WASHINGTON THE ATHLETE
BY ALBERT F. BLAISDELL AND FRANCIS E. BALL
Many stories are told of the mighty power of
Washington's right arm. It is said that he once
threw a stone from the bed of the stream to the
top of the Natural Bridge, in Virginia.
Again, we are told that once upon a time he
rounded a piece of slate to the size of a silver
dollar, and threw it across the Rappahannock at
Fredericksburg, the slate falling at least thirty
feet on the other side. Many strong men have
since tried the same feat, but have never cleared
the water.
Peale, who was called the soldier-artist, was
once visiting Washington at Mount Vernon. One
day, he tells us, some athletic young men were
pitching the iron bar in the presence of their host.
Suddenly, without taking off his coat, Washington
grasped the bar and hurled it, with little effort,
much farther than any of them had done.
``We were, indeed, amazed,'' said one of the
young men, ``as we stood round, all stripped to
the buff, and having thought ourselves very
clever fellows, while the Colonel, on retiring,
pleasantly said:--
`` `When you beat my pitch, young gentlemen,
I'll try again.' ''
At another time, Washington witnessed a
wrestling-match. The champion of the day
challenged him, in sport, to wrestle. Washington did
not stop to take off his coat, but grasped the
``strong man of Virginia.'' It was all over in a
moment, for, said the wrestler, ``In Washington's
lionlike grasp I became powerless, and was hurled
to the ground with a force that seemed to jar the
very marrow in my bones.''
In the days of the Revolution, some of the
riflemen and the backwoodsmen were men of
gigantic strength, but it was generally believed
by good judges that their commander-in-chief
was the strongest man in the army.
|