CATCHING A CANNON BALL
A few years since the public flocked to the Holborn Amphitheatre,
London, to see the sensational feat performed of a strong man catching
the ball fired from a cannon. It is a century old, and an account
appears in the Annual Register of 1772. A correspondent of that
publication describes the new feat "of a man's standing the shot of a
cannon at a small distance, with the method of doing it with safety." A
man boasted that he could, at ten yards' distance, stand the shot of a
nine-pounder cannon charged with a full quantity of powder and a proper
ball. His friends, not desiring to be accessory to his death, desired
him not to oppose his body when the cannon was fired, but to catch the
ball in his hand. This he did, receiving no hurt, although the ball was
of full weight, and the loudness of the explosion left no doubt but
that he had put in the full charge of powder.
Explanation.—The secret is to put very little of the
powder behind the ball and the rest in front of it, the wadding being
put in last of all, and rammed down tight. In any case, the feat is not
to be performed with impunity, for Mr. Cremer of Regent Street, amateur
of exploits of leger-de-main, as he is, had the unpleasant chance of
being at a circus in Germany when this last experimentalist was
disabled by the ball striking his chest with great violence. The man
fell terribly injured, but having recovered, he is still performing,
and without rivalry.
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