspring

entirely over the horse,of course the horse must a lways

be low when you commence these tricks,and you must .

always have some one to protect you from falling.

Now to br ing into play t he mu scles of the back we willtry an exercise we call the roll over , so place your back toabout the centre of the horse , with your hands holding thepommels behind you, then bend the upper part of yourbody well ba ckwards and lift up your feet and you willsoon find that you can ra1se them up over your head ;and by letting go of the hands a t the proper time you

’

wil l be able to r oll over on to your feet”

on the other side ,you will no doubt fa ll all i n a . heap the first time

,bu t

with pra ctice and ra ising up your head as you hat go youwill come up standing and as this is a very showy tr ickI would advise all the pupils to try it. ,Another fine

exercise for the whole body and particularly the lowerextremities , is the long fly ; commence by placing the

jumping board abou t three feet from the hind part of thehorse , then with a run pitch yourself with your hands on

to the horse and come to anequestr ian seat , and continueby placing the board far ther off, and then change it bypitching on to the hands first a nd bring the feet up on to

the back of the horse in a stooping position, and thenraising from this pitch forward with the hands on to theneck of the h orse and go over it as in leap-frog ; the pe rm


mels must be removed for these exercises ; take a runningjump and land astride of the horse us ing your hands as

in the previous case and so increase the jump until a tlast you pitch with your hands on the neck of

and alight on the floor i n front of it.

FIG; 20.

When you near the neck , and are to beable to come o ver in a few more tr ia ls, it w ill be betterto have some of your companions stand in front to ca tch

you in case you should not clear the end , you would cometo a sudden stop on the neck of the horse and the impetus

you have acquired by your l eap would be likely to throw

you head foremost to the ground , but do not be dis eorwaged

bu t make up your mind that wha t se vera l have done tha t

you can do with assiduous pra ctice , bu t do not fancy you

can do it in one or two tria ls, it mus t be done clean overthe whole with one movement, it is much be tter to practice '

this with horses of various, lengths which sonic of

our best gymnasiums have .

now TO JOIN A omens. 45

CHAPTER V I .

T UM BL I N G ,SOM E R SA U L T r n n owm e

,a r e .

0

Tnn next course of exercises that I shall lead you to

is popul arly (but incorr ectly) called tumbling ; underwhich head comes the upstart , the handspr ing, the flipflap, and forward and backward somersaults , and

.

the

great reason‘

for introducing ’

these exercises here,is the

grea t confidence acquired‘

and the assistance they are to

the practice of the parallel and horizonta l bars and the

flying trapeze (which I shall presently explain) . But

I will not tire you with any ,

fur ther introduction , and

as you are now supposed to‘

be well up in all the jumpingfeats described in previous chapters , we will proceed to

the exercises under the head of tumbling as describedabove

,but you mu st not expect anything very easy 1n

this branch of gymnastics , but let patience and perse verence be your motto and you will overcome all the difli

culties that present themselves a t the commencementThe upstart , which means to lie on your back on the

ground and with one movement c ome on to the feet inan upright position ; this fea t is likely to tax your powerst o perform i t well,

‘

but you will find it very u sefnl to

cover many mistakes in which you have the misfortuneto fall on your back as by a qu ick upstar t you are on to

your fee t immedia tely and very few people would knowbut what you had fa llen in that way on purpose to introduce an upstar t. To try this fea t , you will have to ge t alarge mattress and then lying on this on your back at fulllength , and ra ise your

/

arms above your head with the


hands Open on the mattress , now ra ise your legs up‘

overyour head and throwing yourself on to your shoulders , andwith a good spr ing from the hands and shoulders and a

quick movement throw yourself upwards and try to br ingthe legs down smar tly

,

under the body maki

ng the feet d escribe a semi-circle and lifting the body a ll you can , you

will find that as soon as your feet have made the semicircle you will lose all contro l of yourself and

‘

will fall onyour

2

back , but what'

you want is to come up on your feetand the chief thing to strive ‘

for is to bring the feet underand on to the ground as soon as possible and as the feet

are near touching, to br ing the hands forward so that

FIG . 21.

you will get your balance‘

ou your fe et. There is alsoa way of doing an upstart by not touching the hands tothe ground , but by placing them on the thighs and rollingon your back , giving all the spring from the shoulders andpushing the thighs with the h ands as your fee t descr ibethe semi-circle

, you will come on to your feet providinga lways that you snap them under your body qu ickly ;this is a much more diffi cult way of doing it than the

former and is termed the circus upstar t.Another fea t that must be practised on a mattress is the

handspring,as you will be very likely to come on the \

flat of your back severa l times before successfully aecom

now To Join A omens. 47

plishing the feat, which consists in standing up, throwingup the arms and the body simultaneously and pitching forward on to the

.

hands and t hrowing your legs over yourhead and pushing with the arms

,until you have com

pleted the circle and stand erect on your feet again. Now

to start to do it, you must place one leg a little in advanceof the other , the body slightly bending backward and the

arms stra ight up, with a good spring throw yourself on

to your hands , throwing the aftermost leg quickly overand followmg i nstantly with the other

, (a ll depends on

yourself now) , as you are on your hands onlymomentary,you must keep the arms still , the chest ou t and headthrown back, just as you are fal ling b ackwads put a ll

!

the weight on the hands and push from,the fingers , and

this push added to the spr ing you have taken,will in

FIG . 22 .

time bring you on to your feet , and then you have aecom

plished the “ handspr ingff

After falling back severa ltimes you will find that you will Come up on to your fee t

48 now TO JOIN A o mens.

with the legs very much bent under the body, but withpractise you will find it very “

easy to come u p straight orin a position ready to do another handspr ing if you so

desire .

The fiip~flap is another good exercise of the same

kind and ' is neither more nor less than a handspr ingthrown backwards instead of forward ; stand on one end

of the mattress , (which may be raised a little ) with theback towards it, with the legs a little apar t, arms stra ightand body slightly bent forward

,bend slightly down for

a spr ing backwards , throwing the arms and head b ack

and bending the upper pa rt of the body backwards, at thesame time throwing you r legs upwar d over your head andpi tching over on your hands, and with a ! spr ing fromthe hands and arms , you will come over on to yourfeet again. This feat 13 considered to be more dimcult

FIG . 23 .

than a backward somersault , but is not so showy, but a

succession of hip-flaps , or as the circus men say , a

“row

of flip-flaps , and a backward somersa ult is a most str iking

50 now ‘ro JOIN A omens.

soon accomplish the fea t,to do this take a short run, and

jump up fromboth feet a t once, which are a l ittle apart,

and throwing the arms down and the head and shouldersforward with a quick spring letting the legs go backwardsa t the same time , the chief difficulty of course is to turnaround sufliciently to come on your fee t aga in on the

ground and in this you will be assisted greatly by the ca tch ,which means tha t when you have jumped high enough ,

you are to catch the hands on the underpart of the thighjust above the knee and pull y our knees up to your bodyletting

‘

them go as you a ligh t, iIi’

the catch the arms be ingsuddenly stopped when in action the’moinentum is inaparted

to the lower par t of the body and helping in a great degreeto br ing you over , when you have the confidence to pram »

tice this withou t any assistance , yOu will find it advan

tageous to take a run Of ten or fifteen fe e t.g

The last exercise I shall describe under the head of tumbling is the backward somersau lt and is not any harder toaccomplish than the flip-flap, although it looks considerablyso , and would be considered a muchmore difficult feat bythe spectators . Now le t me show you how it can be

learned and successfully accomplished ; by the u se of a

very SImple contr ivance calle d a“ lunge ’”

a pe rformermay succe ssive ly attempt a ba ckward somersault withoutthe

” least possible danger. This “ lunge ” is a strong1eather ~b elt buckled around the wa ist , and having an eye

a t each side, into each eye is spliced a r’

ope abou t two or

three feet.

long and capable of fully supporting the we ightof the gymnast , but this will be much be tter understood byreference to Fig. 24 , where it is shown around the wa istof the central figure, with the hands of the assistants—ou


each side holding on to the rope, so that when the performer makes a spring or attempts a and fails he

FIG . 24.

is prevented from fa lling by-

the support tha t is afforded byt he rcpes, this is a most useful adjunct in all gymnastics ofan a dvanced character ; stand in a position with the fee ta little apart and with the arms ra ised up, now to -

star t

bring the arms down with a qu ick swinging motion , thenra ising them a s if trying to lift your se lf, in the same timeas high as it is possible for them to go , at the same insta ntwith a good jump throw your legs r ight over your head,ga ther ing yourself up, as i t were and catching your thigh ,and you will in time turn r ight over into your first position ,before your head ha s time to come to the ground . Somevery pre tty compound movements may be performed (assoon as you can successfully accomplish a backwardsault) , and iscalled a round off, flip-flap and a back , the


round off being simply a handspring done by turning quiteround on the hands and fee t, something in the manner Of a

wheel ; of course these ar e very difficult exermses , and

should only be a ttempted when you are in good “ form,

bu t when they are once mastered they will b e found

very u seful,and a means of safety in many cases .

These last movements are not‘

very easy exercises to descr ibe

l

accurately be ing ra ther more complicated than thosewe have hitherto attempted.

CHAPTER V I I .

TH E PA R A L L E L B AR S .

