The Miracle Mongers [48]
were obliged immediately to desire him to desist, his other feats (wherein his manner of acting was chiefly owing to the mechanical advantages gained by the position of his body) were entirely attributed to his extraordinary strength.
[5] Or William Joy. [6] This is the spelling used by Joyce, Eckenberg and others, for the Samson of the Bible.
But when he had gone out of England, or had ceased to shew his performances, for eight or ten years; men of ordinary strength found out the way of making such advantage of the same postures as Joyce had put himself into, as to pass for men of more than common strength, by drawing against horses, breaking ropes, lifting vast weights, &c. (tho' they cou'd in none of the postures really perform so much as Joyce; yet they did enough to amaze and amuse, and get a great deal of money) so that every two or three years we have a new SECOND SAMPSON.
Some fifteen years subsequent to Joyce's advent, another so-called Samson, this time a German named John Charles Van Eckenberg, toured Europe with a remarkable performance along the same lines as Joyce's. Dr. Desaguliers saw this man and has this to say of him:
After having seen him once, I guessed at his manner of imposing on the multitude; and being resolved to be fully satisfied in the matter, I took four very curious persons with me to see him again, viz. the Lord Marquis of Tullibardine, Dr. Alexander Stuart, Dr. Pringle, and a mechanical workman, who used to assist me in my courses of experiments. We placed ourselves in such a manner round the operator, as to be able to observe nicely all that he did, and found it so practicable that we performed several of his feats that evening by ourselves, and afterwards I did most of the rest as soon as I had a frame made to fit in to draw, and another to stand in and lift great weights, together with a proper girdle and hooks.
Dr. Desaguliers illustrates Van Eckenberg's methods in a very exhaustive set of notes and plates, which are too technical and voluminous to repeat here, but I will quote sufficiently from them to make the modus operandi clear. The figures will be found on plate 19.
Figs. 1 and 2 have already been explained.
In breaking the rope one thing is to be observ'd, which will much facilitate the performance; and that is to place the iron eye L, (Fig. 3) thro' which the rope goes, in such a situation, that a plane going thro' its ring shall be parallel to the two parts of the rope; because then the rope will in a manner be jamm'd in it, and not slipping thro' it, the whole force of the man's action will be exerted on that part of the rope which is in the eye, which will make it break more easily than if more parts of the rope were acted upon. So the eye, tho' made round and smooth, may be said in some measure to CUT THE ROPE. And it is after this manner that one may break a whip cord, nay, a small jack-line with one's hand without hurting it; only by bringing one part of the rope to cut the other; that is, placing it so round one's left hand, that by a sudden jerk, the whole force exerted shall act on one point of the rope.
B is a feather bed upon which the performer falls. bhu
The posture of Fig. 4 Plate 19 (where the strong man having an anvil on his breast or belly, suffers another man to strike with a sledge hammer and forge a piece of iron, or cut a bar cold with chizzels) tho' it seems surprising to some people, has nothing in it to be really wondered at; for sustaining the anvil is the whole matter, and the heavier the anvil is, the less the blows are felt: And if the anvil was but two or three times heavier than the hammer, the strong man would be killed by a few blows; for the more matter the anvil has, the more INERTIA and the less liable it is to be struck out of its place; because when it has by the blow receiv'd the whole MOMENTUM of the hammer, its velocity will be so much less than that of the hammer as it has more matter than the hammer. Neither are we to attribute to the anvil a velocity less than the hammer in a reciprocal
[5] Or William Joy. [6] This is the spelling used by Joyce, Eckenberg and others, for the Samson of the Bible.
But when he had gone out of England, or had ceased to shew his performances, for eight or ten years; men of ordinary strength found out the way of making such advantage of the same postures as Joyce had put himself into, as to pass for men of more than common strength, by drawing against horses, breaking ropes, lifting vast weights, &c. (tho' they cou'd in none of the postures really perform so much as Joyce; yet they did enough to amaze and amuse, and get a great deal of money) so that every two or three years we have a new SECOND SAMPSON.
Some fifteen years subsequent to Joyce's advent, another so-called Samson, this time a German named John Charles Van Eckenberg, toured Europe with a remarkable performance along the same lines as Joyce's. Dr. Desaguliers saw this man and has this to say of him:
After having seen him once, I guessed at his manner of imposing on the multitude; and being resolved to be fully satisfied in the matter, I took four very curious persons with me to see him again, viz. the Lord Marquis of Tullibardine, Dr. Alexander Stuart, Dr. Pringle, and a mechanical workman, who used to assist me in my courses of experiments. We placed ourselves in such a manner round the operator, as to be able to observe nicely all that he did, and found it so practicable that we performed several of his feats that evening by ourselves, and afterwards I did most of the rest as soon as I had a frame made to fit in to draw, and another to stand in and lift great weights, together with a proper girdle and hooks.
Dr. Desaguliers illustrates Van Eckenberg's methods in a very exhaustive set of notes and plates, which are too technical and voluminous to repeat here, but I will quote sufficiently from them to make the modus operandi clear. The figures will be found on plate 19.
Figs. 1 and 2 have already been explained.
In breaking the rope one thing is to be observ'd, which will much facilitate the performance; and that is to place the iron eye L, (Fig. 3) thro' which the rope goes, in such a situation, that a plane going thro' its ring shall be parallel to the two parts of the rope; because then the rope will in a manner be jamm'd in it, and not slipping thro' it, the whole force of the man's action will be exerted on that part of the rope which is in the eye, which will make it break more easily than if more parts of the rope were acted upon. So the eye, tho' made round and smooth, may be said in some measure to CUT THE ROPE. And it is after this manner that one may break a whip cord, nay, a small jack-line with one's hand without hurting it; only by bringing one part of the rope to cut the other; that is, placing it so round one's left hand, that by a sudden jerk, the whole force exerted shall act on one point of the rope.
B is a feather bed upon which the performer falls. bhu
The posture of Fig. 4 Plate 19 (where the strong man having an anvil on his breast or belly, suffers another man to strike with a sledge hammer and forge a piece of iron, or cut a bar cold with chizzels) tho' it seems surprising to some people, has nothing in it to be really wondered at; for sustaining the anvil is the whole matter, and the heavier the anvil is, the less the blows are felt: And if the anvil was but two or three times heavier than the hammer, the strong man would be killed by a few blows; for the more matter the anvil has, the more INERTIA and the less liable it is to be struck out of its place; because when it has by the blow receiv'd the whole MOMENTUM of the hammer, its velocity will be so much less than that of the hammer as it has more matter than the hammer. Neither are we to attribute to the anvil a velocity less than the hammer in a reciprocal