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Show 1 By PEARL WHITE. (The Most Daring of Moving Picture Stars.) jV"&"""""VPEOPLE lire always ask- V f killed. True, I have 1 Jf skimmed the edge of the beyond time and again rfV a,1d 3 t am here at my Cfr VrP desk today. I have I finally worried out the I answer to the riddle, Why do men and women who dare death, who live on the I brink, slili live and ofteu die in their beds? I 1 am one of those who "hourly walk with V. death," as the late Kichard Harding Davis jk'- described people who invite disaster. t We who risk life and limb to do "stunts" i never speak the word death; we only call it "IT." .Sometimes It gets us; more often It only grazes us. Our ouly defense against It is bravery. Lack of fear is the only thing that stands between us and It. 1 have driven an areoplane aloft, been blown up by dynamite in a little boat out at sea, climbed steeples, been thrown from one moving auto to another, swam through a water-lllled cellar and come up with scores of the great gray rats who crowded it clinging to my dress. I have clung to the dragging guide rope of a drifting balloon bal-loon as it slowly swung out across the railroad rail-road tracks on Stnton Island, missing express ex-press trains so closely that the hot smoke fining up nearly choked me loose from my hold on tire hemp. Dare-Devils Are Fatalists. I merely recount a few of my adventures to prove to you that I know what I am talking about. There are others in the "thilller" business who have no doubt equaled these risks, and all of them tell the fame story, "The timid in heart shall never see the other side of the danger zone." Dare-devils are imbued with a sense of fatalism that Is responsible for (heir immunity im-munity from accident. Xow and then something goes wrong, ropes may weaken maidenly, trapeze bars inexplicably weaken, aeroplane wings unexpectedly crumple, hut rarely is the human clement responsible for a eatastropuo. In those rare Instances when Why . Dare-Devils Are r Usually as Safe as Cautious Pedestrians and How the Brave Men Who Play "Skip-the- Rope" With the Swinging Scythe of the Reaper Are Able to Graze the Blade Day After Day and Yet Escape national laurels. His favorite pastime was skipping the rope over a swinging and re-swinging re-swinging Scythe. He said that his success in doing this airy-fairy Dance of Death was due to the fact that he wasn't afraid. He never lost his head, and so long as he kept cool there always appeared a way to dodge. But the other day the Beaper swung at him and clipped a lock from his hair in a strange way in a strange place. It was in Osaka, Japan, where he had been giving Pearl White in one of her risky motion picture stunts where her complete freedom from fear, she says, is the only thing that prevents her from falling to death. Two souls without a single thought of the danger that lurked at their every step set a New York crowd cringing one day by their dangerous postures in painting the Brooklyn bridge. a man falls from his own fault it is because be-cause his nerve lias gone. So long as a death defler smiles he seems safe.. It got Iteno .MoCree, the headliner equestrian eques-trian of the Ringling circus, the other day after his act was done. McCree had for years performed breath-catching feats on a running horse's hack that were lavish in their contempt of death. Five minutes before be-fore he died he had been gyrating carelessly care-lessly in the air, inviting a fall which was never to come. His act was done. He bowed and went into the tent. The audience au-dience wanted him back. He came out smiling, and bowed. Ten thousand pairs of l-.nlatory palms were healing. MeCreo bowed again and bowed clear to the earth, lie went down on his face in the sawdust and was dead before the ushers could notice no-tice that anything was wrong. The heart which had taken blind, reckless leaps through the hoops of fire to find the broad, bounding back of the horse on the other side gave out in peace and quiet Art Smith, the boy who went out of bis way to sneer at the Scythe, came near to death at the hands of a mob. Although but 2t years of age. bis exploits in looping the loop in his aeroplane, spelling words In fire upon the night sky, won for him intor- exhibltions of his flying prowess, that the thing happened. The Japanese, thirsting for more and more of the tingling amazement amaze-ment which his aerial flippancies gave them, were wailing in a crowd about bis machine for him to ascend. Smith's machine was not