Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-08-16
A NRESTLE WITH NIAGARA.
From Ali the Year Round.

From Ali the Year Round.
was standing about thirty or forty
yar0s in advance of the Clifton, that is
thirty or forty yards nearer to the
Horseshoe, along the brink of the rocks,
and opposite to the American fall. The
ground must have been about the same
height as the opposite fall, but, owing
to the immense hill down which the
rapids rush, it was impossible to dis
tinguish any object of the size Of a
boat a considerable distance above the
fall, so that, now, as it was pointed out
to me, L saw, in the middle of the rapid,
a huge log of wood, the trunk of
tree, which had lodged there
some years before, and upon it
black speck. This, after some
observation, [ perceived to move. 1t
was a man. Yes; he and his two COM
panions had, on the previous night,
been rowing about some distance above
the fall. By some means or other they
had ventured too near the rapids, had
lost all command Of their boat, and had
been carried away to destruction. It
was supposed that about half mile
above the fall the boat had been upset,
and, with two wretched men still cling
ing to it, went over the fall at about 8
or 10 o'clock at night, while the third
man was driven against this log OF
wood, climbed upon it, and sat astride
of it through the darkness of the night,
| amid the roar, turmoil and the dashing
spray of the rapids.
[ crossed the river, ascended the rock
by the railway. and hurried to the spot,
where I found htEa so near that ] could
almost distinguish his coUntenace. He
was then lying along the log, grasplng
it with both arms, and appeared eX-
| hausted 10 the last degree He was
evidently as wet from the spray as
| though be had been standing under
water By this time people were as
| sembling, and different plans for his
rescue were proposed and discussed on
all sides; already, indeed, one effort
| had been made. 4 small boat had been
firmly lashed to a strong cable, and
let down to him from the bridge, which
crossed the rapids between the main
land and GoaS Island, about sixty
yards above the log.
This boat had proceeded a few yards
in safety, was upset, spun round Like a
piece of cork at the end of a thread by
the force of the water, which finally
snapped the cable in two, and the boat
disappeared over the fall
But now a dispatch had been sent TO
Buffalo Ga distance of little more than
twenty miles) by electric telegraph, de
string that life-bOat should be sent by
| the first train, $3.50 a. m, and this ID
| time arrived, borne on the shoulders OF
| about twenty men, and splendid boat
! she was, large, built entirely of sheet
| iron, with air-tiGht chambers; a boat
that could not sink. She was grit round
with strong ropes, and two new two
inch cables brought with her All this
arrangement naturally took up much
time, and the poor wretch S Impatience
seemed extreme, so that it was thought
advisable to let him know what was
going on. This was done by means of
sheet, upon which was written in
large letters in Dutch (his native Ian
guage), 1.-The life boat is coming y
He stood up, looked intently for min
ute and then nodded his head When
the boat was at last launched the ex-
citement was intense. Two cables, each
held by many men, were let down from
either end of the bridge, so that they
might have command in directing the
course of the boat down the river She
| seemed literally to dance upon the sur
| face of the water like a cork.
The rapid consists of a number of
small falls distributed unevenly over all
parts of the river, so that there are
! thousands of cross currents, eddies and
whirlpools, which it would be utterly
impossible to avoid, and in which lies
the danger of transit for any boat be-
tween the bridge and the log. The
lfe-boat's course was steady at first :;
she arrived at the fall, she tripped up
and swung round with a rush, but on
tinued her course safely, only half fill
ed with water Again she descended
in safety, but approaching the log, she
became unmanageable, sprlnging either
way with immense force, spinning COM
pletely over, and finally dasning against
the log with such violence that [ fully
expected the whole thing, man and all,
to have been dislodged and hurried
down the rapid. But no, it stood firm,
the boat had reached It's destination.
| Yet, alas, how useless was It's posi-
tion 1t lay completely on It's side
above the log, and with its hollow in
side directed toward the bridge, played
upon by the whole force of the cur
rent, which fixed its keel firmly against
the log. 1t seemed immovable. The
man himself climbed toward it, and in
vain tried to pull, lift, or shake the
boat; nor was it moved until both ca
bles being brought to one side Of the
river by the united force Of fifty on
sixty men, she was dislodged, and
swung down the rapid upside down,
finally pitching headlong beneath an
eddy, entangling one of her cables on
the rocks, and there lying beneath a
heavy fall of water, until, in the
course of the day, one cable be
ing broken by the efforts of the
men to dislodge her, and the other by
the sheer force of the current, shewent
over the falls-the second sacrifice 60
the Door fellow, who still chung to the
log, swayed between hope and fear.
The loss of the boat seemed a great
/ blow to him, and he appeared, rs far as
we could Judge at a distance, at times
to give way to the utmost despair. A