In the building known as Malcolm Hall, at the corner of Railroad and Salina streets, he opened a gymnasium, in company with a teacher of elocution. He made all his own apparatus, spring-boards, bars, etc., and even turned his own Indian clubs. It was his ambition, at this time, to become the strongest man in the world. He put himself upon a diet of raw beef, rye or Graham bread, and drank nothing but milk, with an occasional glass of ale. With the beef he ate large quantities of onions, which probably helped to prevent any bad effects which the meat might have produced. It was during his sojourn in Syracuse at this time that he engaged in a glove contest with Anthony Kelly, a boxer of considerable local reputation. Kelly was a most expert representative of the manly art, and the contest excited a good deal of attention. It was won by Hogan, after a very spirited and lively set-to. Under the training and diet already described, Ben gained rapidly in strength, and became a model of muscular development. He lifted, at that time, fifteen hundred pounds, and he could hold out ninety-five pounds with any one of his fingers. He continued the diet of raw beef for four years, and would probably have gone on eating it indefinitely had he not been warned by physicians that it was injurious for him. An amusing incident occured in his life at this period. He happened to visit Oswego (the scene of his early housekeeping) and while there attended the "Naiad Queen," brought out under Capt. Smith's management. The show was one that would hardly have passed muster in a New York theatre, but it drew a big house in Oswego, and it gave Ben an idea. Returning to Syracuse he got a lot of posters printed, setting forth, in glowing terms, the attractions of "a monster combination," in which would appear Ben Hogan, "the strongest man in the world," and a host of other stars. With these bills and some other traps he made his way again to Oswego. Not having any agent and not being flush enough to call upon a regular bill-poster, he donned an old suit of clothes, smeared his face with dirt, and set out to post himself. Wherever he put up one of the bills, a crowd would naturally gather around and pass comments upon the "monster combination." "Who is this Ben Hogan, anyway?" was the general inquiry. "Why, didn't you ever hear of him?" Ben would reply. "He's a bad man, I tell you--the strongest man in the world. I know him myself, and if you don't want to miss the biggest show ever seen, you won't stay away!"