My Forty Years with the Worlds Strongest Men

June 6, 2012 | By: Warren Lincoln Travis Approximately eighty years ago Warren Lincoln Travis wrote about his relationships and exploits in the strongman business. Travis, who was known as a World Champion Weightlifter in specialty lifts, such as the back and harness lifts and specific grip related styles, gives a firsthand account of the legends of old. Dennis

Warren Lincoln Travis A MANS GLORY is in his strength, is a saying which has often been repeated. It might better have been The glory of the human race is in manly strength. You and I know that the world at large admires a strong man, the man who can do things out of the ordinary, and who by his precepts leads people to proper understanding and respect for the perfectly developed human body. Some mistaken person has foolishly said something to the effect that familiarity breeds contempt, but I can truthfully state that in my long association with strong men, nothing but the most profound and sincere respect for the man of strength has resulted. Truthfully speaking, I could think of no better state of worldly happiness than to live among a nation of super men and of course, women of like quality. For the trained athlete who really respects his physical condition abounds in good health and is a decent person with whom to associate. The outsider may hear of the animosities which are supposed to exist between strong men due chiefly to the challenges that are broadcast thick and fast. Though I do no

wish to be regarded in the light of questioning the sincerity of strong men challenges, it is generally true that any statements emanating from such challenges are in reality but surface attitudes and give no indication of the true respect which exists between the athletes, and we must consider them as merely business gestures intended to draw interest and attract attention to the relative merits of different men. During the forty-odd years in which I have been associated with the strong man business, it has been my extreme pleasure to enjoy the friendship of many remarkable men who in my estimation compose the elite of humanity- the worlds strongest men. Mr. Berry has acquainted me with the fact that many readers of Strength magazine are interested in having me set down my experiences as a professional strong man. Instead of writing from that angle, I have decided to omit from the present series of articles any reference to purely personal experience and tell you of my impressions of various men of strength whom it has been my honor to know. I have given my time and knowledge, in writing this series of articles in a spirit of the game and the interest I have for STRENGTH MAGAZINE and for the personal acquaintance of the editorial staff of the magazine. This series of articles I can safely say is about as truthful as can be written because I have has personal experience with all of these characters mentioned either in the form of working with them, making weights for them or being official weigher or judge for them. When I speak of my personal association with these men you may feel assured that I am speaking the truth. Along about 1890, a craze for developing strong men suddenly took hold of the populace of America. Evidently, it had existed for some time previously over in Europe, but at the same time we must remember that the popularity for feats of strength had an earlier beginning over here, the hero of the early days being none other than the grand old gentlemen of athletics, William B. Curtis, which name was given him by his admirers in recognition of the position in which he was held by them as the Father of Athletics in this country. He was a wonderful specimen of manhood, and in 1879 at the age of forty-two created a harness lifting record of 3,229 pounds. At that time his bodyweight was 165 pounds and even though he was comparatively light, his lift was a worlds record for those days. Harness lifting is a very old style of lifting. I have a book in which there is a picture of a man who lived in the 17th Century, Trojan by name, who was able to lift 1600 pounds in harness. He lifted barrels of water, gradually increasing the amount of water as he gained strength. The attitude and harness shown in the picture are similar to the style that is used today. Curtis was capable of curling a pair of 75 pound dumb-bells with the palms facing forward and the body erect eight or ten times without being exhausted, and was capable of taking a pair of 100 pound dumb-bells and pressing them over his head. These weights were cleared from the floor to the shoulder without the use of his body for support. Of course, in those days the athletes were not so fortunate as to have a modern adjustable bar bell to use, so the way the situation was handled was this: they would have solid dumb-bells cast five pounds heavier each set. A man by the name of Henry Beumeyer, who was in the bonded storehouse business along South and Clinton Streets, New York City, had in his private office these graduated dumb-bells. He was also a very fine specimen of manhood.