ready, so the mob took unto itself stones and clubs and proceeded to deliver them at the American's head. Seriously injured, in-jured, he was reached by friends, who tore him out of the furious throng just in time to permit the physicians to save his life. Here it was, the irony of a dare-devil's death! Safe while riding the handle of the Scythe, imperiled when off it standing on the ground. Only a Great Game to Him. Steeplejacks usually die In bed. Once in awhile they fall through the havoc the wind plays with their nicely adjusted ropes, but so long as their own poise is responsible re-sponsible for surety they go about their business as safe as the pedestrian who loiters below, gaping upward. Rodman Law, the most noted of the reckless "stunt men, attributes his remarkable re-markable preservation of life to self-control and entire absence of fear. "If I had The wild animal tamer depends upon her coolness of head and steadiness of eye to keep her savage animals in subjection. She relies upon her entire lack of fear for her life, for if she should at any time betray confusion the beasts would instantly kill her. (Photograph reproduced by courtesy of Robinson Amusement Company.) ' felt fear when I jumped off the Williamsburg Williams-burg bridge, or when I shlnnled up the outside out-side of the Flatiron Building, or when I rode a horse over into the Ausable chasm, I would have instinctively hung back, have hesitated and so bungled omething and would have landed awkwardly, probably dying. All you need is self-control. The trouble is that people don't realize how the intellectual brain should predominate over the animal brain. I never did a leap yet that had any doubt as to the outcome. I feel perfectly sure of coming out safely." Law has been snot into the air in a rocket, has gone up in balloons, exploded them with dynamite while at a great height and come sailing down in a parachute; Hodman Law, jumping off one of the tallest New York skyscrapers in a parachute, came drifting down into the canyon amidst traffic and knew no fear, hence his safety, he said. leaped off bridges into icy waters and done practically every seemingly impossible feat of danger conceivable and yet no spectator lias even seen a facial expression of his more emotional than lhat of a grandfather picking cherries from a stepladder. Law believes implicitly (hat he will die a natural nat-ural death. Wilbur Wright, who conquered the uncharted un-charted paths of air in his old-fashioned machine, took his life In his hands every time he made an ascent. Everybody was sure that one day Wilbur Wright would fall to his death from some aerial altitude, but it was not so to be. It remained for typhoid fever, that unpicturesque disease, 1 to carry off the greatest of all birdinen. Then there was Thomas Baldwin, the ' first man In America to drop from a balloon by means of a parachute. And parachutes, s by the way. are probably the most danger- ; ous devices ever employed by audacity lo fiil with wonder the eyes of gaping mnlti- tndes at country fairs or circuses. The big umbrellas frequently fail to open, and. of course, a man comes down like a meteor after that. Or the wind catches them, and the frail piece of humanity clinging thereto is dropped perhaps on a live electric wire, which shocks him to death, or in s"me body of water, where be is drowned : perhaps per-haps in a tree top, where be catches by his coat collar and chokes to death, or even on a sharp peak of a steeple, where he may meet a hideoua fnre by being speared through the body. Thomas Baldwin, how V ever, survived all these perils during the ' practice of his hazardous profession, which occupied some thirty-five or forty years und finally retired to spend an old age made comfortable by the large sums of money he had earned. -Men who adopt and continue to follow risky callings take them up at first in a spirit of recklessness, or of desperate neces sity ror a livelihood, which leads the, i . . ... . leaus them to take desperate chances with their lives. And then after a rrlil n, tv ,. ... iV. .... . aI K lrlal or two they realize the truth that bravery for a purpose seems in a large percentage of cases to work out for good-that their chances of coming through unscathed from the most dangerous feats are remarkable. Then they begin to enjoy the privileges of the before-mentioned "habit of courage " Well for them if courage does not develop into foolhardiness. which brines "If I thought about my danger," testifies the ..'; steeplejack, "J "I would