A DARING PERFORMACE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 657, 22 March 1879, Page 2

A DARING PERFORMACE.

The Era gives the following paragraph about a new Lady gymnast: — Leona Dare, the lady gymnast, who is to make a sensation at the Oxford on the 30th instant, has given to the world a fdw particulars of her history. From these we learn that she waß born m San Francisco m 1854 j that her ambition to excel m gymnastic exercises was inspired by.a visit to a circus ; and that among the most daring of her feats isto be numbered a trapeze performance on a balloon, which has been thus described : " The balloon was duly inflated, and at a quarter to 8 was cut loose, and the fineformed Leona, m circus clothes, dangling her head downwards from the trapeze bar, holding m her teeth a strap which encircled the waist of Tommy Hall, her companion for her first voyage m the air, left terra firma. Everything waß still as death, and it was observed that Hall weakened a little, but the plucky Queen of the Antilles, Leona, was perfectly cool. Just as soon as they left the earth Leona commenced spinning Hall around until it made us giddy. After this performance, and about three hundred feet m the air, they commenced their hifalutin performances, and known m show language as the double trapeze. They performed all the difficult and hazardous f6ats at an altitude of half-a--mile with the same reckless daring. Up, up they went, until they were scarcely larger than our hands, and when we looked at them through a glass we breathed free, and felt relief to see that they had climbed upon their trapeze bar f> and were enjoying a tete-a-tete while resting from their perilous labors. The balloon descended rapidly, and landed about half-a-mile from the starting point, m an open field, and our party rode up m time to witness their alighting. Hall was silent, while Leona laughingly said to Warner, ' How was that for high V "