THIS is an exercise than can be practised outdoors as

well as in the gymnasium , as the constru ction of the barsis very simple and merely consist of two ba rs , supported

"

side by side a t a su itable height from the ground . The”

width of the bars apar t for ordinary persons should'

be

about e ighteen inches , and for those with broad shouldersnineteen inches, it is highly important to get ‘

the correctwidths , as if they are too wide apart they are apt to strainthe body, while the he ight of the bars should be abou tfour feet

, but they may be fixed and var ied a t pleasure ,the length should be not less than e ight feet

,and the bars

should be round and of a diameter of two inches and a

quarter , ova l bars are sometimes used, but the round onesare the most natural as most of the other apparatus is ofa similar form .

HOWTO JOIN A o mens. 53

The exercise s that can be performed on the parallelbars are u sefu l in strengthening the chest and thoraciclimbs

,and medica l men often r ecommend them in order .

to strengthen the ligament and intervertebra l cartilages inSpinal deviations . A thousand and one feats may be per

formed on the parallel bars, bu t of course , as I said before ,you need only go as far

‘

as you like and keep to exerciseswell within your powers .

There are many simple movements on these bars , bu tthey are not so attractive or so much liked as those of

the same kind on the horizontal r bar, and some of themare very s

similar to movements on the vaulting horse , andtherefore I sha ll only endeavor to show you some Of thosewhich are the best to practice and which will also affordvar iety. Now supposing ~

the paralle l bar s to be properlyfixed

, you may commence by placing your self between thebars in the centre

, put your hands on the r ight and leftbars at the same time ; a slight spr ing upward will ra l sethe body on to the wr ists , the legs must be kept close, andthe arms straightened ; the first position may also be a t

tained by an upward spring, and then place the hands onthe bars, after the wr ists have become used to the weightand position on the bars , try what is termed the walk ,and is performed by j umpmg up with the hands on the barwith the body hanging suspended in between them as be

fore . Use your hands instead of your feet to move to

and fro,walking along the bars by taking steps . with the

hands on the bars , making them as evenly and regularlyas you can , the weight of the body must be kept on ther igid arm while the other moves forward, keeping the headwell up and the body perfectly straight ; it is not difficult

Q

5 4 now TO“

JOIN A omens .

b ut wi ll be found very tiresome . Walk in this way fromone end to the other and when you can do this easily,

FIG . 25 .

walk backs in the same manner turning roundthen let the body sink down with the elbows bent '

and

hop on the hands from one e nd to the other backwardand forward ; this you will find capita l practice for themuscles of the arms , although ra ther tir ing at first. ~The

swinging hOp may be next per formed , communicate to

your body a gentle movement ba ckwards and forwards,

until it moves freely,keep the knees stra ight and the fee t

touching each other , the swing may be increased untilin both the backward and forward movements the legs a re

near ly upright over'

the head ; the arm sockets formingthe pivot, then by ra ising the hands you will find yourselfprope lled forward or backward some cOnsiderable distance ,it has a very “

good effect and is called by some the grass

now TO JOIN A omens . 5 5

hopper hep ; Rising and sinking may be performed.by

placing the hands 09 the bar s in the first position, raise

yourself , up and let your legs go backwards with the heelsclose together , lower yourse lf gently from this positionuntil your elbows mee t behind your back , r emain in thisa ttitude a short time , then r ise gently, carefully avoidingtouching the ground with your fee t ; you may vary thisexercise by gradually sinking a little lower than before and

kissing the bar alternately behind each hand , this is a

graceful movement, but do not spoil the effect by touchingthe ground with your knees . Another useful exercise iscalled the letter L

,and

'

is'

done with the hands on the

bars and the legs are drawn up at r ight angles with thebody and the knees kept perfectly stra ight

,and may be

var ied by clasping the hands ou tside the bars whilst standing on the g round , raising the legs up and form ing the

same figure underneath the bars .

The gymnast will now be able to vary the preliminaryexercises , by throwmg his legs over either bar whilstswinging or he may give himself a greater impetus and

throw himself entirely on to the ground ; or swing backwards and forwards until you are able to throw both legsover one side of the bar s in front of you , then with anotherswing

'

bring them back aga in and throw them over behind

you on the same side and manne r a s b efore,there are

several of these movements.

which may be practised withgreat advantage to the muscles and are ca lled vaultingmovements , and nearly all these exercises should be performed with the body as stra ight as possible and when doneneatly with the legs close together have a very prettyand pleasing effect and are very good practice ; a nimble

56 now TO mmA omens.

moy ement is to take the r ight hand from its first posi tionand touch the left hand and br ing i t back

'

again without losing your position , try the same movement withthe left hand and when it can be done easily try and per

form the same movement by passing the hands behindthe back in touching the bars next stand be tween the barsand placing the hands on the bars , and gradually raise thelegs completely over the head until they turn over and

bring the in an inver ted position then continue the

FIG . 26 .

movement until you are hanging with the feet and headdown, then by ra ising the legs

'

over aga in you come to

the position you star ted from . You should practice thesemovements until you can do it severa l times withou t touching the fee t to the ground and you will find it very goodpractice for the front and back horizontalmovements .

To stand on the bar like a tight rope dancer , you must"

secure a good balance whilst astride one of the bars ,then place the sole , of one foot on the bar and the toe of


you can bring your body up hor izontally, supported bythe arms, then by bending the

O

arms a t the elbows , dropthe body in the same position, th

‘

en'

swing rouhd, your

feet in the action descr ibing a semi-circle and br ing themback aga l n, finishing or repeating the movement by swinging backwards aga in in the same manner , as you didon commencIng the exercise . When you have becomeproficient in these movements you may attempt a higherflight and increase the momentum of the swing until itforces you up into a hand balance .

To do this exercise corr ectly it must be practised on theextreme end of the bars , with the back ~

towards them

FIG . 27 .

lengthwise , you will soon see the necessity this precaution , a s if you should overbalance , you can easilylower the body by bending the arms and Springing overon to your feet , but when first you a ttempt the handbalance you must have two assistants standing a littlebehind you (one on each side ) , with their hands r eadyto catch you should you fa il i n ba lancing yourself, andthe same precautions must be taken when tryingthe hand

now”To JOIN A omens . 59

spr ing Off t the end of the parallels, which movement itwill

'

be as well to practise first so that when you can

accomplish it you will have no fear when you are try i ngthe hand ba lance .

Another exercise which requires gr eat muscular powerto perform it properly is the “

slow Upward movement ”or dead pull up .

”A t star ting pla ce the

;hands well up

over the ends of the bars, in fact a lmost resting. on the

wrists, as you then have the grea ter purchase or pu ll ,then very slowly raise

,the body, until h is suppor ted by

the which are bent at the elbows ; this is all done

FIG. 28 .

by main and if you can get up to this position ,as it

‘

is the cr itical and turning point of the movement ,but if you can manage to ge t above this, you can get right

60 no

'

w TO JOIN A o mens .

up with your arms straight with a very little farther oxertion . Some are not content even with this , but

’

continueuntil they ge t quite up into a hand balance, which is a

much more showy finish than simply coming down in theway you go up ; but one of the most difi

'

cult exer cises on

the par a lle l bar s is to br ing the h ead and shoulders forward so a s to counterbalance the legs and so br ing thebody on a para lle l with the bars , t hi s is by some professors

ca lled La‘Planche ; you may now bend one e lbow and

bearing the'

weight of the body on it,extend the other

hand above the head , and keeping the body and legs injust the same position , this i s ca lled by some the “ Mer

cury or Vane .

”

These exer cises are,not necessar ily pe rformed in the

order given here, but may be var ied to suit the taste ,

strength and muscular development of the pupil, but youwill find In nearly all these chapters the easiest movementsare described first and generally the hardest and mostdifficult last .

CHAPTER V I I I .

ON TH E H OR I Z ONrA n BA n .

Tnn'

exer cises on the hor izontal bar,are amongst the

most useful and'

strengthening of gymnastic‘exercise s , and

perhaps also the most varied and a ttractive,a s the early

movements are so very easy that they may be performedby the meres t tyro in manly exercise , and I generallynotice that embryo gymnasts are usually fond of com

HOW TO JOIN A omens . 6 1

mencmg with something which looks showy and the firstthing they Will do on going into a gymnasmm 18 to

’

seizethe bar and commence to pull themselves up , but they soon

get sa tisfaction,

and then they go for some thing easier .

It is not necessary to descr ibe all these movements as

any one withou t instru ction can place himself undernea th a

bar and pull himself'

up by his hands , and this if often

repeated will be of grea t benefit to the muscles of the

arms,

and body. In fact on a’

bar which'

will shift up

and down and can thus be regula ted,to su it the he ight

of every one,exercises can be performed a lmost as simple

as the most preliminary forms of free movements or calisthenics . Bu t before we commence let us see

'

if the apparalus is of. the r ight propor tions , as it is not of the slightestuse to

'

attempt the exercises I am abou t to descr ibe unlessupon

,

a properly constructed bar .

Now I will tell you what I consider the correct proportions of the bar before you attempt to get upon i t.

In the first place I have found hickory the be st materia lfor the bar itself

, (which should be made to shift up and

down) and if for a public gymnasium , the upr ightsshouldfit firmly into iron sockets in the ground , but for privateuse a bar supported a s in Fig . 29 will answer everypurpose and also possess the advantage of be ing portable . This form of construction is preferable , and it is

much steadier as the pr incipal is correct, the strength and

rigidity be ing where most required,that is , a t the top

of the uprights,as in a bar fixed in the ground ifwithout

guy lines , the-

strength must be a t the bottom,and th u s

the farthest removed from the place of gr eatest stram .

