Page:How to Get Strong (1899).pdf/482

HOW TO GET STRONG

cellar. Nathaniel, his (David's) father, was not quite as strong. Yet he could throw a barrel of cider into a cart; while Joseph (Nathaniel's father) exceeded them all—for he could lift a barrel, and drink out of the bung-hole!"

Just try any one of these three feats at some time when you are feeling fine. You may learn something; or name some man among the three and a half millions of people in New York City, or of the four and a half millions in London, who can do what Joseph Beecher did. Not only is a cider-barrel a clumsy, unwieldy thing; but you have to hold it at arms-length, and with a poor grip; so that, even empty, it is no plaything. But full, it weighs about four hundred and fifty pounds; and, barring Sandow, and a very few others, the world has scarcely a man in it to-day who can do what Joseph Beecher did. David, the grandfather, was a blacksmith—about the strongest kind of mechanic—and Henry got a deal of strength there. But wherever he got it, it stood out all over him.

JOSEPH HODGES CHOATE

Gilbert Clark says: "Born in Salem, Massachusetts, January 24, 1832. He is a man of unusually fine presence, and is conspicuous as the leading jury-lawyer of New York, and the representative trial-lawyer of the American Bar. He has not the fire and eloquence of some other men that might be mentioned, such as William A. Beach, Colonel Ingersoll, or Bourke Cockran. On the contrary, he always holds himself under perfect control, and is especially noticeable for the keenness of his satire and the quality of his humor. He carries weight with juries; and no man is more successful in wresting verdicts from them than he. He is also very able before the court in banc; and has been counsel in many of the most important litigations of the day. His career has been one of uninterrupted success. With the possible exception of James C. Carter, he has no superior as a general practitioner.

410