The Bender

The other day I called on a bender, a lady, npt a gentleman, who is well known as a toost serpentine contortionist. A brute callud Kosenbaum, Chrlstian name Kellx, Kot six months for half killlng a litt(e boy to vh m he was teaching the art of contortiin. I wished to ask M'lle Vonare a few guestions about the art, wlth a view of throwinf? some llght on the iraliilns; of linie boys and girls for the professton. 'ihe lady wa9 sitting before tbe fire wlth her sister, who has abandoaed tendlng herself, and exhiblts a troupe of hlghly educateJ poodles, tho eldest of whom was snoring stentorously in a suug basket at hls mistress' feet I took hira on iny knee and strokcd the touzled locks of the tiny perfi rmer, who Is now in the sere and yellow leaf. Poor little fe.llow! He had strutte 1 the stage fourteen years, and stlll earned nis living by the sweat of hts brow. He glamed np at me with a motirnful look In his e es and a decorous wag of his tail. as it to 8:iy: "Ah! my good sir, you have come liere to ask Miss Venare lf little acrobats are beaten and starved by haid marters, What stories I r.ould teil you if I could n!y speak!" Then Ie leapecl o.f my lap with all the agility of yout!) and walked on hls hind legs toward hls mistress, who had divc; 1 into the ('epths of a huge wicker basket which contained her demon's dress and other stage habits. From its depths slie pioduocd a bundle of photographs of herself, tied and knotted Into all wanner oí ctirious folds, that is t ie business of a bender. The body Is thrown uto a score of unnatural postnres, which appi ar to the amtience to le achleved by disjoeatlng every joint in the human frame, and to be etfected at great. risk to Ufe and limb. Artists are gen rally enthusiastic ab ut their eallinKs, aui 1 must say that Miss Vonaredeelared slie would rather bo a bender tlian a queen or something to that effect. As the young lady is sald to be a queen of benders this is not Mirprising. She. Is nlneteen years of ag.. Mie began at four: at five and a ; half sho was before the public, and reniains ; a bender MUL 'My father saw a 1 tlonist one night on the stage, and ho asked himself why ) e should not teach me, a ed four. 1 was put into training at -i once and en.oyed the fun, as a child will eujoy anytblng new. Was I beaten'? Was I starved? No. 1 seemed to take to It like a little duck takes to water. You see, we were a famlly of athletes, and, besldes, 1 1 was a dauglit r and n t au apprentice. It was an apprentice in the case Of Kosenbaum and It is generally the apprentlces who suffer. If the fatlier is the trainer he raay not spare the rod, but ho is cruel only to be kind. My experience is that less rod and more kindnoss U the let plan. Father used to briba us in'.o (iolng the different trleks. To be successful means years ol hard work, practico and performance. I am nineteen now, and my performance keeps me in cap tal training. In the busines-; of contortion the lirst lesson is the backwaril licnd, lirst wlth the anus and then wlUiout You s'and on a long m:i tress, so that thcre s no danger, and ;.t lirst your teacher controls your moveim-iiis wlth a belt. It is niiicli the same with other forms of acrobatic work, and the cruelty often takes the form of taking away the matties-, which creates a sort of pan c in the papil s mimi. If he has really tried his ben and failed he i-i so : terrltied that he is almost certain to fail, i unless he has a great deal of pluck. If he has only been skulling it may bring him to his bcarlug. Ol' course, ehildien are often stubborn, and try tlie patience i f the teacher to its utmost limit The niusic hall business has its attractions, but of thls you inay be quite sure, it has lts hardships and theiefore its drawbacks. If yuu are succes-f 1, which means if you Let constant engagements, you must always keep ahead, or at any rate on an e .uallty wlth your competitors. I don't care to take engagements in cii'cuses as Ihe life is tco hard but the circus is the great training center of gymnasts and acrobats. To get an idea of the competithin in the business you sh.iuld look in in the early hours of the morning and watch the pracücing. Tumblers, riders, benders, rope-valkers - y. u see them all al work, learning new trlcks, teaohlng tlieli children or apprenticus. The tears often Ilow at those rehearsals In the empty circus, 1 can teil y on. "'lhe art oí contortion, " continued Miss Vonare, 'U le;irned by degrees. First, the backwanl bend, then the 'dislocation. ' then the 'splits,' and so on. What we cali 'ctoseness' distinguishes the best ten iing. Tothe audience bending seema most di.t'ctrit. But 1 experience no discomfort or Inconvenience. I was a puny child. You see me now. " The lady bender was eertainly most healthy and cheerful, stout in !ody and in com-j plexion, and she Btrongly maintains that all women wou Id be greatlv benefitted if they took up bonding. "It Is quite a nilstake to thitik that we put otir linibs out ot' joint, or ihat we su Ter f rom the curious nature of our performance. Of course, aller one or more dlfflcalt positlons one may suñ'er a little pain, but it goes in nc time. In some altitudes I can only reii ain for twenty seconds, as the breat'hing I (ioonics dülicuü. hut ttiese are trilling Inconvenlencies. I practico a few minutes every day to keep myself loose, here tn my room, aml that is ab ut all 1 need to do."-