In the bar shown above , the two uprights merely stand

6? HOW TO JOIN A omens .

upon the floor or ground , guys being screwed into the floor.

(if indoors ) , or fixed to stakes driven into the groundfi f

FIG . 29 .

out-doors) . The height of the bar from the ground of

cour se var ies a ccording to that of the gymnas t,and the

nature of the exercises . To get the full height the bestway is to stand on tiptoes

,and reach as high -as you can ,

so as just to touch the lower side of the,bar

,

with bothhands and

‘

then when you are hanging by the hands , the.

toes will swing clear of the ground . It is not so well tohave the bar too high as it cau ses unnecessa ry fatigue, andsome of the strength which is wasted infg

‘

e tting up wouldbe found useful afterwards . Hav mg determined the he ightof the bar ,

'

the prope r length and thickness are now to

HOW TO mm A omens . 63

be'

considered ;‘

the length should be seven feet, and the

diameter one inch and three quarters , with a stee l rodor core one inch thick, r unning through the centre

, if

you have a bar withou t the steel core t he diameter mustbe increased to ' two inches , and the length reduced to

six fee t," but although the bar is a ctually - shorter , the

Spr ing wil l be grea ter , and the extra thickness will hinder so good s. grip being taken .

The bar be ing new fixed in its proper pos ition requiresto be put in good condition . Most likely there

_

will bea little grease on it from previous pra ctice , which it ishighly important should be removed before commencing ;this is done in the following manner , take a wet cloth

(without soap or soda , as a ny kind of alka li will raise,the

_

gra in . of the wood and make _it rough ) , and rub

the bar with it, then ge t a few fe et of repe abou t sa shline s ize, give it one turn around the bar and taking holdof the ends one in each hand and pull them up and

down , gradually moving it from one end to the other ,the friction will dry the wood , remove the gr ease and

dir t and put on the bar a good surfa ce . The bar be ingnew in good condition , wash your hands clean and thor3ughly ,

dry them, you will find that there is no resin

required , whi ch every gymnast i s compe lled to use if

the bar is not k ept in good order ; the use of resm 18

bad for various reasons , it will dirty your hands , and if

you are not in cons tant practice it wil l cause blisterssooner than otherwi se . I have sometimes seen the skinof hard hands torn , and wounds ensue preventing furtherpractice for some time, but if you are obliged to

res in do it judiciously , powder a little and rub only the

6 4 HOW TO JOIN A omens .

tips of the fingers in it ; avoid above‘

al l things gettingit into the palms of the hands

, as it will make themstick to the bar , and i t is also very likely to cause j erksin swinging and the grip will not be so certa in as whenthe hands move smoothly round. Those deta ils may

appear /rather tedious,but you will find them

”

useful , as

they apply to all appara tu s where the wood is handled .

Now there IS another thing you must bear in mind , andthat 18 , the way in which you must take hold of the bar ;

some say that you should take hold of it as you woulda handle, ,

wi th the thumb underneath , but the properway i s the thumb on the same side as the fingers , ifthe thumb be u ndernea th

,in all ordinary s wmgl ng ex

era ses , it has a tendency to draw the fingers c d‘

althoughin

'

soine of the slow movements it may be under , ye t,as a rule , it is better above .

Now if you will keep what I have said in mind , we willproceed to some of the exercise s . Jump .

up to the bar

and hang with t he hands , the body and arms hangingperfectly straight and feet close together .

‘

Hardly any

thing looks worse than to see the legs swinging aboutin all dir ections when you a re performing any exercise .

To perform all feats quietly and eas ily, shows the'

fin

ished“ gymnast and so far from violent exer tions be ing

the test of difficulty,

“

the reverse is generally t he case,and the easiest looking feats are very often the hardestand nice versa , and these irregu lar movements only tend

to tire you .

Now having hold of the bar with both hands, drawyourself up until the chin is above the bar ; and lowerthe body

'

until the arms are quite straight.

again, now


We will now proceed to the leg swing or knee revolve,being in your last position , throw your right leg as far

behind you as possible , a t the same time slipping the

other leg backward and catching by t he bend of the knee,then throw the head back with a good swing (keepingthe arms stra ight) , and you will thus make one turn

backward round the bar . You will find at first you are

apt to make a ha lf turn too much,but after a little prac;

t ice you will be able to r egula te the force of the firstswing so a s to go once round and come up in to yourfirst position with a

,

good balance ; next try two or threeturns wi thou t stopping, but always endeavor to finishabove the bar , as a t starting. For the

o

forw’

ard swingor revolve , reverse the hands , keeping the whole we ightof the body on the arms , throw the head well to the

front and with one plunge nforward , keeping tight-hold

with the hands and the body erect , you wil l make one

forward r evolu tion round the bar , after some practice

you w ill be able to make a number o f revolutions , thisis a very u seful and showy e x ercise .

Having. accomplished the backward and forward re

volve , we will now take a seat on the bar, try to bal

ance yourse lf withou t holding by the hands, try to sit

almost s tra ight and aga in wi th the bar within the angleof the knee ; we now come to the sit swing or free willr evolve . The sit swing is somewha t similar to the legswing, but of course more difficult ; hold on to the bar

with your hands,straighten the arms and let them sup ,

por t a gr ea t par t of the weight of the body, now thr owyourse lf ba ckwards with a good swing, the object of

this movement is to go quite round the bar in the swing

now. TO JOIN A omens , 6 7

and thus make one complete revolution. In the for !

ward sit swing the first’

start is the principal thing, as

FIG . 3 1 .

the impetus gained will be suflicient to bring you up

again, to get a good star t you must ra ise the body as

‘far away from the bar as possible, supporting the whole

weight on the arms , now throw the chest ou t and the

head back wi th the legs ra ther . straight , then with a

good plunge forward, keeping the arms stifl'

, you will

go quite round, tha t is to say you will in time , for youmust not think of succeeding a t first in any of these feats,but perseverance will soon enableyou to accomplish them .

You will find in pra ctising this exercise that some of

your strength will be expended in gotting , en to the bar

again after e ach fa ilure , so I will show you a veryood way of ge tting into the sitting position again whilehanging as in

“

Fig . Stralghten the body and draw

your'

centre of gravity a little above the bar , then bending the body slightly backwards you will roll quite overso as to come into a sitting position aga in . This movaw

ment is called the backward pull .

68 HOW r o JOIN A omens.

FIG . 32 .

I may here say that all the names of exercises whichare given, and some of which may sound ra ther strangeto the uninitiated

,are actually in u se among those who

pe rformthese feats and ar e not invented for the purposeof description .

The next performance to which I invite your a ttentionis of r a ther an ambitious characte r and is ca lled the

short swing or circle . In the firs t pla ce you must commence by getting on to the bar in the following mannerdraw the chest up to the bar , then throw the head backand project the l egs as far forward as possible a nd a t

the same"

time upward ; the tendency of this movementw ill be tha t your hands

'

holding the b ar w ill form a

kind of axis , while your fee t will descr ibe part ofa cir

cle, answer ing to the per iphery of the wheel . Now whilethe legs are passing around . stra ighten your arms and

you will come down on the other side ; of course this

now TO mm‘

A omens . 69

is very difiicult to accomplish a nd will require muchpractice , but you now should b e somewha t “

an fa it ”

on the bar , and gaining confidence in your own power s .

I shou ld r ecommend learners however to lower the bar

abou t a foot, so that they can Spr ing off the ground if

nece ssary .-No

_

w pu ll up to the bar bear mg the weighton the hands with the arm s stiff ; the object is to r evolveround

’

the bar like a whee l on its axis . Thi s you musttry to ‘ do by throwing the upper par t of the body forward with a good swin g

, a t the same time keeping thearms rigid and the body a little away from the bar and

endea vor ing to give yourself enough impetu s to go r ightround

,passing benea th the bar and commg up in the

first position ; at fir st youwill simply come off the bar

into a hanging position undernea th , bu t when you beginto master the feat, you will get a knack

‘

of suppor tingthe body with the arms while you are turn ing round .

We now come to“

the arm r evolve or Hindoo punishment , the name of which may be supposed to indi ca te ,a s it r eally does ,a ra ther pa inful exe rcise to the musclesof the arms “

. But I w ill descr ibe it a s i t is a very showyperformance although not very difficult . But a lthough Igive a description of it here , le t me not be mi sunder

stood . Wha t I wish to inculcate is, the general use of

gymnas tic exerc1ses suitable to the powers of those who

engage in them . These exer cises may b e performed on

any or a ll of the appara tu s he re descr ibe d , bu t it is not

a t all necessary that any one should master the wholeof the feats in order to der ive the expected benefit . Pe r

sons_

of a d isposition a t all nervou s may confine themselves to movements in which there cannot be the slightest

70 now ro JOIN A omens.

r isk,any more than in the ordinary avoeations of l

i

fe ;

others may advance fur ther ’

and p ractice in a mannera little more exciting , while those who have the r equ isi te combina tion of pluck and nerve , a desire to join thecircus and a modera tely robust frame , may a ttempt w ithperfect success any of the most complicated and difficultfea ts in gymna stics , such as somersault throwing and

the flying trape ze .

