The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1860-07-19
BIOmdim Oh, lais Tight Rope.

Mr. Willis in the Home Journal, thu
describes NJ. Blondin's passage owe
| the Niagara river, in the character 0
an Indian chief:
CATER being dressed in hisfesh-col
ored tights, wampam apron, bead neck
lace, and moccasins, he came out (witf
his peculiarly uncombed sandy hair un
covered as yet by its crown offeathers,)
to look little into the arrangements
for his performance. For fifteen OF
twenty minutes the little Tecumseh was
hopping about, trying the cords that
held the ropes to the stanchions, cock
ing the pistol which was to be fired to
announce his return, giving directions
to the music, binding the ligatures of
his balance-pole, and answering very
merrily al the jokes and questions of
the lockers on. In his motions, back
and forward, he took no regular step !;
he simply bounded Like child soap
bubble, the difficulty seemed to be to
get to the ground-to keep from floats
ing away. During all this time, of
course, | had the desired opportunity
for the study of his face. 1t was one
which nineteen people out of twenty,
on seeing it in a crowd, would pass over
as wholly uninteresting-the twentieth
and more observant man giving him a
good look, as one of the most coolly de-
termined and honestly spunky little fell
lows he had ever seen. The top of
his skull, of course, is very high with
his hmm Of HrD,paCc He ob Il Lo,,ou
are prominent, his nose straight and
with thin expanded nostrils, his lips
thin and firm, his cheeks hollow and
pale, and he wears a sandy moustache
and imperial a la Louis Napoleon.
Though anything but beauty, he is
man it is impossible not to take fancy
to. Retiring to his shanty for minute
or two, his temperance was announced
by grand utmost lana from the band,
and forward came Tecumseh, with
high crown of many colored feathers on
his head-not with a slow pace, as
would be expected from an Indian
Chief, but dancing a jig all the way to
the precipice. TWAS curious, however,
to see that the smile on his lips, and
his other signs of merriment for the
many were altogether mechanical and
artificial, while the closely pressed eye
lid through which his keen blue eve
was hardly visible, showed the inner
minds absorption and concentration in
the work he had to do
The rope was drawn from shore to
shore, eight hundred feet across, and
two hundred and fifty feet high over
the Niagara rapids-a perilous bridge
for human feet to walk upon! l took
hold Of his arm as he stood trying the
rope for a moment with the ball of his
foot. 1t was like bunch of iron wire.
wholly unimpressible And away he
went-hisssmoccasined feet hugging the
Swaying cable, his balance-pole play
ing up and down, and his little figure
gradually diminishing as he walked
steadily on and reached the middle of
the chasm, where he proceeded to stand
upon one leg and hold the other out at
right angles. The spectators, ofcourse,
were all brealhlessly silent; though |
found 1t much more breathleSs to think
Of afterwards than to see it done. He
did it with such apparent ease and GER
tainty, that it was ike seeing bird fly
or spider walk the ceiling-not to be
wondered at 70" that kind of creature.
| am inclined to think it would be more
startling (better enabling one to imag-
Inc himself in the performers place. if
he were to do it in common clothes.
Looking scarcely larger than a butter
fly as he reached the opposite shore,
Blondin remained fifteen or twenty min
utes out Of sight, and then the pistol
was fired to announce his return.
He came on quietly to the centre,
where he stopped 20 lie down at full
length on the rope, and execute various
postures and gymnastics, and between
this and his reaching ourshore again, he
made several pretended trips, as if los
ing his balance--the screams of the
atfrighted ladies, at this, very comicaly
varying the tune which was being en-
deavored by the band. AS he come up
the slant of the rope again, | saw that
his lips were tightly drawn together and
his features were rigidly set with the
mental eXertion, and it was an expression
OF face that would be worth painting as
a type of determined will. Through all
the anxiety of spectators suspense,
could net help admiring the little man
exceedingly, and | was the first to give
hun hand as he stepped on the cliff:
1t was cold clammy grip that he gave
me in return, and his fingers felt icy
and wet. Everybody who could reach
him gave him a shake of the hand on
his way to the shanty, and the enthusi-
asm for him seemed universal. And
50 ended the show Of human life put
fearfully in peril! Mr.. Blondin, was
afterward told, has wife and several
children, and resides at Niagara, hav-
ing adopted it as his theatre Of perform
ance. His professional profits amount
to ten thousand dollars year.