Peril of an Intrepid Athlete

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 7249, 25 October 1890, Page 2

Peril of an Intrepid Athlete

An alarming occurrence was witnessed at the Academy of Music, New York, during the trapeze performance by the Hanlons. William Hanlon was performing some daring feats upon a horizontal bar fixed in tho dome of the Academy ceiling, 65 feet above the centre of the auditorium beneath. About 10 feet above the heads of the spectators who occupied tho orchestra stalls was stretched a stout net ac a safeguard in caso of accident. Hanlon began a forward giant swing on the horizontal bar. The spectators grew breathlessly silent aB they watched the man flying round with only his hands touching the bar. Suddenly there was t. great gasp through the house, for the athlete had parted from the bar, and was diving headforemost towards the not with appalling velocity. A few of the more timid spectators shrieked, but the majority made no" outcry, because they thought that this was only part of the performance. In an instant Hanlon struck the outer edge of the net, and glanced with stunning force against the chairs, and lay a quivering mass upon the floor. Two or three men rushed to the spot, and raising the man in their arms carried him to the dressingroom. The cause of the accident was the breaking of one of the wires suspending the bar.