Curtis was a member of the New York Athletic Club. He was an oarsman, runner, boxer and general all round athlete, as well as being a great lover of out door sports. Unfortunately, while making one of his long hikes in the Adirondack Mountains a heavy snow storm overtook him; he was snow in and frozen to death at the age of 65. This misfortune occurred in 1902. About forty years ago, at the height of the new wave of strong man popularity, the late Richard K. Fox, then publisher of the Police Gazette, the leading sporting journal of America, had a 1,000 pound dumb-bell cast, but it was not in the shape of the dumb-bells today. It was more like a massive block of iron. He offered a very valuable gold medal and title to the first man to lift this 1,000 pound weight. At that time there was a man known as James Walter Kennedy who was athletically incline and developed. He was an oarsman and general athlete, leaning, however, more toward the strong man. He was about 6 feet tall and weighed around 190 pounds, had jet black curly hair and moustache and at a time was a special officer at the Globe Museum at 298-300 Bowery, New York City. Kennedy took a notion that he could lift this 1,000 pound dumb-bell with his hands and he began to train with a big whiskey cask, not using whiskey in it, but water, sand and rock as he gained strength. In other words he used the Milo Bar Bell system of gradually increasing weight as he improved in his strength. The first time he tried lifting the 1,000 pound weight he failed but some time later he succeeded. His style was to straddle the weight and have one hand in front of his body grasping the weight and the other hand grasping it in the rear of his body, this position being known as the Hands Alone Lift. His body was erect with the exception that the knees were bent about 2 or 3 inches. By the way, the celebrated Steve Brody, who gained fame and fortune by being the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, pulled the card board from underneath the weight when Walter Kennedy lifted it, thereby constituting a clear lift. There were several strong men there, such as Louis Cyr, Charlie Jefferson, and Johnson Whitman, better known as Ajax, who was a famous teeth lifter in those days as well as a freight car pusher. Ajax had a record of pushing a freight car weighing some 3,5000 pounds about 25 feet slightly upgrade. He later became a member of the Police Department of the City of New York.

The Great Louis Cyr Now to come back to Kennedy- he had a harness lift record of 3,231 pounds, and as I stated above he successfully lifted this 1,000 pound weight for which Richard K. Fox offered

$250.00 and a gold medal. Kennedy had to defend his title for one year. At that time there was a whispering rumor that Charlie Jefferson or Louis Cyr could lift the weight, and Kennedy began to train so that he could raise 1205 pounds on that lift, but he changed his body position slightly. He began to use what is termed today a Hand and Thigh Lift. He was traveling around the country with a show and meeting with more and more popularity and financial success until he finally struck little old Brooklyn. When the offer of $250.00 was made from the stage a man named Charlie Nostramm, a carpenter by trade, picked the weight up comparatively easily. Nostramm then began to train on that particular lift and in time got up to the enormous weight of 1805 pounds, but he never seemed to commercialize, his great ability. He was a married man and a home man and stuck to his trade of carpentry. At times I used to train at the same club as he, the Swedish Sporting and Athletic Club which used to meet at Old Sagabund Hall at Smith and Schermerhorn Streets, Brooklyn. About that time another strong man invaded this country from Stockholm, Sweden, named August W. Johnson. He brought a partner with him, whose name was Henry Waltheim. Johnson could put up about 300 pounds in those days in a bar bell two hand jerk. He could snatch about 190 pounds and he could put up separate weights of about 260 pounds. In his prime he never weighed more than 190 pounds. The partner, Waltheim, specialized in harness lifting, doing a record of about 3700 pounds at a public exhibition. He would lift 16 to 18 men on a platform. About that period there was another famous strong man known as George Zottman, a very heavily built man, who had a harness lift of about 3400 pounds. He had a very powerful grip in lifting thick handled dumb-bells and awkward weights. Then came the greatest of all strong men in physique, form and showmanship, to the American shore. He was the great Eugene Sandow. He had the whole country in an uproar over his physique. The strong men in those days and for many years afterward owed thanks to Sandow for putting the profession on a higher standard of respect and earnings. He gained his reputation in Europe by defeating C.A. Sampson, a great strong man in those days who broke chains across the biceps of his arm and supported weight on his chest. In fact, Sampson had a novel idea- he held a revolving ferris wheel on his chest. This was known as the chest support life and was keeping abreast of the times because the Worlds Fair was then being held in Chicago and it boasted a big ferris wheel.

C.A. Sampson Also at that time there were two brothers in England, the McCann Brothers, who were seeking a match with the great Sandow after his surprising victory over C.A. Sampson. Next month, I shall tell you of the surprising outcome of this contest, besides following the careers of such famous men as Sandow, Cyr, Jefferson, and others of that time. PART 2______________________________ The Second of a Series of Articles Giving Intimate Glimpses into the Lives of Men Who Have Made Strength Famous, by Warren Lincoln Travis

Warren Lincoln Travis EUGENE SANDOW made such a success in this country that little statues were made of him, and he was asked to, and did, endorse many pieces of wearing apparel, beverages and health drinks. Previous to coming over here the same had been true of his campaign in England, where he had taken the entire country by storm after his sensational defeat of Charles Sampson and partner, Cyclops. The extreme popularity enjoyed by Sandow also had the effect of enriching the coffers of dozens of other strong men, some of whom in time vied with him for public favor and the right to supremacy.