come flopping down to death, but since I am without nerves I am safe." 1 ' 1;; Py'Sf Usually as Safe as :;vf;: . ' r5 'f 0 J J - - ' ? Cautious Pedestrians i- K' I - v' , uis.J f - f ; I ):m$MW$$$ and How the Brave Men .fU symmmm&m wh piay "skiP-the- .fa:, - lpr"- MmZ ::;StXs&1 Rope" With the fef ' i'SIWM' 't.MMWMiW.ffMiM Swinging Scythe of the tbaBtBWHBB Jlliilttl!li , j All' al"ma tamer depends upon her coolness of head and steadiness of ( " '(1(1" r, ' ; ReaDer Are Able tO eye to keep her savage animals in subjection. She relies upon her entire S' , ' ' r ,i .i 'i " lack of fear for her life, for if she should at any time betray confusion X 5' ' ' ' 4 lL Hra flip Rlorlp Dav the beasts would instantly kill her. f - . ' mA. ! '! :: ' T4 'V:7- ! : VI .iiC IHC JLF1&UC U(Xj (Photograph reproduced by courtesy of Robinson Amusement Company.) " 5 After Day and Yet felt fear when I jumped off the wmiami. through the body. Thomas Baldwin how feWfSI- ll ? Itltl ' , burg bridge, or when I shlnnled up the out- ever, survived all these perils during the WSfe ' :-;'-':-"?i.:.;i : .a.:!:-:- fefe .f -f S&i H SlIP tbe Flatiron S, or when I practice of his hazardous profession, which V S ! t i iilSfeh"; SMSBllfpKi J-JOWWJU rode a horse over into the Ausable chasm, occupied some thirty-five or forty vears XL! ""V 1 -V- V "!:-.:-;.l.::--:-:-r':-.i f5?;. A.f1:;.: 'BSIff I would have instinctively hung back, have und finally retired to spend an old age kS" 00$ : I; 'W'::'" AZ ' Mf(x'-i;Ak 4-i national laurels. His favorite pastime was hesitated and so bungled something and made comfortable by the large sums f fKSf J0i "';yi'"w;-;f:? skipping the rope over a swinging and re- would have landed awkwardly, probably money he had earned. - MSMfM. Cv Vf' swinging Scythe. He said that his success dying. All you need is self-control. The . Men who adopt and continue to folio ' '- Ns&si.v KA !!';i.!7:';:': - : in doing this airy-fairy Dance of Death trouble is that people don't realize how the risicy callings take them up at first in W SS f) ' j . f f ;?;W; , was due to the fact that he wasn't afraid. intellectual brain should predominate oyer spirit of recklessness, or of desperate nece" ' ' ?::-;f.i:- He never lost his head, and so long as he the animal brain. I never did a leap yet sity for a livelihood, which 'lead ti, t , . A ?-'41;1 kept cool there always appeared a way to that had any doubt as to the outcome. I " witn thelr Uves. And then 8 to desperate chances A g I - tmmMm VJ.AT:JMWUP dodge. feel perfectly sure of coming out safely." that bravery for a purpose ?"U N i J. ,s ' ,"4 1 t 'I But the other day the Beaper swung at Law has been snot into the air in a work out for g00athat tDeir cn 1 "rnJZ f CaSetV Nrt fV him and clipped a lock from his hair in a rocket, has gone up in balloons, exploded from tbe most danger, felte arktoT8 "T, f ! ' - , rfMiPk strange way in a strange place. It was in them wdth dynamite while at a great height enjoy the ptlvuegjof the iltX A I ,&if' yrtJ Osaka, Japan, where he had been giving and come sailing down m a parachute; for them if me does not tomZs brigs 1 i. , t It V" r U 4 t I(s continual harvest of ill luck. Foolhardl- f 1 " t . W &, "Tf "If I thought about nfma P"haPe defined as a stretching l 0 j!,,1 i , ti j pl White B3S'.v vfRS..:H , .K--: PI ? " of tne fine cords of courage for the purpose & !f PearlWhUe 1 my danger, of gratifying vanity, which is a sin, and ri 1 A 'i ,n one of her pilliliVlS' -i::-;s; testifies the ..A must bring retribution in its wake. ? I C?,--f - VlW'-X44;'. , risky motion MtMMMIMI steeplejack, i' Richard Harding Davis, who died re- N itm0M wmwimMmmmsm picture stunts -pfflmvmxmmj i would come cently' baa a teziM & i 4 ' ' whereher. i'fimil: flopping down to "orm, As war correspond- . l - f - i , t . , HP.. . . ent he saw service in Central America, the , V'H.fr-V-.C'Cr-'vVsVj --L, complete freedom ;mmMmmmm-mm death but LS'nCe far East, Mexico, Cuba, South Africa. f V' , from fear, I' H ft MM I am without Turkey. Greece and the present great war. : k o.', - ? I " i she says, iSlfeSl nerves I am safe." is related of him that once, in the face V f I ' 4&Ir J 1'' is the only thing m 'Mlmi f sdden retreat by a hostile force, ' l . fNiwM.-J that prevents MlWWSmmU-. Dai'Is surprised at a roadside with the g - vOl - , X" h ' TTl r ir ; T $ferpp:f; on his knees and screening himself behind d i t,'- .' falling to death. f fSSOT, a bush, be managed to wriggle into a ditch M ' 4L. Ly-'h I V " ?5f It , alongside the road. S,owly, on .1, foore. m ::v:-: . : : : :? I :S::::; !