Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

., co M s: .1_ . ~ I~ N .... Cl • c: ..., '" ~ w Z W ..J U >- U So me of Putt Mossman's press clip pings. Back before Evel and all the rest , there was a guy on a motorcycle who was known widely if not well, as The Prince of Daredevils By Charles Clayton World Champion Horsesho e Pitch er in 1924, 25 and 26 . Mossman worked thi s talent into his act. Putt and Grace wer e a performing team, oft en augme nted th eir act with mo torcycl ists recruited fr om local rubes. Photos co ur tesy of Quin Winters The mud-streaked Crosley b rodied to a stop alongside th e Indian and th e young rider marvelled th at the powerful , stocky man who unfolded himself fr om it and ap proached him could even fit in the tiny car. Talking a mile-a-minute in a soothing , western voice, the stranger tru ssed the young rider in a lasso of gab . He was in sh ow business, the likeable stran ger explained, thrusting forth a handbill, and somehow the y o un g motorcyclist found himself invit ed to see the show that aftern oo n for free , as a guest of the star himsel f (in person) , that eminen c e b ein g the sam e ch armin g m an lately o f th e Crosley, o h and w ould he ride th e Indian righ t down front where all th e folks coul d see, if y o u pl eas e. Thank you very m uch . Drawn by th e h ypnotic ch arism a o f th e st ra nge r , th e cyclist followed the j am pa cked little car to th e local ru nd own rac etrac k wh ere Cap tain Putt Mos sman, his leader, was to p erform a sh ow , th e ha ndb ill pr oclaim ed, o f " horseshoe p it ch in g, am azin g athletic feats and death defying motorcycl e cras h es and st un ts ." The gre at man lost no time preparing, for the grands ta nds were already full. O ut of th e car , lik e a m agic trunk, h e unload ed costumes, gadge try, lumber , ca rpe n te r's tools, con ta in ers of gaso line and his pretty assis tan t, a bra ve girl ' named Gr ace Conrad. The you ng gues t was swe pt into the feverish ac tivity an d b efore he knew it, h e was p oised 'to race his mach in e around th e track an d try to centerpu nch the Captain , wh o wo uld b e standing rigid in front of the gra nds tand . " N ow as my young vo lu nteer ma kes read y to crash h ead -on into my b ody , I'd like to tell you fo lks my philos ophy of life," spoke Cap tain Pu tt Mossman to th e gather ed rubes. "I h ave a God-given ta len t," th e good Captain claimed , but it 's clean livin g to ' which he credite d his pro wess and succ ess. "I ne ver curse or swea r and neither h ave I ever smo ked n or t ou ch ed strong drink," the Captain explai ned as the motorcy cle sped closer, "and fo r that reaso n this vehicle whic h you see careening directly toward m e at a velocity of over a hundred mil es per hour, will not harm a pure molecule of my b o d y . . . . . . . . . This was a b ett ing crowd and while the Captain spoke, odds were runmng high agains t his immunity. As the last word left h is. m o uth a nd collision seemed im m inent , Putt Mossman sudde n ly seemed to hover, app roximately six feet above wh ere h e had been standing. rider ducked as th e Indian roared un der the outstretched legs. "You flinched!" the stuntman accused the young ri der. It was true, he had ro lled off the throttle, afraid. "Let me show you h ow to ri de th at thing." For the next hour Mossman performed the tricks that he devised and no one has ever been able to duplicate. His was a rare and generous gift indeed. Fo r instance, with the throttle set, he stood upon the seat of the borrowed machi ne and rode it in a large circle around a stake in the ground, tossing horseshoes and p it ch ing a ringer every time. He turn ed b ackward s and ove r his shoulde r , wi th th e ai d of a m irro r, con ti n ued ringing the h orsesh oe ·sta ke. Peop le saw it, b ut did n 't believe thei r eyes. There was no illusion invo lved, no fakery. Putt Mossman was th e World's Ch amp io n' horseshoe pitcher of all time. . -, , ).' It ) \ " \ , The bedazzl ed Indian rider, whose name is Adrian Villa ndre, re tri eved his motorcycle slightly th e worse fo r we ar after Mossman was d one fo r th e day with crash in g th r ough burning walls , jumpin g o ver Grace's supine form, slidi ng behind the machine and balancing all over it. ViIlandre w ent on to become a rather famous ar t ist in Canada while Putt Mossman and Grace toured th e c o tto n-c an dy belt, living their ow n, unique st yle of life. . Talent a-p len ty had Putt Mossm an and the gift of gab , but b ig money a1wavs se emed t o elu de him. He came to Hollywood when the two-ree ler thrillers were co nsu ming stun tmen a t a terrific rate, b ut themoney they paid was nothing lik e the st ars got. Y ou were lucky n ot to starve b etw een ta king cha nces at a Forest Lawn add ress. One of Mossman 's ac ting rol es required him to j ump a motorcycle over an open drawbridge and come down the o th er side. He m ad e it. Years later, in a L ondon pub , Mo ssman b et an En glish gent 5,00 0 pounds that h e could jump a moto rcycle across the Thames. The wagers were pl aced o n the opposite shore, Mossman commandeered a machine and roared towa rd one of the fam ous d rawbrid ges as it opene d to le t a tall ship p ass. He sail ed into the air an d both he and th e m o to rcy cle spl ash ed in to th e busy river. Bu t Putt Mo ssman swam to th e other shore an d collec te d the jackpo t, j us t as he said he w ou ld . Som e of th e stunts Mossm an performed were so hazardo us that h e co uld only d o th em on ce. Besid es, h is eq uip m en t was n ot th e finest, and circ umstances didn't always follow th e scrip t. On ,~m e occasion he d ecided t o rid e a motorcycle down a two-b y-four bannister fro m the top of the gra n dstan d while soaked in gaso line and ab laz e. He fav ored Harley -David sons in h is ac t but co uld not b e bother ed to keep th em in repair. On this occasion th e ru sty ol d tro upe r fail ed to kickstart. Mossm an probab ly came as close as ever in h is life to uttering a swear word as h e stabbed at th e starte r rep ea tedl y , working up a sweat in his fuel-soaked clothes. At length, realizing he'd have to bump start the reluctant relic, h e turned to his assistant, who was standing nearby h old in g a b lazing torch with whic h to set Mossman afire and said to him, "push me offl" The lackey thereupon se t fire to the stuntman, who d ro pped th e cycl e, fled r un nin g d own the narr o w ramp and dove into the wa te r tan k. Kerspl ush ! , ' " Why didn't you push me off, lik e I said" Moss man questioned his h elp er after th e debacle. "Oh ,' said h e, " I thought you said touch me off! " Grace and Pu tt . traveled the co un try for de cades, sharing hardships. She worshipped him, tho ugh they never married. Finally they split up when Putt went t o Europe. There he married a lady said to be a titled member of the nobility, but it di dn't last. There was a child and Putt Mossman resumed his American travels with a son, living o ut of a trunk while the lad grew up. They say the boy liked trouble and h is fa ther, gro wn tir ed of extricating him from p ecadill o after scrape, to o k his offspring to a re mo te corner of A ustralia to help him straighten out. T hat was th e last America saw of Putt Moss man. He's 65 years old now, and still in good health, fro m all rep orts. We may never see another o ne as great as h e. ... , . ., - . ... I •• • • ••• • • , • • .: . • • - - • ,

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