January 17, 1909
ACCIDENT AT THE HIPPODROME.
Trapeze Performer Injured Last
Night Before Large Audience.
While doing his "swing of death" at the Hippodrome about 10 o'clock last night, Senor Frisco fell from his trapeze to the floor of the skating rink fourteen feet below. He was taken in an unconscious condition to the general hospital where it was found that his spine was either dislocated or severely wrenched and his knees bruised. The injuries are not fatal.
Senor Frisco's act is what is known as the "giant swing" with his feet instead of his hands on the bar. Metal attachments in the soles of his shoes fit in a narrow groove in the steel bar of the trapeze. At the center of the bar, the groove is wide so that he can insert the attachment and then maintain his hold by keeping his feet spread apart.
This last he failed to do for some reason last night, and as his feet came together his body was suddenly released and hurled to the floor at the end of the first revolution. His wife was in the large crowd and saw the accident, and she was nearly overcome. The performer is said to have had a presentiment that something untoward would happen.
Labels: accident, daredevils, hippodrome