Eugene Sandow Among these rival strong men were two brothers by the name McCann, who were known professionally as Hercules and Samson. Like the majority of strong men of their time, or of all time as we might say, these brothers were good on certain specialties, and as is rather peculiar to men of strength, believed themselves invincible when given a chance to put these specialties into play. So it came about that while in England Sandow engaged in another contest with far less satisfactory results than had attended that with Sampson and Cyclops. But, strange as it may seem, though ofcially defeated, the outcome had no effect upon his popularity or the belief which existed everywhere in England that he was the Worlds Strongest Man. This contest undoubtedly had the most unusual outcome of any the world has known. The McCanns challenged Sandow, and in return were counter-challenged. This continued for some time when, with opportune suddenness in reply to one of Eugenes dees, the brothers accepted and a match was quickly arranged. One strange point in connection with this acceptance of challenge was the agreement that either of the two brothers could step into the contest at the last moment. Six feats were to be contested on, each contestant choosing three. The Marquis of Queensbury, the father of modern boxing rules, ofciated in the capacity of referee, ably assisted by two distinguished sports notables of the day. At the time for activities to commence Louis McCann, known as Hercules, stepped upon the stage in view of an audience of great size. Before the actual contest took place, however, Sandow set out to win a bet of one hundred pounds sterling, equal to about ve hundred ($500.00) dollars, by lifting 250 pounds overhead with one hand; this was the weight he claimed to lift daily in his public performances, and the accuracy of the weight had been challenged by the McCanns. Sandow lifted a total of ve weights, aggregating 251 pounds, to the shoulder with two

hands and from there to arms length with one hand. In the actual contest McCann started with a dumbbell of 170 pounds, which he cleaned and jerked with the right hand. Sandow failed twice on this feat, and then after a rest, succeeded; the judges decided in favor of Hercules due to his success on the rst attempt. The next was a Sandow feat; a dumbbell press of 226 pounds, two hands to the shoulder and one hand overhead. McCann protested the use of two hands in lifting the bell to the shoulder, but was overruled; he then refused to attempt the lift, which gave Sandow the second lift, or one point in favor of each. The third feat was named by McCann, who cleaned and jerked with the left hand a dumbbell of 155 pounds, though it took him three trials. Sandow cleaned the bell and bent pressed it twice with the left hand. The judges ruled this lift to Hercules, as they said his style was better. Sandow next lifted two weights, aggregating 198 pounds to the shoulder with the right hand and bent pressed them overhead. McCann refused to attempt the lift. Then the latter chose for his next feat one which we always referred to as a separate jerk lift, but which you know as a two dumbbells clean and jerk. He took 120 in the right and 112 in his left, and although it was easy enough for him to get these bells to the shoulder, three attempts were necessary before they were tossed overhead. Sandow failed on all three attempts. With but one lift to go the score stood three successes by McCann on his own feats, with no inclination even to attempt the two Sandow feats, While Sandow had succeeded on two of McCanns feats and had failed on the third, with both his successful attempts being ruled against him. The nal lift was a Two Hands Anyhow with dumbbells by Sandow, using 210 pounds in the right hand and 50 in the left; three attempts were necessary before he succeeded. McCann declined to try the lift. Strange as it may seem, the judges ruled the contest to be won by Hercules McCann. It is to be understood that I was not personally present at this match, but am relating the event as it was told to me many times by strong men of that day who were on the scene. We cant imagine a decision of that nature today, and it is principally because of the unusual outcome that I bring it to you. Nowadays, you young fellows are accustomed to seeing and reading of official contests decided by the total pounds lifted, which rule should always be in effect. As we were to learn when Sandow came over here in 1893, he was a truly remarkable man. I remember seeing him perform what is called a chest support lift and having three little ponies doing a seesaw on it. He then held up in the same sort of chest support lift a square piano with a half dozen musicians playing, supporting the entire weight. One of his unique feats was this: he stood on a handkerchief about 12 inches square, had his eyes blindfolded and ankles tied, and with a 56-pound dumbbell in each hand at his side, did a somersault and landed on the handkerchief. He originated the idea of a human dumbbell, which had a person in each end of a sphere, and to add more novelty probably, he had a little rabbit or two in it, but the total weight was never more than 240 or 250 pounds. He elevated that over his head with one arm in a bent press lift. Taking into consideration that he lifted this daily, it was a

very good lift. I am writing this because I have seen these lifts performed either in my capacity of a judge, weigher of these objects, or as a spectator, so you see I know what I am talking about.