The arm r evolve is performed by ge tting on to the

ba r in a sitting position,then stra ighten the body and

put the arms stra ight down behind you , and a llow yourself to slip gradually down until the bar ca tches the in

side of your armsfand commence swinging backward and

forward until you get momentum sufficient to carry you

FIG . 33 .

q uite round the b ar and with]

practice you will soon be

able to revolve to your own sa tisfaction . Fig. 33 repre

sents the ordinary manner of performing this feat , bu t todo i t the r everse way (or backward) requires much morepractice . Another way to do

"

this fea t is to stra ightenthe arms a long the bar and grasping it with the handsthrow the body over to revolve .

’ This is a performancewhich , when well done , takes wonderfully well with an

audience , and creates more enthusiam than much “moredifficult feats .

HOWTO JOIN A omens . 71

The hand gr ind is similar to the exercise la st descr ibed,

only tha t,the hands a lone grasp the bar which is only

,

touched by the back and not by the arms a t all .

To hang by the legs ; a young beginner should practice this on a low bar , so that when he hangs by the

legs his hands will touch the ground and thus when heis getting tired and cannot raise himself he may let his

legs drop and come on to his hands on the floor safely.

To commence get on to the bar in a sitting position ,and then throw y ourself ofi

'

backward as for a sit swing,but instead of attempting to go round , drop . the bodyand bend your knees and thus let them catch on the

bar, ,getting a firm gr ip with them

,a t the same time

letting go your hands ; after you have'

sta id in that posi

t ion you may let the legs drop and come on to the floor .

Y ou- may then ge t on to the ba r aga in , hanging by the

knees as before and practice swinging backward a nd

forward as high as you can . A t fir st the friction willmake the legs a little sore , but. it will soon harden withpractise . Having obta ined good command of swingingin this way , you may (when your body is in a forwa rdhorizonta l position ) venture to let go with the legs and

l e tting them drop thu s come on to your feet on the

ground .

The fa ll back and sw1ng ofi‘

is done from a si tting position on the bar

,and is done by throwing yourself back

wards and br inging the body,

to a hor izonta l positionforward then le t go the knees ; a t first you will comeon to your hands and knees , bu t you will soon overcometha t when you gain confidence to let go a t the prepermoment. In first try ing this you will most likely be

72 HOW TO JOIN A o mens.

,apt to hold on too long, not allowing sufficient swing to

turn in order to come on to the feet ; if you let go when

FIG . 34.

swinging back of course you must come on to yourhands or head , but you must always endeavor to protectyour head by your hands, by holding them beyond the

head , thus ready 1n case of a slip . No careful gymnastneed ever be afraid of injury

'

if he uses his brain as wellas his body , and you will find tha t 1f a mishap occurs , itis generally to some one who attempts e xercises withou ttaking into considerat ion in wha t different positions hemay come off the appara tus in use . But a ll these ex

ercises may b e gone through safely if sufiicient precau

tions are taken a t first ; and I advise the u se of the

“ lunge ” (descr ibed in the chapter on tumbling) forf

allner formances of a fancied dangerous description a s it he

gets confidence 1n the pupil .Ther e are a few other leg exercises which may be

practised with advantage and which will afford var ietyand also help

‘

to bring all the muscles into play . One

of these is,“

where you hang on to the bar with one leg,

the other straight out, the toe touching the under side

74 How '

re JO lN A omous.

While you are sitting on the bar l ift one foot and gradbring it up under you on to the bar , and then

up standing ; this is a feat which of course

FIG . 35 .

requires great strength in the legs and a -

good commandof balancing power , now endeavor to walk forward and

backward by shifting the feet and if you lose your balance jump ofl’ the bar altogether without trying to re

cover it ; then get up again and hang by the toes,this

will make a good finish after balancing on the bar . I

genera lly do this after severa l balancing tr icks on the

bar, first on one foot and then on the other

,and then

turning r ound,finally le tting myself down and dropping

underneath , then hooking my toes on to the‘

bar , I le tmyself hang down perfectly s tra ight, folding my arms a t

the same time and then r a ising my body up take one

foot off the bar followed by the other foot, slapping thethigh with the hand as if pushing the foot

.

off the bar

and come directly on to my‘

feet, this is done without


Eisstopping and has a good effect, but ofcourse you mustnot expect to a ccomplish anything ih this style for sometime and therefore must be content simply to hang byyour hands , and then bring your legs up and hook yourtoes over the bar , taking care the moment you » let go

with your hands, t o straighten the body and stretch out

your arms so as to reach ‘

the ground in order to take

off the weigh t if you find your feet slipping off,if this

should be the case, you must leave go your hold and

come on to the ground ; as I have explained, the prope r

way is to draw the body up from the hanging down position and take hold of the bar with the hands beforetaking the feet off, bu t at first you will find it ratherdifficult .Now as vaulting over the bar is by . no means a dith

cult feat, it should be done in good style to look well,

going clean over in a swing, and will be found a veryu sefu l exercise and quite as well performed on the

horizonta l bar as

.

on the vaul ting horse , if your choiceof apparatus should be limited . Try it first on a bar

about three fee t s ix i nches from the ground, and gradually ra ise it

,bu t take care not to over task your powers

by having it too high for you , as very often when younggymnasts

,find they are getting on and can manage a

height of four feet six inches r espectably , they mustneeds try a few inches higher and

.

ar e thus very apt to

get into a slovenly habit . Vaulting should be'

done withthe body ,

as‘

str aight and as far away f rom the bar as

possible and should be practiced both left and r ight!Other movements which afford to the advanced gymna st

the qu ickest way of getting on to the bar , are named

6 HOWTO JOIN A omens.

upstarts and jerks and are par ticularly good for shor tswings and other exercises which are commenced fromthe first position .

The upstar t is, as its names implies,a way of getting

on to the bar with a quick movement , par taking of the

nature of a start, and is done by first hangmg by the

hands and then bringing the feet Up to the bar , and

FIG . 36 .

shooting them out as far a s can , which will give

you so much swing that you will be able after a timeto draw yourself r igh t up on to the bar . This exerciseis better learned by practice than by any description I

can give .

The j erk is to achieve the same thing but withoutthe swing . To perform this you must draw the legs up

keeping the arms straight , then drop the legs suddenlyand ra ise the body above the bar ; the act of droppingthe legs gives a

.

kind of send up to the body and takesoff the dead weight, render ing it easier to draw yourself up.

We now come to a movement which no amount of

description will render easwr , as it depends on sheer

HOWTO JOIN A omens . 77

strength , this is the slow pull'

up. This feat is performedby simply drawing the body up while hanging at armslength from the bar . You must get the hands wellover the, bar , so that , in fact, you hang on by the

wrists . It is generally done with the thumb underneaththe bar , (thu s forming an exception to the general rule ) ,

‘r

otherw1se as the whole weight is on the wrists ; when

you'

eome up your hands are apt to slip off,which the “

placing the thumb on the under part prevents ; when

you have pu lled up so your breast leans aga lnst the bar

you will find that all your strength will be required ,and you wi ll .find that by now raising the elbows youwill get a grea ter purchase or lift and , you must a lsoraise the legs a little so as to counterbalance the we ightof the body and to bring it up .

I Another slow movement which also requ ires a greatamount of practice , besides the indispensable muscularpower , is to slowly r evolve around the bar backwardsin a hor izontal position ; catch the bar with the handsone over a nd one under , then look one foot round the

bar , the other leg thrown over , the bar when in thisposition , the leg thrown , over the bar is brought forward, which helps to bring the body up, then assistwith t he hands ; and if you find it almost too »much for

you a swiagwith the leg will assist .The next movement which requires bodily strength and

persever ing practice are the back and front hor izontalsand are -splendid exercises

,they are performed by hang-g

ing in hor izontal positions suppor ted alone by the arms ;the b ack is done by pulling through the arms and shoot

ing the legs out in a line behind, a t the same time

78 now tro JOIN A omens.

throwing out the chest and holding the ,head up

FIG . 37 .

Having now shown you the movements on the hor izontal bar from “

the simplest to those requ iring greatstrength I will now proceed to one of the most dithcult of all the exercises, r equ iring gr eat nerve as wellas strength and it is called the giant swing or great

circle . This performance consists in swinging round thebar a t arms length and is very trying especially whensevera l revolutions are made in a swing. Before ‘

you

attempt this feat , however , it is imperatively necessarytha t you are well up in the short swing and you mustprepare yourself by gradually “

getting the body further

away from the bar . But when you actually attempt thegiant swmg, you must make up your mind for i t and

withou t any half heartedness throw yourself up almostinto a hand balance on the bar , but without losing the

momentum of the swing, and as you descend slightly

bend the body backward , but just as you'

get to the

bottom throw the legs suddenly forward and the headback and this j erk will give you a grea t impetus backward . Now you must,

i

while you are going up, drawyourself a little closer by bending the arms , thereby

HOW“

TO JOIN'

A omens. 79

shortening the distance from the bar, and assisting the

first impetus gained , and you should now come overthe bar with the arms still bent and the chest thrownforward ; you will now find that the h ands are rathertoo far over the bar , the arms being bent and the bodynearly perpendicular , this is what may be called the

dead point or hand stand of the swing, and is a very awk

ward position to be in , but the secret‘

of getting ou t of

it and regaining the full,

for ce of the swing'

is what is

called the shift,which is to give the hands a sudden

turn, and bring the palms on to the t'

0p of the ba r,

which will give you power again to straighten the arms,

and start for another r evolu tion . If you cannOt Succeedin accomplishing the shift you will find that you willmake another back with

yo ur chest on bar rather unpleasantly ; but perseverance and confidence w ill eventually enable you

'

to aecom

plish the giant swing forward .

