Show ME WHO m LIFT 0 4 tj J Notable r PerforinancesAmon2 > thfr r83 t = f n x5 > A > v jot Raisers I r 1 1HJ Jf f 11IT fJ E1CHABD K FOXS BIG DUMB BELL Many Tried Their hand at It and James W Kennedy isw UHC It Two Inches From the Floor I A few years ago heavy weight lifting was looked upon as a very important branch of athletics Little by little the interest in it I died out and it is but recently that it has been revived again Tho question has often I been asked Who is tho strongest man in tho world and until very recently it has I been an open question It was to decide this point if i possible that Richard K Fox of Tho Police Gazette caused a big dumbbell to be constructed and offered a prize of 500 to tho man who should lift it Tho boll weighed 1030 pounds had iron handles han-dles firmly attached and cumbers cumber-s mo or wieldly F SAL J l e l I I C i > W J JA frs W KENNEDY Tho announcement of this competition and tho chance of earning tho title of champion dumbbell lifter ot tho world aroused the dormant energies of the strong men near and far Such giants as Sebastian Miller tho Man of Iron John Whitman Ajax George Hirschhoni Young Sampson Milo the Modern Hercules Sanlo the Swiss Hercules and a host of others attempted at-tempted to lift tho weight but wcro unsuccessful unsuc-cessful They could budge it but the 100 pounds of solid weight wore too much for them to liftSebastian Sebastian Miller who lifts 1SOO 1 pounds with tho health lift 3200 with harness and cracks stones with his fist quicker than an ordinary or-dinary man can with a hammer made a great effort but was forced to give up in despair Whitman attempted to lift tho end of tho bell with his teeth by fastening a strap to tho handle He tried twenty times with no success suc-cess Ho did lift it however by placing a strap around his neck and using one hand He struggled for one hour to lift it the wholo way up but failed Tho others were equally unsuccessful Finally James W Kennedy of whom avery a-very good likeness appears with this account determined to wads in and capture tho trophy Kennedy who is an iron molder by trade is a magnificent specimen of muscular development Ho is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs itO pounds stripped lie claims tho title of champion short distance oarsman of America Ho was several years ago a prominent prom-inent amateur and won the double sculls together with J IL Riley at Greenwood lake on Oct 9 1S7G covering tho two miles in Km and 20i Kennedy had been training for tho event for somo time and when ho mado his appearance was in the pink of con dition and confident of success Ho carefully wrapped a small towel around tho slippery iron handle and grasped it firmly with both hands Tho first and second trials resulted in failures but on tho third tho weight slowly but surely came up in his grasp two inches from the floor Ho held it for a moment and then it dropped with a crash upon tho floor Ho was congratulated by all present and proclaimed champion by Fox Although Kennedys performance was a great ono it does not equal David L Dowds lift of 1452 pounds This is tho best on record and was accomplished on March 137 1SS5 The rtmctour record for lifting with the hud alono is 1351 I pounds This feat was accomplished by II Lenssiug of Springfield Spring-field Mass on March SI 18SO A fez yearn ago there was in America a German giant nam lift 000 pounds pla bells and lift SCO Among somo of A lowing ere very ror Germany ho lifted pounds three times hand He also put bell with ono hand length 111 1II ed Carl Abs Ho could r t with Ill pound duml pounds with ouo hand bs notable feats tho fol narkable At Hamburg a Height weighing 1J2Xj from the floor with one up a 2JO > < pound dumb from shoulder to arms Q WIIIT1A LIFTING OS rue mu Perhaps tho greatest lifter was W BCur tfcs tho athletic editor of The Spirit of the Times In New York city in ISM ho lifted 3239 pouids with harness This was a great achievement and has never been beaten Curtis hiss also lifted 1230 pounds hand lift without artificial means and this feat has also never been equaled No one wishes to rob Kennedy of his well earned title but his feat of lifting tho boll pales before that of a young student of Dickinson college The young mans namo is Georgo Bechtel and his great feat was tho lifting of a weight weighing weigh-ing 1300 pounds clear from the floor without with-out aid of any kind Louis Cyr tbo Canadian Samson is con sdered by many to bo tho strongest man of today and it is confidently expected that irhon he tackles tho weight it will sail into tho air like a stone under a derrick Ono o Cyrs greatest performances was tho lifting I of 3530 pounds of pig iron from a platform vqth his back This occurred on Oct > 1 1 0 j ISSS andis authentic 0 0 0 1 As erperinionts Davo aroused so much enthusiasm atriong this partJcular class ot 0 athletes it is ycry probable that other con tests of a similar nature will bo instituted I gaul who knows but that s mohithcrtQiip < js I known giant will appear In tno arena ana ac1 complish things that will put theso famous men of musclo to blush T 1 |