His act had little entertainment to show as compared with the pain and danger involved.

I do not know what became of him, but I can guess.
Among the museum attractions of those years was a man named Wilson who had the incredible chest expansion of twenty-one inches.

This man would allow a strong leather strap, about the size of a trunk-strap, to be buckled round his chest; and then, inflating his lungs, would break it with very little apparent exertion.

An imitator, named Herman, worked the side shows for a long time with a similar act, and was fairly successful, although his expansion was only about sixteen inches.

The last time I heard of Wilson, he was working in the shipyards at Newport News, Virginia.
Another "Samson," a German, among other sensational feats, such as breaking coins with his fingers, used to flex his muscles and break a dog-chain that had been fastened round the biceps of his right arm.
While he was performing at the Aquarium, in London, he issued a challenge.