Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-08-30
CFrom tie Buffalo Courier. August III
I ore FoOlhardiness at Niagara.

! IL ore FCOiEaf0lnesS al NlI CARA
Since Blondin first held his adventu.
rous way aros> the euiph at Niagara, the
,Inck seems To have been broken for The
achie,, meut of all sorts of miracl-s on ma
niila. Yet in spite of the we, ky Increase
of daring on the part of Monsieur, and Of
the new AID incredible comp plications which
have marked his successive performances,
The sensation, which dicw its tens of thou
sands at first, gradually lost in attractive
power, until an "aScensiou" Of Blondin has
become almost as commonplace to the dem
iZc. of the Falls as the ascension of a
rocket.
Yesterday, however, there was some
What of a revival of the old rope walking
fur"r. A acw excitement WAS afoot; a
new experiment was to be tried. Every
body had gIanied Bloudins victory, but
everybody, including Monsieur himself,
had also thought that Blondin was sole
monarch of the airy regions above the
cataract. Consequently Il threat OF "a llsur-
patton of these dominlons was a matter
of some interest, and "Signor Farini'' was
4 'great attraction
AT a few minutes past four, the Signor
appeared in the enclosure on the Amer-
can side, and announced 10 the aSsembIage
in good English, with dash of Canadian,
not Italian accent, that he would be ready
to walk forthwith. Shortly afterwards, be
stepped on the rope facing the terrific de-
scent, for it must be remembered that the
rope ''sagged fearfully." He was dressed
in buff tights. without hat or cap, and with
"gums on his feet. He carried a pole forty
feet long, and weighing sixty pounds
The band struck up and Farini started
down; very slowly and doubtfully at first,
for he had not gone ten feet when a diff
Guilty appeared which threatened TO lie fa-
tai. His pole was long and timber, and be-
came entangled in the guys at every step.
Poised above the awful guilt, be had to
stand in the most painful and laborious
manner, extricate it from its ENHANCEMENT.
The odds seemed to be terribly against
him at this moment. There was an out
cry that he never would cross, and for a
few moments of sickening suspense, liz
which be struggled with his pole, we be-
lieve half the crowd expected to see him
fall. But the Signor has pluck and nerve.
Undaunted he held on his way, and after
working for some time as we have desert
bed, he sat down. He estood up, first on
his feet and then on his head, and withal
so cool aboutit, that confidence was restor-
ed. Slowly he proceeded, making frequent
stops and repeating his gymnastics. He
hung by his heels, by his elbow, by bis
hands, lay down on his back, and finally
stood on one foot without his balancing
pole. In about half an hour be had wro't
bis way up to the Canada shore, where he
was enthusiastically received, a band on
that side playing Hail Columbia the
while.
After having gone up to the Clifton
House for refreshment, be returned, and at
twenty minutes past five was again on the
the rope. In the center he stopped, and
the Maid of the Mist, which had been ly-
ing off and on, with a large number of
passengers aboard, came directly beneath
him. He dropped cord, which was
caught on board, and thus he drew rope,
passing the end over his cable, then secur-
ing double line for his perilous descent
In less than half a minute he had slid not
"head foremost" but hand over hand, down
the eighty or hundred feet to to the deck
of the boat. In a few minutes he ad-
dressed himself for the ascent, which was
tougher business. He derw himself up,
however and after some more gymnastics,
was nearly on the American side again. To
show that he was not used up by his ap
palling hours work, be gave pas. seul,
keeping time to the music of the band as
he came ashore. He was received by his
friends and an admiring crowd, and wrap
ped in coat, whirIed off to the American
Hotel in carriage. .-
The universal sentiment was, that be had
under the circumstances, nerve
fully equal to to that of Bondin. He does
not appear, as yet, so much at home on
the rope as the Frenchman. The transit
with him seems fraught with far more i'm
minent peril. But the fact that this is the
first great feat, that the rope is much larger !
than Blondin's, vibrating also very much
more, and that he wrought at such disad
vantage with his pole and guys, entitled
him beyond question to the dubious fame
which he covets. Henceforth there are two |
Blondins.