The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-15 00:00:00

BLONDIN AT HONE.

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M es thil

"Why, I thought Blondin had gone to heaven long
ago," said someone in a railway carriage the other
day, as he conned an advertisement in his paper which
announced that the Hero of Niagara was walking the ,
tight rope at the Britannia Theatre in far-away 'Ra-
ton. To most of us Blondin is now merely a name,
but he is almost as active as ever, and quite ready to
chat about both the present and the future. The
affectionate regard felt for the Chevalier of the Falls
which made him famous is shown by the name which
he has given to his house. The visitor rings the bell
at the gate and reads the legend inscribed in large
letters, "Niagara "M. Blondin at home ?"
"I am M. Blondin." The intrepid one stands before
me, short and stout. He has evidently been a model
of muscular compaeSness and symmetry, a French-
man to the bone, with small, twinkling eyes, hair thin
and slightly streaked with gray, a moustache, and thick
imperial. No spot is so dear to him as Niagara Villa,
whither he retires to the bosom of his family for a
few months during the year to take his well-earned
rest. "When will you say good-bye to the fascina-
tions of the rope, and cast off the tights and spangles
for ever?" "Sir, it will be long, I hope. I am 60
now. Have I lost my nerves? No. Am I strong
and active? Feel the muscles of my forearm a.nd
my legs. I am fat. I admit it. Therefore I no
longer assume the monkey's skin, as once I did."
M. Blondin is as sound a man as he has ever been.
He has had only one accident, and never a fall. He
has never even broken an arm, and the only wound I
saw was covered by an inch of sticking plaster. It is
said that the reason why he never tumbled was the
marvellous power of his forearm, which enabled him
to carry a balancing pole of great weight. But when
asked the secret of his success he tells you that "it
was because I didn't want to tumble." He has never
smoked, and if you ask him whether he drinks he tells
you with is twinkle in his eye that he" does not wear
the blue ribbon," and takes claret at dinner. In 1851
Jean Francois Gravel 6 was performing in a French
provincial town, when his agility, grace, supple-
ness, and intrepidity were remarked by a certain
Ravel, himself a famous gymnast of his day. "Join
us," he said to the young fellow, "and come to New
York." "Done," replied Jean Francois. "But how
art thou called "Gravel." " &ere Dieu! we
cannot bill such a name." Then they fixed upon
Blondin, from the colour of his hair. Triumph after
triumph followed, until his career was crowned at
last on the 30th of June, 1859, when he crossed
Niagara. "Sir, I was a rope-walker at four.
My father was a gymnast. I have never felt
fear—no, not even when crossing Niagara. In 1860 I
crossed on stilts. There was a danger in crossing
Niagara. In straining a rope of that length to the
requisite tightness it was liable to snap. The shorter
the rope the easier it is to walk on, for the dip in the
middle is less. I once offered to carry the Claimant
across a rope, but he declined, with thanks. 'I will
not endanger your life," he said, "and I do not wish
to expose mine.' A tightrope walker is born;
nothing can make him. None of my family will
ever appear in the arena, because not one of
them has been born a rope-walker. I am always well
when I ant working. When lam lazy I feel a
twinge of lumbago, and that is all." Not the least
interesting of M. Blondin's collection of mementoes is
a small library of scrap-books, containing cuttings
from all the newspapers of the world—French, Eng-
lish, German, Austrian, American, Australian—
critiques, reports, interviews, caricatures, jokes. He
, is called the "King of the Tight Rope," "The
Lord of the Hempen Realm," "The Emperor of all
Manilla." There are wonderful woodcuts, plain and
coloured; verses too. "Did nervous terrors ever
oppress you, M. Blondin ?" "Never, sir; never. Not
even when I first crossed Niagara. Pouf. They
laughed and said, There's a fool of a Frenchman
going to commit suicide,' or I don't believe he'll over
try,' and so on, but I have crossed Niagara 300 times
sines then. I carry three sets of ropes. which are two
in, hes in diameter, with a body of steel bound round
with hemp. The balancing poles vary in weight
according to the business, from 37,40, 45,47 pounds."
"And the height at which you perform ?" "From
forty to a hundred feet, according to circumstances.
I am indifferent."—Pall Mall Gazette.

A CAPTAIN'S REWARD.—The Board of Trade have
awarded a piece of plate to Captain A. Ricciotti,
master of the Italian barque, Iside 8., of Spezzia, in
acknowledgment of his humanity and kindness to the
shipwrecked crew of the barque, Earl Beaconsfield, of
Glasgow, which was abandoned at sea while on a
voyage from Greenock to San Francisco.
A LEGAL TRADITION.—A working man sued on
a judgment summons at the City of London Court
recently pleaded inability to pay. As his debts
amounted to about .£35, Mr. Commissioner Kerr
advised him to file a request for administration
under the Bankruptcy Act. Defendant: I don't
understand these things. His Honour: You are not
aware that whenever an Act of Parliament is passed
you are supposed to know every line of it? De-
fendant : No, sir. (Laughter.) His Honour:
it is a fact—at least, it is a legal tradition. Why, the
moment a foreigner arrives in Dover Harbour he is
supposed to be acquainted with the whole law of
England, even if he does not know a word of the
English language. (Laughter.) I will grant you an
adjournment to file a request, and if you are in
poverty you can make a clean sweep of your liabilities,
and not be eaten up by attorneys and accountants.
(Laughter.)

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