You will observe that‘ I am not now tr eating you as

a novice, for no one should ever attempt feats of thiskind unless he has b ecome a tolerably good gymnast .

80 now TO w as A omens .

But this I should hope you are by this time , - as I sup.

pose you to have gone regular ly on,

from'

one exerciseto the next and from the easy to the difficult, as no one

will find it of the slightest utility to commence in the

middle of a book of this kind, and I should hope no

one who is l eally in earnest to improve would pay the

au thor such a poor compliment .The giant swmg or great circle backward is a per

formance of still more difficu lty, get on

‘

to the bar as

before and reverse the hands,pla cing them under the

bar , and the thumb over and then pull up and"

inclinethe head and shoulders forward over the bar until yourlegs are gowg up, then push up on the arms until you

get nearly a hand.

balance with the arms stil l bent,

you will now begin to fall over , a nd a t this momentstra ighten the arms , which will give you swing enoughto come up over the bar aga in in your first positionand ready for the second revolution ; never practice thison a bar more than an inch and three quarters in thickness as the sma ller the bar the better hold you will get ,Now when you can accomplish the backward and for

ward giant swmg you may try a few one way and thenr eversing the motion finish '

.with a‘

few the other wayw ithout coming off the bar or stopping the motion .

To do this str iking and adventurous looking feat youmust commence with the backward giant swing and

when you have made three or four r evolutions,t akingcare not to tire yourself and are in the backward

,

handbalance

, posuion (previously descr ibed) , you must re

verse the hands and throw yourself as far from the bar

as possible, at the same time straightening the body

82"

now TO JOIN A omens.

his feet safely . Next day he related the circumstanceand we concluded tha t it would be a grand finish to

the giant swing and well worth learning, accordinglyit .was practiced with the lunge and we found it mucheasier than we had expected . The pr 1nc1pal thing whilepracticing i t is to ge t a good swing, but not quite so

much as 13 requ1red to perform the giant swing or else

you are apt to turn rather too much and too quicklyand so ca tch your fee t against the b ar , but exper iencemust teach you the

‘

happymediumT he last“

exerci se I shall speak of in connect ionwiththe horizonta l bar is the snap off. This is to sit on

the bar with the body perfectly stra ight and br ing the

arms above the head and then let the body fall back-i

wards and let it bend over the bar , throwing the headback and the chest ’

out a t the same time and you willthen e xecute a

“ kind of a back,s omersault on to the

feet . This, of course,mu st

,not be

,

attempted withoutfirst putting on the lungs and with the help of the

assistants a will be “

found very simple and easy, ai

though requ1r1ng great confidence ; but you will findthat when you have once done it you can a lways do

it .

Two difi eult movements are, calie’

d the trussed fowland the true . lovers knot. To perform the first

, you hangon the bar

,draw up the fee t and place the insteps aga inst

the bar , push the body through the arms and r ema in inthat position as long as you can ; the latter is a schoolboys tr ick and very difficult to die . Grasp

'

the bar ,

pass the left knee through the right arm,“ unt il the in.

side of the knee rests against the inside of the right

nowTo 36 13? A. ome ns. 83

elbow, now pass the right knee w ar the instep of the

left foot, let go the left hand and with it grasp the r ightfoot. You will now hang by the right hand in an atti

ZAMPILLAEROSTATION, OR THE FLYING TRAPEZE .

OF all performances on”

gyninaSt’

ic apparatus, the mostfascinating is , perhaps, that elaborate form

“

of swingingcalled on the cir cus posters by

'

the title‘

of Zampillacr

ostation, or the flying trapeze, first introduced in Par isby a Frenchman from Toulouse, named Leotard , and

afterwards first introduced and popularized into this country by Win"

. T—Ianlon , of the’

celebrated Hanlon brothers,

a nd which has lately been brought so prominently forward in all our pr incipal gymnasmms and in which wemay recognise the old swinging bar of our youthful days ,under a more ambitious designation .

" We all know the

pleasure afi'

orded by the common children’

s swing and

the exhilarating efiects of the quick motion through theair , even when sitting comfortably in a suspended chair ,how intense than

i

must be the glorious feeling of rush

ing through mid air solely dependent on the arms and

the satisfaction of successively achieving theWell judgedchange of bars , the gracethl

“

turn between them or the

daring leap from . one to the other . No one who has

never exper ienced this can realize its peculiar Charla,

84 HOW TO JOIN A omens.

and no one who has felt it is likely ever to forget,

it,

par ticularly as this is an accomplishment which is longr eta ined

,so much depending on skill , though of course

nerve and strength are necessary . You may be withoutthe sight of a trapeze for years and have almost forgotten that such a thing is in existence and

'

yet on com

ing a cross one again,all the old feeling of delight will

r etu rn and you will “

(most likely) seize hold of it as

eagerly as ever , of course making allowance for the increased gravity and consequent loss of impulsiveness at

tendant upon r iper years and the dignity perhaps of be ingthe father of a family . But these evidences of the marchof time will doubtless be instantly brought

'

to your rocollection by the ino1 eased weight of your corpus and the

diminished holding power in your arms .

I do not praise this exercise for the possessmn of any

peculiar excellence in it, and here we may see a greatcontrast with

“

other gymnastic performances,for althoughI can point to many amateurs who coul d give as gooda performance on the hor izontal bar or parallels as any

professional whatever , yet this is by no means the casewith the trapeze , excelenoe on which is very rare amongamateurs, which is, no doubt

, from the”

want of apparatus hitherto felt, and I

.

am not aware of any one

(professional or otherwise ,) who can approach the greatMaestro Leotard in performing upon it ; of course manywho

‘

have followed him can give a very good performance . And such is the ignorance of the public on thissubject and the want of appreciation of really difficultgymnastic feats that the same indiscr iminating and boisterous applause is often bestowed on far inferior artists.

HOW TO mm A omoos . 85

But really some of the movements of Leotard upOn

the trapeze are really the perfection of what some one

somewhere calls the poe try of motion , and rather r e

semble the gambols of children whose every movementis graceful , than the performance of feats requiring a

rare combination of personal qualities and an immenseamount of practice .

‘

But there is no doubt that many who have s een thesebeau tifu l feats upon the trapeze , would like to be ableto perform them , and if they have the necessary personal qualifications 1 see no reason why they shouldnot , and therefore include these remarks and instruo

tions on the subject.

FIG . 40.

But commencing the flying trapeze, you maytake a turn with the hand n ngs, in order to accustom

86 new 7 0 JOTN A omens.

y'

ourself to the r opes and a lso to get used to hangingby your arms in various positions ; these , althoughcalled r ings, are of var ious shapes and sizes , but the

stirrup form are the mos t preferable , fi xed to ropes

suspended from a he ight of fifie en to e ighteen feet, and

hangi ng at a suitable he ight to allow the feet to clearthe ground when hanging at arms length from them ,

you may commence by drawing yourself up (as in

fig . 110a one r ing at arms length and the » other

close to the body,then draw in the outstretched arm

and straighten the other and repeat this as often as you

hike, as it . is very good pr eliminary exercise for the

trapeze . You can a lso practice back and front horizonta ls (the same as described in the chapter

,on the

horizonta l bar ) . Draw yourself quite up with yourhands in the r ings , and your arms straight and closeto your sides ; now from this position gradually s preadthe wide apar t, su spending the body between

them and then let

you hang stra ight down by the arms again.

now TO JOIN A omens . 8 7

There are many other str ength movements '

ou'

the

hand r ings , bu t you will soon find them out for yourself and therefore I will pass on

‘

to the swingi ng ez er

cises Commence sinmly swinging ba ckward and for

ward , increasing your momentum by drawing yourselfup, contracting

.

the arms as you ascend, and when at

the highest , l owering your body with a dam and bythis means you wi ll swing higher

“

ea ch time , until youar e able to

‘ bring your arms and legs stra ight and near lyin a . horizontal position

.

(see‘ fig . Also swing in

diffe rent pos itions in order to get command of yourself while swinging ; practiée

‘ by drawing the legs overthe head at the swing (see

Fm. 42 .

passing in th1s pos ition at the other end, and then

bringing the legs' smartly.

over and shooting themstraight out (m order to preserve the momentum) and

coming back all straight again to the starting point ,

ise several times and you will find i t

,very good work for the muscles , also swing with the


hands held close to the groin , and supporting the bodyat arms length the head back and the chest thrown wellforward , keeping yourself fr om pitching your head and

shoulders too much forward at the end of the swing,by bending the arms and projecting the legs in a horizontal position which represents the bend forward likeposition which you assumeWhen beginning to descend .

Another var iety of this swing is,where the body 13

kept nearly hor izonta l all through and this movementis very good practice (when you come to the trapeze )for flying from one bar to the other when a long distance apar t. You must well practice these swingingexercises with the stirrup r ings until you are sufficientlyadvanced to venture on the trapeze bar .

The trapeze bars are generally about twenty-six inchesin length and an inch and a quarter in diameter , witha steel core in the centre , which gives the proper weighta s well as strength to the bar and the ropes should beneatly spliced into brass eyes firmly fitted or screwedon to the end of the bar .

