Magnetic Girl

It was one of these latter whom the writer first saw in a dime museum in Cincinnati. The performance took place upon a temporary stage, consisting simply of some rough boards loosely laid upon wooden horses at one end of a large hall. The performer was a young girl, pale and slender, and weighing probably not over 100 pounds. She wore short skirts so that the calves of her legs were partially disclosed to view, and her arms were bare. There was certainly nothing abnormal in the muscular development of either her arms or legs; it was, if anything, subnormal, or rather would I say, just such development as would be expected in a girl of her slight build. Her manager, mounting the platform, requested that some heavy-weight man from the audience should step to the platform. One of aldermanic proportions, who gave his weight as 240 pounds, stepped up and took a seat in a chair provided for the purpose. Being told to hold the chair down at all hazards, he planted himself firmly within it, with his hands akimbo upon its arms, his feet set solidly upon the floor and his lips tightly compressed. As he sat there he looked the picture of determined immobility, and it appeared as though it would require the strength of a giant to move him. The slightly-built girl, however, advanced to a position behind the chair, where, stooping so as to place the palms of her hands against the legs of the chair just below the seat, soon had both man and chair dancing a lively duo around the stage.