HERCULEAN FEATS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3373, 3 October 1931, Page 7

HERCULEAN FEATS

TEN-YEAR-OLD BERLIN BOY. IS HIS STRENGTH A DISEASE? Is Mr. H. G| Wells' "Boom" a reality—-a substance which used as food for animal or plant life will make all living things considerably bigger than they were before taking Boom. The feats of a boy in Berlin seem to indicate there may be means of acquiring power as well as size. An alternative theory is that such abnormality may be a disease. Here is the story of Hermann Lichterfield, of Oranienburg, a suburb of Berlin. At birth the boy is said by his mother to have been a particularly delicate child. It is only

since his third year that he has developed herculean strength in a surprising degree. 'ln strong contrast to his-physical power is his sensitive spirit. He cries more than other boys of his age and is tearful and upset at the slightest scolding or thwarting, seemingly unconscious of the terrible power of self-defence he possesses.

Young Hermann can break chains of enormous thickness with one turn of his wrist, can twist a large piece of iron into a spiral, and repeat the same feat with his teeth, and is capable of letting any heavy weight be placed on his prone body without suffering the pain or even death which would inevitably supervene in the ordinary human being He weighs 108 German pounds— i". the neighbourhood of seven stone—and the circumference of his chest is just over thirty-nine inches.

Medical experts are inclined to believe that the boy's case results from some abnormal development of the glands which control muscular development. His case .is at the present time engaging the attention of medical experts.