The Flying Trapeze

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXVIII, Issue 3482, 16 August 1937, Page 7

The Flying Trapeze

Vana stood erect ou the trapeze bar at the highest point of the vast circus tent, and the crowd below shuddered. Suddenly she rolled forward for her famous loop-the-loop, a stunt which always held them spellbound. Her dainty feet were seen to slip just a fraction — those strong, sure fingers, bo used to the accurate synchronism of every limb, lost their hold, and down her slim figure crashed—to certain death! Trapeze work will always be hazardous, but, at least, no artist need ever crash to oblivion as Vana did on that fatal night in Barcelona. Edward Van Wych has seen to that. Immediately on hearing the news he set to work in his little shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, and perfected a safety device to be used in this trick. It consists of a pair of tiny keys that can be riveted to the performer's shoes, and when he or she strides the trapeze, they lock into transverse slots on the bar, this making a slip impossible. Many a trapeze artist owes his life to Van Wyck, who was once a professional juggler. In his shop all sorts of paraphernalia are turned out: circus gear, trapeze bars, ropes, trick barrels, and juggling apparatus. Each order is executed either by him or one of his six tried assistants, and they are assured of sufficient work to last them to the end of their lives. No two pieces that go out of his shop are alike; each is made according to individual specifications. Sometimes artists want the seemingly impossible, and consult Van Wyck. Many years ago Ed. Millette, one of the finest aerialists the world has ever seen, had an idea for a piece of apparatus that would give him an exclusive, thrilling trick. He wanted to stand on his head on a wooden globe on a high trapeze, and when the globe revolved in one direction, he wanted the trapeze to revolve in the other! His colleagues ridiculed the idea. But Millette had worked with Van Wyck. so boarded a Pullman to Cincinatti. There he explained his dream. "Give me two weeks," said Van Wyck, "to think it over." In two weeks the job was completed, and Ed. Millette thrilled millions with the greatest head-balancing act ever seen. Until he retired, his feat was never duplicated. Now his daughter, Ira Millette, uses the same globe that Van Wyck made for her father twenty-five years ago! When starting to design a piece of aparatus, Van Wyck always keeps in mind two requirements: it must be strong as well as light, and constructed in sections to enable it to be paoked into small property boxes. But nothing must be sacrificed for safety. Most of the apparatus he turns out lasts a lifetime, "tight-ropes" being an exception. He advises changing them every six months because of crystallisation. For that reason he also "cold solders'* the ends. Every wire used by Con Colleano, the only artist w T ho does a forward somersault on the "rope," is a Van Wyck, and is discarded ai;.ov six months.