Louis Cyr, Dennis Rogers Collection Richard K. Fox, when he heard of the great Louis Cyr, sent for him and had him perform in London, England. Mr. Fox was so impressed by Louis Cyrs performance, gigantic size and lifting ability that he put up a thousand pound note, equal to $5,000.00 in American money, for any strong man who would step up on the stage and duplicate Louis Cyrs performance, and the best results received by Mr. Fox were from Cyrs ofcial weighers or judges, who were all famous strong men of that period. Here are some of the official lifts made by Louis Cyr: 273 pound dumbbell lift with his right hand from floor to his groin, then dragged it to the left side of his body, rolled it across his chest to his right shoulder, then pressed it over his head with one arm. This was not a bent press because Cyr was too bulky to do a bent press. He bent his body a little but most of his pushing was done with his arm. Then he took a bar bell weighing 301pounds, dragged it to his waist, then to his chest and pressed it over his head with two arms. He held out at right angles to his body a very short small dumbbell of 104 pounds, having one end ball of the dumbbell resting slightly on his wrist and then held it at right angles and brought the weight back. It was a Wonderful feat of strength, but Louis Cyrs weight, 300 pounds or more, of course helped him. Then he lifted 3,641 pounds dead weight on his back and did a nger lift of 535 pounds, but later he did a better nger lift of 552 pounds. From that time Richard K. Fox had greater faith in Louis Cyr than any other strong man. Due, probably, to Sandows great popularity and Louis Cyrs strength and popularity, Richard K. Fox had a diamond belt made and was ready to put it up, but when Fox tried to

get Sandow in a match with Cyr he always said that engagements prevented his going into a contest. He seemed to want to keep away from Louis Cyr. Later in October, I906, Richard K. Fox sent for me and asked if I would take the responsibility of accepting the diamond belt and defending the title for ten years, with a very simple set of rules: viz. That each man had the right to choose his own ve or six lifts; that I would have to go to any part of the World if the challenger so desired, with the understanding that a side bet or gate percentage could be arranged. I successfully defended the title and diamond belt and it is now my personal property. Also at the time I held the diamond medal presented by Richard K. Fox to me on March 8th, 1903, for the harness and back lifting championship. About that time another famous strong man came along. Charles G. Jefferson had a record of hands alone l571 pounds known as side lifting, hands on side of body. He had very powerful hands, and could lift an anvil of 206 pounds by the horn. He used thick handled dumbbells and barbells and raised them over his head. They were very heavy and very remarkable for thick handles, but not worlds record lifts. Louis Cyr failed once in trying to lift one of these, Jefferson took a square block of iron 4 inches across the face, weighing 62 pounds, and lifted it with his thumb, index and middle ngers. He would pass it through his limbs from one hand to another. His l57l pound lift was the worlds record lift for many years until in later years I made a pair of brass grips for G. W. Rolandow and he lifted over 1600 pounds in that position, which I think is a worlds record up to the present time, for that lift. For about twenty years, beginning with I893, we had a very famous man, a great teacher, whose name was Louis Attila. He appeared with Sandow in Europe and coached Sandow in some of his endeavors, many of the physical culturists of today owe thanks to the great Attila. In I896 I took lessons from him and I have never regretted it. He taught some of the leading lawyers, business men, actors, doctors, and statesmen; also James J. Corbett, once heavyweight champion pugilist of the world, who defeated the great and only John L. Sullivan, September 27th, I892. In later years I had the pleasure of making some of the dumbbells and barbells for Professor Attilas school. Much to the sorrow of all who knew him, the great Attila passed on to the great beyond at the ripe old age of 80 years.

Louis Attila and Eugene Sandow I was training at Attilas school at No. 42 West 28th Street, New York City, in I896, about the time Attila was married. He married a very beautiful, athletically built young lady. I had the pleasure of seeing their rst baby when it was about two weeks old. Attila was holding it in his arms and had a photograph taken, the baby holding a little dumbbell in its hand. Attila was the father of three children, and one of the girls was fortunate enough to meet Siegmund Klein, and became his wife. She can feel proud that she is the wife of a bright, honest and upright businessman; a real he-man from his toes up.

Seigmund Klein Seigmund Klein in return can feel honored that he has married so ne and cultured a young lady as the daughter of the famous Professor Louis Attila, the great physical culturist and trainer of worlds champion strong men. In later years a new crop of strong men came up. Lionel Strongfort, in those days known as Max Unger, was a very ne specimen of manhood and travelled in this country and abroad displaying his physical ability. One of his most spectacular feats of strength was to support a wooden bridge and allow an automobile loaded down with seven passengers to pass over his body while in a position known as a chest support. He was appearing in the New York Hippodrome in September, l9l3, receiving a salary of $1,000 a week, which was considered very wonderful in those days, for strong men. Watch for more on this series. Part 3 Coming Soon!