THE "FLIGHTS" OF GYMNASTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1099, 1 May 1883, Page 1

THE "FLIGHTS" OF GYMNASTS.

The following i? the explanation given by Lulu, the famous gymnast, of the way in which he made his perpendicular ] ea p ; —» It was done," he said, " by of a mechanical device. I stood

| in full view of the spectators on an iron I plato about a foot in diameter, which was attached to a spindle running down through a framework. This spindle was thrown up a distance of seven feet above the stage by means of rubber springs, carrying the plate with it." The springs were powerful enough to send my body through the air like a shot, Another set of rubber bands jerked the spindle back as quickly as it shot out, so that the motion both ways was too quick for sight. On reaching my distance I caught Hold of ropes. It was necessary to pose my body so that it would be exactly inline with the | metal line of the spindle. One night at Dublin the machine was imperfect, and the spring became released beforu I was ready, throwing me on my head and shoulders in the orchestra circle. I feel as if the earth had suddenly fallen from under me, But there is really no time for thought, I am at the ropes in an instant. I gave up this performance because I grew too stout. One day my body was almost telescoped by the shock. I then set to work to devise a machine that would enable me to distribute the force over my whole body. The result was the catapult, after several months spent in making experiments. This machine is very simple in its construction. An iron plane about 15ft long is suspended on an axle at a right angle. Rubber springs are made to act so as to throw the plane forward suddenly into a position nearly perpendicular. This movement throws my body, which is lying at full length at the upper end of the plane, so that I describe an arc and alight in a net about 60ft from the machine. I was nearly killed two or three times* i'he first time 1 was thrown I lost al sense of what I was doing or where I was going, I was utterly helpless, and came down into the net on my head and face. My head was so cut and bruised that my hair came out in bunches. In Londou I made the experiment of using a machine made the same as tho tii*ta--pult, but suspended in mid-air. The springs were so adjusted that the iron beam on which I lay, when released, described almost a semicircle, so that when my body left it I was underneath instead of on top of it, This machine threw me a distance of 200 ft. in almost a straight line. My movement was so straight and so swift that it was impossible for me to turn my body, even once. In fact, I did not recover consciousness until my force was nearly spent. The principle of the cannon from which gymnasts are sometimes hurled is the same, the only difference being that the body is sent in an oblique line upward, instead of perpendicularly into the air. As the performer can get his position with perfect safety, this feat is not attended with much danger, The spring is released in this instrument by means of a trigger set off by the explosion ©f powder."