Now for the first trial with the bar . Stand on the

star ting platform , (which is a ‘ small stage of light con.

struction standing at a convenient distance from the

trapeze and of a he ight suitable to star t from ) , holdingthe bar in one hand (as in fig . as you can get intoa freer swing than . when holding by both

,and you must,

a lso be very careful to hold the bar so that’

your‘

weight

is thrown exactly in the centre . Now_

jump off the

platform (at the same instant taking hold with the otherhand ) , throwing yourself off with a good impetus in

order to get swing enough to bring your legs - well back

90 new TO mm A omens .

off the platform with the a ssistance of the bar in yourhands) , and when you are well up in t his . movement,you may try the first fly from the first bar ‘

. to the

second , in the following manner ! While ! standing on the

platform (as in fig. 43 ) have the second bar s et goingwith a moderate swing and When y ou see it at the deadpoint, a t the end fur thest from you , jump off as

'

beforeand you will meet it midway between the two and you

must content yourself, for the first few times, withmerely touching it ; do not attempt at first to it,

FIG . 44.

of its swing, judg

now ro JOIN A omens . 91

dur ation of the passage of the bar along i t. Practicethis for some time and when you feel confident enoughlet go and ca tch the other bar , and a t the same instantj erk yourself well forward (as in fig .

"

44) and the efi‘

ect

will be, that should you miss the second bar, you willsimply drop on to your fee t .The next feat that I should recommend you to attempt

the accomplishment of will be the half piroue tte . To

do this start from the platform and catch the second bar

(as just descr ibed ) , of course comple ting the swmg on

it and when you come to the end of the backward swing,the first bar

(

wil l be just behind you in its correspondingmovement . Now the fea t is to descr ibe a half turn ,which you mus t do by drawing yourself well up and

at the same time giving the shoulders and head a goodtwist round and seizing the first ba r ; y ou will at fir stonly be able to touch it and doing this you will send theba r and ropes swinging in . all directions , but practicewill soon enable you to grasp it in a proper manner withboth hands and to repeat the fea t several times without

Anothe r very easy and showy feat is callled the over

throw. To do this spr ing ed the platform as before, butb r ing the body up supported by the arms, of cour se ai~

ways watch the time of the second bar and pra ct ice willsoon enable you to hit the r ight moment . Now throwthe fir st bar right over your head and drop on to the

second (as in fig. Practice this movement at firstwith only a little swing and merely throw the bar awayfrom you and come on to the ground on to your fee t .

I ha ve seen many beginne rs who were so over anxious

-92 now TO JOIN A omens .

to catch the second bar that they have only be en ableto take hold of it with one hand and the consequence

FIG . 45.

was not having suflioient strength to support theirweight with it they have come down in

,

an awkwardmanner on the ma ttr ess or wha tever was placed undernea th to break the fall ." Another pretty exercise is called the sitting fly

,and

is done thu s ! After star ting as before , ge t over the ba r

into a sitting position . Now I am supposing you to be

well up in the movements on the hor izonta l bar and

therefore well a ble to manage this without further . in

struction and the object is simply to drop off the first

HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 93

bar from a sitting position and to catch the second bar ,and after one swing to alight on the mattress . You mustcommence to

/practice for this by sitting on the bar ,‘

and after a little swing spr inging off on to the ground,

gradually increasing the height a t which you come ofi'

till at last you swing high enough to come quite on to

the second bar .

Now I am going to give you some thing a little moredifficult

,as it is not much of a feat merely to pass from

one bar to

.

the other as you have done hitherto,

and

this difficult feat is ca lled the flying leg swing . S tar toff the platform as before , but a t the end of the swing,instead of letting go with your hands, hold on and throw

your legs over the second bar,then let go the first bar

FIG . 46 .

the hands, giving it a good swmg in doing so (tocontinue its motion) , holding tightly with the bent par tof

’

the f legs all through and swmg until you come backa g a in, and you will then be able '

to r each out agamand take hold of the first bar again, which has by thistime swung back aga in within your reach, now let go

94 HOW To JOIN A 013 003 .

with the legs and yen will swing back and by drawingyourself up come back on to the pla tform standing . 1Thisis rather a striking feat and you must be able to hangwell with your legs to do it in a good s tyle ; but evensupposing you should make a slip (you may be a littletired from over practice ) , y ou must open the legs and

turn out the toes and letting yourself slide down you

will find y our feet caught by the bar and rop es and

yourself in a‘

. hanging position ; this is a very simp lefeat and if you have proper boots on the ropes willnot hurt you in the least .We no w come to the flying jump and it is done in

this way ; start from the platform and throw your legsover

"

as before and let go with the hands , and when at

the end of the swing let go also with the legs, throwingthe arms and head up a nd you will come neatly overon to the ground on to your fee t . If you have practicedthe half fa ll back on the horizontal bar you will not

find any difficulty in this . When you fire begin havesome one r eady to catch you in ca se you should holdon to the bar too long.

We now come to what is called the leg fly, and is

almost the same as the flying jump , only that instead of

coming on to the ground you catch the second bar . To

do this , start from the plat rm as for the ordinary fly,

bu t ins tead of letting go the bar in order” to ca tch thesecond, retain you r hold ‘

and gradually draw yourselfup unt il you are high enough to get your legs r ightup and hook them over the bar , outside your arms, one

on each side . If you have mastered this movement on

the horizontal bar , you . will no t find it diflieult, but if


you are a novice in

the flying trape ze at all

FIG . 47.

have accomplished this you will have completed the

first forward swing and be returning with you facetoward the platform , bu t when you arr ive for the secondtime at the end of the swing, the second bar (whichhas been set in motion and is swmgl ng in unison with

you , ) will be just behind you, so that, if you let go

with your hands and stretch out your arms, and turn

ing as in the dotted lines ( in fig . 47 ) it will just comeinto your hands , that is, if you have swung in corr ecttime with it , and having been left to itself it is sure

to be right.Now I am going to se t you a task

'

tha t will frighten

you , the backward flying jump . This is performed off

the second bar , and in a direction away from the first ,

96 now TO JOIN A o mens.

so that there shall be no‘chance of your toes catching

upon it . Now your position upon the bar“

is ‘

the same

as in the first position of the leg fly, bu t instead of let

ting go now, you wa it until you are a t the other end

of the swing and then let go suddenly , throwing the

head and arms back and a jerk will ensue which willturn you over and throw you completely on to your feet .Although this appears so difficult, I consider it one of

the easiest movements on the trapeze , and the higher

you swing the better you will be able to accomplish it.

you must-

commence the practice of this fea t by tryingit while the bar is hanging quietly down

”

and the lungc

(previously described ) may be used wi th advantage or

you may _ get some one to hold your hands as you hangdown , until you can do it by yourself. After you are

able to manage this movement on the hanging bar,

begin with a little swing, gr adually increa sing it as

before , until you have confidence to throw y ourself off

at the full height. This feat has a splendid effe ctwhen done in a finished style and Le otard always woundup hi s performance with it, but instead of coming off

as you would a t first with a little swing, of course he

made a much more showy affa ir of it and threw himself off when the r opes were almost in a hor izonta l position, and after making a graceful curve in the air

,

c ame down in an easy and elegant a ttitude,which

showed the grea t master . This movement you willfind much easier than it looks , and when you can

make a certa inty jof coming off when the bar has a

little swing do not be afraid of increas ing the movement,as you will find that as you swing higher it is actua lly

98 now TO A omens .

side when you commence the practice of this feat.

S tar t off the platform as before and when you ar e‘

at

the end of the swing, draw your legs up in front of

you ; now le t go and throw the arms and head backand the chest out a ll in one movement , which willgive you sufficient turn to bring you r igh t on to yourfeet ; fig. 48 shows the position you are in just afterle tting go and the way in which you come down , and

the dotted lines indica te the curves descr ibed by the

hands and feet in the f movement . It is requ isite in

first practicing this to have two a ssistants in ca se youdo not ge t sufficient turn, and are likely to come downawkwardly . They stand one on each side

,ready to

give you a“

pa t”

or lift of strength , sufficient to bring

you up standing.

In concluding le t me saythat it is not very difficult

to perform these beau tiful fea ts , but of cour se you mus tbe well up ~ in advanced gymnastics and if you can throwa decent somersault you will find no difficulty in themwhatever ; but still

’

you may succeed on the trapezewithout being able to throw a somersault, - the pr incipa lr equisite be ing courage or a kind of “ dash .

”Do not

b e nervous , bu t go a t it with de termina tion and you

will succeed , but if you a re thinking of letting go in

the wrong place or of holding on too long, you are

sure to do one or the other and fa il . But say to yourself with decis ion ,

‘ I mu st le t go a t the end of the swingand throw my head and a rms we ll back ,

’

and,

you a re

safe to make your somersau lt . The power of concen

tra tion is invaluable, and in fact,

almost indispensablein performing these feats , and you must take care

now TO JOIN A o mens. 99

never to attempt any new exercise, unless in good formand in sound health , mind and body . Bu t you wi ll findthat the first time is generally the

i

most difficu lt and

after mastering any of these showy exer cises once, you

can a lways do them , but as I have just said , if you are

tired or ou t'

of sorts e ither bodily or mentally you mustnot practice these kind of exercises .

Having now gone through all the most importantfeats and shown -

you as much as it is possible to do

by mere description and illustration, the rest dependson your own perseverance , feeling sure that whateverefl

'

or ts you may make,

will be amply rewarded by the

beneficial results experienced.