-;!-: :?:::!i:5S:;;: IS-; s ' t- ' , ;" :" VMmmmm::mm:m . WffmUl&m. distance of several miles, being obliged to fl .ggrltf keep to the crouching position the whole ymyy Way fr fear ot tie em, soldiers who ' I P iiiiiiw3 1 n: o::mM. mamMAmmMm m.M SfwSMMS&mM I this-and hundreds ny string es- sm, :mm:rm mAmmmmmm 1 1 .T1 capes from deatb. Dis nved to PasS away v v iappii I j zia a quiet at r Ly) lBStMfW t k: i , Cowboy D;e-u"h-- D-th. 1 1 V $ l-mm. MMmMtA0mmmm: Ill: illllllll I t$lZ$ Cal0t Sam Robertson, a broncho-buster J U ( By PEARL WHITE. I tlv4c4 ZJwiMt ' M fT long hfe in taming wild horses. Broncho- (The Most Daring of Moving Picture Stars, ' ! , '111 I 4 wrecks" f TiT" 1 I .., '"- " 'ilk l' V "StS. r 1 rfkf of 1,8 follo"ers in a few years, but J-r0EOVhE are always ask- g . ' I'M Jwk t?h W Robertson seemed to lead a charmed life f f lug me why I am not V'f, J ' 1 A f M A J & Hl M and never, had a serious aceldon . lfnJ J W V I kl'lcd. True, I have .id 'U $ ,4 ' M 1 1 v K K U t M s 'W he retired. In good health, and d.ed a Mast V C 1 1 skimmed the edge of the J Vl, , XT 1 M ! 4-?sX W 1 n " 4 I Ji I beyond time and again :;:;s f W N I k V 'V-J r pi I h,s th,,mb made by a toy pistol which he rA A, and yet am here at my f ' ' iXJaJg-"? llTl I 1 1, 1 V I - :f Svl fel I I was loading for his 4-year-old nephew- - C2j5 desk toJa 1 bave Sglf iigteirtlgfll1 j 1 Nf ' V " M ' f I A similarly ironic freak of fate befell A' finally worried out the 5 : S : - i : o , r . . , young Borup, the college boy who iccom '! V answer to the riddle, Why do men and J mEim-'mmMmmmm i mP1"S M f tHe I ? ! Pani' ra on his last poL women who dare death, who live on the Jj ';;f:;y:f;s';;d:::::'s 1 tallest New York skyscrapers in a j Borup was considered by his companions j brink, still live and often die in their beds? 3 ffi parachute, came drifting down into to have the highest type of courage and no f l 1 am oue of those who "hourly walk with aS-M the canyon amidst traffic and knew i: 1 "e '" Hle rarty took such chances as he V denlh;" f ,hVat! K!Chn,rd ",U'(;1,lg DaV'3 t'yR' V l WM 'miMiWS no fear, hence his safety, he said. I ! De f hia ""lowest escapes -as when he l Jf described people who invite disaster. u..;!l : ,:;f; Si 'y 'i'-iW0iiSr I i 1 r t We who risk life and limb to do "stunts" fc"'T--;:r-:Sr:?xjT I A r. ' i never sj:eak the word death; we only call leaped off bridges into icy waters and done f': F, -. . ' it "IT." .Sometimes It gets us; more often Two souls without a single thought of the danger that lurked at their every practically every seemingly impossible feat :: j ; , ft 'jR .-"S"'''? It ouly grazes us. Our ouly defense against step set a New York crowd cringing one day by their dangerous postures of danger conceivable and yet no spectato? '! hiAi'-vi ''' .' ; It is bravery. Lack of fear is the only in oaintine the Brooklvn bridge has even seen a facial expression of his f i V . . . 4'- thing that stands between us and It. in pamt.ng the til ooklyn bridge. more emotional than lhat of a grandfather , S : . : ! j ' ; 1 have driven an areonlnne aloft, boon , , nickine ohprrio? fmm o efoninriQr T , rc; -.i . ' - ' - '? blow,, up by dynamite in a little boat out " ma",f:llls fr bis it is be- exhibitions of his flying prowess, that the JAw 1 de a n!7 I" ;4 . ' rf . ' ' ' at sea. climbed steeples, been thrown from caSe hns nerve has gone. So long as a thing happened. The Japanese, thirsting imphcll, lhat he will die a nat- : '.,. . '. one moving auto to another, swam through defler smiles he seems safe.. for more and more of the tingling amaze- ,vn ,,rW . , t , ' ' ' ' a watcr-lillcd cellar and come up with It got Iteno MoCroe, tbe headliner eques- ruent which his aerial flippancies gave them, " "uur "nS"t. who conquered the nn- , ,i ': " scores of the great -ray rats who crowded ,rian ot' the Ringling circus, the other day were wailing in a crowd about bis machine charted paths of air in his old-fashioned f, . . :; ' it clingln- to my rlivss I have clung to af,or his nct was done. McUree had for for him to ascend. Smith's machine was machine, took his life In his hands every fc f p; ' ' ' ' l.. ' the dragghi- guide rope of a driftin- bal- '(':'rf Performed breath-catching feats on a not ready, so the mob took unto itself time he made an ascenl. Everybody was f.. t ' "''.' loon as It slowly swung out across the rill- rm""S horse's back that were lavish in stones and clubs and proceeded to deliver sure that one day Wilbur Wright would fall I 5 . road