CHAPTER x .

H OR SE BA C K R ID I NG .

TnE art of r iding bare back or on a“

pad, as it

is called, being a very broad padded saddle that the

performer stands up on to accomplish his or her won

derful feats of pirouettes and somersaults, is now ao

complished very easily,merely requ ir ing a previous

knowledge of gymnastics, and plenty '

of time for prac

tice and success must follow. Now in - the training of

pupils for the circus r ing by systematic professionalsinjuries are never inflicted , even in teaching them to


ride , an ingenious appliance known as the mechanic ”

precludes the possibility of dangerous fa lls .

The “ mechanic ” was invented by Mr . SJ Q . Stokes,the man who brought ,out the great r ider , Ella Zoyara ,

and is simply a strongly braced arm standing out from

FIG . 49 .

the centre pole at r ight angles with it and so arrangedthat it can easily be moved around a t any

‘

rate of speeddesired . Through a little pulley block at , the extremity of this arm a repe is run , at one end of this repeis a stout snap hook which is fastened e ither to a beltabout the pupil’s waist or to a

“ harness,”

somethinglike a combination of suspenders , braces and belt, which

HOW TO Join A CIRCUS.

CHA I’ TER ! I .

APPE ND I ! .

As an appendix‘

to

'

this work , I have attached,an

old copy of an agreement for the guidance of younggymnasts that they may know ,

how contracts are madewith managers of circuses .

GmARD, PA . , April 1st. , 1863 .

AI ticles of agr eement made and entered into this day ,between Dan Rice

,Manager , party of the first par t

,

and Tony Denier , Ar tist, party of the second par t.Sa id Dan Rice engages sa id Tony Denier for a sea

son of thiI ty weeks, commencing on or about Monday,

“

April 1st at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars

per week , also board , washing and all travellingexpenses, the above mentioned sum to be paid sa idTony Denier each and every week

’

during the continuance of this agreement; Said Tony Denier In con

sideration of the above , promises to give,

his servIces

as hereinafter specified to'

the said Dan Rice , performing semi-daily

,except Sundays, dur ing the term of this

agreement.Said Tony Denier hereby agrees to give his ser

vices as Clown, Pantomimist, tight r epe and wire walker

,trapeze , tumbling and hor izontal bar perrfomer , prin

cipal and scenic r ider , object holder and to make himselfgenerally useful d ur ing time specified above , at saidsalary of two hundred a nd fifty dollars per week , board,washing and a ll travelling expenses .


Said party of first part further agreeing to furnishsaid party of second par t with one or two horses everymorning of each week fer rehearsals Of his new act of

equ itation .

Signed , sealed and delivered this the First day of

April,Eighteen Hundred and S ixty-three

,in the City

of Girard, S tate Of Pennsylvama , In the presence of

Witnesses for Dan Rice ,

R. E . J . MILES.

BUBR ROBBINS.

DAN RICE ‘

Witnesses for Tony Denier ,

YANKEE ROBINSON.

ARNOLD’S

Dialogues , d Speeches .

A collection ofShort Dramatic Sketches,Witty and Sparkling Dialogues, and avariety OfPathetic , Serious and Comi c Speeches . Designed for the u se of schools ,social gatherings and evening parties , by ANDRE ARNOLD.

C O N T E N T S .

DIALOGUESM rs . Snifiles

’Confession.

—1 M ale and ing-room.

1 Femal e character .

The French Cook—2 M ale characters .

Examinat ion Day at the Seminary .—11

Female characters.

Fashionable Requirements.—3 Female

characters.

The Poet Under Difficulties—5 M alecharacters .

The Goddess of Folly .—12 Female char

acters .

The L ight ofLove—2 M ale characters;The Debating Club .

—4 M ale charactors .

The Fox and thelRanger .—2M ale char

acters .

PLAYSA Noble Vagabond—A Sketch in 1Act2 M ale characte rs . Costumes, Spani shScene , simple . Time in representation,fifteen minutes.

The Thr ee M en of Science.—A Comic

Sketch in 1 A ct .‘

4 M ale characters .

Costumes and scenes easy . Time in

r epresentation, thirty minutes . Thi s isa very lau hable piece, and cannot failto bring own the house .

”

Slighted Treasu res .—A Petite Come

dy in 1 Act . 4 Femal e characters . Cost ames , modern. Scenery , plain . Timein r epresentation, forty -five minutes .

The Harvest Storm .—A Domestic

Drama in 1 A ct . 10 M al e characters .

Costumes ,modern. Scene, simple. Timein representation,

forty minutes .

A Silm t Woman .—Comedietta in 1

A ct . 1 M ale and 1 Femal e character .

Costumes , modern. Scene, a dr awingroom. Time in representation, twentymmutes

Fu rm shed Ap artmen ts.—A Comic

Interlude in 1 A ct . 5 M ale characters .

Costumes and scenery easy . Time inrepresentation , fifty minutes .

Tact and Fact—A Comi c Sketch in1 Scene . 1 M ale and 1 Female char ac1 V olume

,Neat Paper Covers.

Bound in Cloth. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 e t SO

ter . Costumes, modern. Scene , a drawTime in representation,

fifteen minutes .

The Babes in the Wood , or , The Fe

rocious Uncle and theAvenging Robins .

—A_Domestic Tragedy in 1 A ct . 7

M al e char acter s. Costumes and seen

ery easy . Time in r epres entation, thirtymi nutes .

Too A tten tive by Half .—A ComIc

Sketch in 1 A ct . 2 M ale and 1 Female

character . Costumes,modern. Scene,

a. handsomely furmshed apar tment .T ime in representation, thirty minutes.

Decidedly COOL—A Comic Sketch in1 A ct . 2 M ale and 1 Female character .

Costumes, modern. Scene, simple . Timein representation , twenty minutes .

K illingTime.-A Comedi etta in 1A ct.

1 M al e and 1 Female character . Costumes

,modern . Scene , an elegant apart o

ent . Time in representation, twentyveminutes.

SPEECHESRory O

’Moore’s Present to th ePriest .

The Widow Bedott’

s Letter to Elder

Saith es .

The Y ankee Landlord.

Lord Dundreary’

s Riddle.

A ntony and Cleopatra.

Lecture on Bad BO 3 .

Hezekiah Stubbins Oration ,July 4th.

Old Sugar’

s Cour tship .

Mr . Candle Wants a Latch-K ey .

A M other to Her Boy .

The Fall sof Lodore.

The Battle of Ivry .

AllWe A sk is to be Let‘

A lone .

The TwoRoads .

Custer’

s Last Charge.

(Spartacus to the Gladiators at Capua.

osh Billing‘svon Courting.

The Three arnings.

The Debating Society .

J immy But ler and the Owl.A ureli a

’

s Unfor tunate Y oung M an.

A Showman on theW'

oodchuck .

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 cm.

Sent by mail, on receipt of the price , b yHAPPY HOUR S COMPANY , Pu b l ifh e r

s ,

No . 1 C h a m b er s St r e e t , New Y o r k .

BA R R Y PL A YS .

A collection ofEthiopian Dramas , Farces, Interludes , Burlesque0 es. Extravaganzas , Comicalities, Whimsical ities, etc .

,

firincipal

“burnt-cork

”

performers all over the Union.

umiuated paper cover.

C ONT E N T S OF E A CH PA R T .

PART L—Deaf- In a Horn; 1 Scene .

2 M al e characters—Deedemonum ; 3

Scenes . 6 M ale , 1 Female character .

.De Trou ble Begins a tNin e; 1 Scene . 2

M ale characters—Cha llenge Dance ; 1

Scene . 3 M ale characters—M ishap s ofCaesar 0mm ; 3 Scenes. 3 M ale , 2 Female characters .

—New Year’

s Ca lls ; 5

Scenes . 5 M al e, 2 Female characters.Nobody a Son; I Scene. 2 M ale charac~

ters .—Sci Africanus ; 3 Scenes. 3

Male,1 emale character .

—Scene3 at

Gu rn ey’

s (Scenes i n the Stud io) ; 1

Scene . 3 M a le characters .—16

,000

Yea rsAgo; 1 Scene. 3Male charactersl

.

—Dancing M ad ; 1 Scene . 6 M al e,

Female character .

PART IL—The Coopers; 1 Scene. 6

M ale, 1 Female character .-J olly M il

lers ; 1 Scene . 3 M ale , 1 Female character .

—M ischicvoas Nigger ; 1 Scene.

4 M ale,2 Female characters a—Sham

PARTm - mm-Taker ; 1 Scene . 5

M ale characters .—Unclc J ef ; 5 Scenes .

5 Mal e, 2 Femal e characters - B lack

Shoemaker ; 1 Scene. 4Male, 2 Femal e

char acters .—Rooms toL et ; 1 Scene 2

Servant ; 1 Scene . 2 Male characters .

—0h, E ach ! 3 Scenes . 4 M ale , 1 Fe

male character .—QuackDoctor ; 1 Scene . Singer ; 1 Scene . 4 M al e characters.

4 M ale, 1 Female character .—Darky Shy lock; 3 Scenes. 5 M ale , 2 Femal e

Traged ian ; 1 Scene. 2 M ale characters . 2 M al e

,1 Female character .

PART IY.—1hree Black Smiths ; 1

PR I C E , E A C n PA R T , 3 0 C E NT S.