tracks on Staten Island missing ex- their contempt of death. Five minutes be- them at the American's head. Seriously in- to his death from some aerial altitude, but - 1 1 press trains so closely that the hot smoke fol'e be clicd lle ,lad been gyrating care- jured, he was reached by friends, who tore ' was not so to be. It remained for , . ' , j . fining up nearlv choked me loose from my 'cssly in the air, inviting a fall which was him out of the furious throng just in time typhoid fever, that unpicturesque disease. &, ' . ' J v ' - hold the hemp nevor lo come. His act was done. He to permit the physicians to save his life. to carry off the greatest of all birdmen. . ' . . .fi fa' . .' 'f howed aud went into the tent. The an- Here it was. the Irony of a dare-devil's Then there was Thomas Baldwin, the & b' 4 - 1 " ' ' " " " " ' Dare-Devils Are Fatalists. dience wanted him back. He came out death! Safe while riding ihe handle of first man In America to drop from a balloon 2 " T , ' -i , 11 " r ' " ' smiling, aud bowed. Ten thousand pairs of the Scythe, imperiled when off it standing by means of a parachute. And parachutes, f-'- 'l V . . 'A ' . , V ' I merclj ,, -count a few of my adventures R.ula,ory palms were beating. McCreo on the ground by the way. are probablv the most dnn-r- i V - A S , , ' ' to prove to you that I know what t am bowed again and bowed clear to the earth. ous devices ever cmploved hv audarttv" lo I I ' T. ' ' ' . ? takng al.oul. J here are others in the He went down on his face in the sawdust Only a Great Game to Him. fill with wonder the eyes of gaping multl- X "-Y ' " ' ' . . v ' ' ' i ? ! thrille, busuiess who have no doubt and was dead before the ushers could no- tndes at country fairs or circuses Tbe bl 1 ' L-f..' . '' t?t 'A'i ' - " " 1 V J equaled these risks, and all of them tell the tice that Steeplejacks usually die In bed. Once ki.. t ... ,. . . . """ ' '' '' - " ' 't its continual harvest of ill luck. Foolhardi-ness Foolhardi-ness may perhaps be defined as a stretching of the fine cords of courage for the purpose of gratifying vanity, which is a sin, and must bring retribution in its wake. Richard Harding Davis, who died recently, re-cently, had faced sudden and terrible death in many forms. As war correspondent correspond-ent he saw service in Central America, the far East, Mexico, Cuba, South Africa, Turkey, Oreece and the present great war. It is related of him that once, In the face of a sudden retreat by a hostile force, Davis was surprised at a roadside with the enemy all around him. Hastily dropping on nls knees and screening himself behind a bush, he managed to wriggle into a ditch alongside the road. Slowly, on all fours he made his way back to his own lines a distance of several miles, being obliged 'to keep to the crouching position the whole way for fear of the enemy soldiers who were fleeing up the same road. In spite of this, and hundreds of similarly stirring escapes es-capes from death, Davis lived to pass away peacefully in a quiet evening at his suburban sub-urban home. Cowboy Dies Unheroic Death. Fate played an ironical prank in the case of Sam Robertson, a broncho-buster of Wyoming, who spent the best years of a long life in taming wild horses. Broncho-busting Broncho-busting Is an occupation that usually makes wrecks of Its followers In a few years, but Robertson seemed to lead a charmed life and never. had a serious accident. Fi!y he retired, in good health, and died at last from blood-poisoning following a wound in his thumb made by a toy pistol which he was loading for his 4-year-old nephew! A similarly Ironic freak of fate befell young Borup, tbe college boy who accompanied accom-panied Tcary on his last polar expedition Borup was considered by his companions to have the highest type of courage, and no one In the party took such chances as he One of his narrowest escapes was when he "Little Elsie," who dives from an eighty-five-foot ladder into a shallow tank, is seen posing for a head-first plunge at the top and falling in midair at the bottom. Her complete command over her natural timidity makes her long fall without danger. (Courtcty of Unhinson Amimumrnt Co.) fell in a deep crevasse between two ice cliffs and was nearly frozen before he was finally pulled out by meaus of boat hooks and carried back to camp. And this young hero came safely home from the dread arctic regions in order that bis destiny might be fulfilled by being drowned in a canoe accident on Long Island Sound. Copyrisht. l?16. by J. Kc?l-y.l |