Sent by mail, on receipt of the price , by

HAPPY noun s COMPANY , Pu b l i sh e r s,

7 ‘

No . 1 C h am b e r s St r e e t , New Y or k .

Scene . 3 M ale characters—Great A r

r ival ; 1 Scene. 3 M ale characters .

Lcs M iser ables (Unhapp y Pa ir ) ; 1Scene . 3 M ale characters—H ep ofFashion ; 2 Scenes . 5 M ale

,2 Femal e

characters—The Wr eck; 1 Scene . 4M ale , 2 Female characters—Da l SameOld Coon ; 2 Scenes . 4 M ale

,2 Femal e

characters—De M a id ob dc Hunkpuncas ; 1 Scene . 2 M ale characters—Bones

at a Rafi e ; 2 Scenes. 3 Male characters—An Elep hant on Ice; 1 Scene . 2

PART V . Penny ; 3 Scenes . 6M al e, 1 Femgfe

wcharacter .

—V ilile¢mand Dinah ; 1 Scene . 4M al e , 1 Femalecharacter .

—0ld Hunks ; 1 Scene . 3

M ale characters.—H ighes tPricefor Old

Clothes ,1 Scene . 3 M ale characters.

Stage-StruckDar-Icy ; 1 Scene . 2 M al e,

1 Female character .-Black CrookBur

lesque ; 2 Scenes . 7 M ale, 2 Female

characters . Turkeys in Season ; 2

Scenes. 3 M al e characters—Old Dad ’s

characters .—A unty Chloe; 1 Scene . 1

M al e, 1 Female character .

PART VL—Bone Squash ; BScenes . 9Male , 3 Female characters—The B lackStatue; 1 Scene. 4M ale

,2 Female char .

acters .-Mazepp a ; 2 Scenes. 7 M ale

,2

Female character s .—J ack’

s the Lad ; 6Scenes. 7 M al e

,2 Female character s .

Feast; 1 Scene . 4 Male, 2 Female char

LI'

ITLE PLAYS FOR LITTLE PEOPLE.

A series of favorite Tales of childhood . arranged in a dramatic form for homeperformance , school exhibitions , etc. With full directi ons as regards man ag e

ment of costumes, scenery , etc.

C ONT ENT S .

~ Aladdin and theWonderful Lamp .

A Drama of ups and downs , for youngladi es and gentlemen,

in 2 A cts . 6 M aleand 3 Femal e characters. M andarin

,

ladies in wai ting, maids of honor,

ushers, guards, gamins, etc. Costumeselaborate . Scenes, interiors and exteri

ors . Time of representation, one hour .

B lue Beard ; or , Female Curi osi ty .

A Sensation Drama in 2 A cts . 6 M ale

and 2 Female characters . Costumes,

Turkish . Scene, a room inBlue Beard’

s

cast le . Time of representation, thir tyminutes.

FrogPrince (The) .—A Fairy Play in1 A ct . 2 M al e and 1 Female character .

Costumes , doublet, hose , ufl‘

ed breechas

, Spanish cloak , regal ro longmantle and train,

etc. Scene, 0. wood and

apartment in a palace . Time of repre

scutation, twenty minutes .

Jack the Gian t K ilian—A Fairy Playin 1 A ct . 4Male and 3 Female characters. Costumes , K nickerbocker suit,

tumes of the above plays

characters. Costumes , wolf’s mask,

tunic, short wide trousers , long boots,

mob cap, quilted petticoat , etc . Scene .

interior and exterlor of c ottage . Time

of r epresentation, twenty-five minutes.

Li ttle Si lver Ha ir and the ThreeBea rs—A Pastoral Drama in 1 A ct . 2

M ale and 2 Female characters . Costumes, bear

’

s head mask , t0p boots ,

flower ed waistcoat , girl of the period”

dress, little irl’

s dress. Scene . woodand interior 0 cottage . Time of rept escutation, fift een minutes .

Loves of L ittle Bo-Peej (The ) .—In 1A ct . 5 Mal e and 4 Female characters .

Costumes, square~cut coats, knee

breeches, flowered waistcoats, silkstockings, shoes and buckles , farmer ’

s

dress, flowered gown , quilted petticoats,traveling dress

,she herdess ’ hat and

r

ilibg

ons

fetc. Scenes

,

“

tc

f

hen and a field.

e 0 re tation , 0 minutes .

Robin good ; or , The Mr

gry M en 0]Sherwood For est—A Sylvan Drama in2 A cts . 11 M al e and 3 Female characters. Costumes , tunic, armor

,tights,

russet boots, bishop’s dress , monk

’s

dress , crown, dresses trimmed with er

mi ne,etc.

‘

Scenes , a forest , a grandhall . Th e of representation,forty-five

PR I C E 3 0 C E NT S .

HOWWEMANAGEDOURPRIVATETHEATRICALS;Or, a Guide to the Amateur Stage.

Containing lain directions for the construction and arrangement of the Stage ,paint ing the en gettin up th e Costumes, making the Properti es and A c

cessories , Hints on tage E ects , instructions for makin Calcium Lights , etc . ,

etc. Prepared for the use of schools, private families and atic clubs .

C ONT E NT S IN PA R T .

Introduction . Constr uction of a

Stage . Proscenium and Auditorium.

The Curtain and Dre Lighting theStage . Scenery and ene Painting .

Costumes ; Properties and A ccessories .

Stage Effects , etc. , etc .

Penelope A nne—A Musical Farcein 1 A ct . 4 M ale , 1 Female character .

Costumes and Properties easy . Scene,

Public Room in a small hotel on theContinent. Time in representation,

about thi rty minutes .

SixteenDescriptive Il lustrations and Diagrams .

PR I C E 2 5 C E NT S .

Ei ther ofthe above will be sent by mail,on r eceipt of the price , by

HAPPY H OUR S C OMPANY , Pu b l i sh e r s ,

No . 1 C h a m b e r s St r e e t , New Y o r k .

PERLORAMUSEMENTSFORTHEYOUNGFOLKS.

Desi ned for the use of Schools, Church Societies, Home Amusement,By G . BARTLETT. New edition. Revised and enlar Every one of theentertainments contained in this work have been tr ied be re large audiences inhundreds of cities, under the personal su rvision of the author

, and they are nowsimplified and arranged for performance y old and young.

C O N T E N T S .

,V i likens and His Dinah, an Illus trated Bal lad.

Charades (fifteen different ones ).Games of Thou ht .

The Mental In ex.

Scenes in the Life ofMarie Stuart .E laborate Tableaux.

The Lily M aid ofA stolat .J arle

‘ Wax Works.

The abes in theWood, aPThe M agic Mirror , a V ision .

The M iser ’s Supper, a Pantomime.

“

t0

C' til

I

lld how to

repare 1 m any 1 or

Pigvate Theatrica ls .

ty'

7

age.

List ofPlay s suitable for Private PerLove in Ambus a Pantomime.

The Sleepin Beauty , a Pantomime .

A uldRobin ray , an Illustrate d BalladThe Mistletoe Bough, an

Ballad .

Par lor Tabfi i x ; or ,For the use of Families

,Schools and Public Exhibitions. By TONY DENIER,

author of “Tony Denier

’

s Parlor Pantomimes ,” “ Amateur ’s Guide,

”Shadow

Pantomimes ,”etc. Containing about eighty popular sub

'

ects , with lain and ex

plicit directions for arranging the stage, dress mg-rooms, lights, full escript ion ofcostumes, duties of stage manager , properties and scenery required , and all thenecessary directions for getting them up . Among the contents there are ninet ableaux for ma le and an equal number for fema le characters only. A great number oft hem introduce groups of boys and many more groups of girls only ; othersagain introducing both ; and still more in which entire classes can take part .Everything is stated in a plain . siniple manner , so that itwill be easily understood ;everything like style or unnecessary show has been avoided . For public or private enter tainment, there is nothing which is so interesting and instructive as thetableau . Pfi ce o o o o o o o o o o o o o o O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o o o o o o

mimes ; or , Harl equin m th e Sh ad e .

How to get them 11 and how to act in them ; With full and concise instruot ions and numerous ustrations. Also

,full and complete descriptions of proper

t ies and costumes.

-0 0NT EN‘

T s .

Introduction ; ShadowBluff, or ,Who’s Base Ball ; Re The

Who ? Tooth Drawing Extraordinary ; Boarding-House M e

Am utation likeWinking ; The Hannt chanical Statue Serecd ouse ; We Won

’

t Go Home til!

Morning ; Jocko, or the Mischievousnaders ; The Model Prize Fight ; TheM agic Cask , or

,The Industrious and.

Monkey ; The Madcap Barber ; Crib Idle Apprentice ; The Tr ical Duel,b age , or , The Devil

—among the Cards ; or

, The Comical Rivals ; 1d DameThe Lover ’s Stratagem ; The Game of Trot and Her Comical Cat .

I t has been the aim of the author to provide harmless home amusement for oldand young, excluding every thing objectionable to sound morality and good hometraining . By Ton Denier , Pantomimist , author of Tony Demer

’

s Par lor Pantomimes,

” “ Par or Tableaux,” “ Amatenr

’s Guide, etc. Pricc . . " 2 5 c t s .

Either of the above sentby mail, on receipt of the price, byHAPPY H OUR S COMPANY , Pu b l i sh e r s ,

No . 1 C h amb e r s St r e e t , New Y o r k .

now to join an omens - forgotten books

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