Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-11-02
Mis ;fllaueaus.
wREsTLE WITH NIAGARA

Z. thirty or forty yards nearer the horS
shoe, along the brink of the rocks, an,
opposite the American fall. Thegroun'
must have been about the same heigh
3 as the opposite fall, but owing to tn
: immense hill down which the rapid
rush, it was possible to distinguish an.
d object of the size of boat conSibera
! BILE distance above the fall, so that, nov
as it was pointed out to me, 1 saw il
, the .niddle of the rapids a huge log o
: wood, the trunk of a tree, which hal
lodged there some years before, anC
: upon it d black speck. This, aftersoms
observation, perceived 10 move 1
was man. Yes, he and two compan
, ions had, on the previous Eight, beer
rowing about some distance absye the
. fall. By some means or other they haG
ventured too near the rapids, had los
all command of their boat, and had
been hurried away to destruction. II
was supposed that about half a 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
nine or ten 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 nj hit, amid the roar, the turmoil,
and the dashing spray of the rapids.
crossed the river, assembled the rock
by the railway, and hurried to the spot,
where found him so near that could
almost distinguished his countenance.
He was thrn lying along the log, grasp
ing it with both arms, and appeared ex-
hausted to the last degree. He was
evidently as wet, from the spray, as
though ne had been standing under
water. By this time people were as
sembling, and different plans for his res
cue were propOs, d and discussed on all
sides; already. indeed, one effort mad
been made. A small boat had been
firmly lashed toa strong cable, and
dropped down to him from the bridge,
which crossed the rapid b, tween the
mainland and Goat island, about sixty
yards above the log. 57la ri1e
This boat had proceeded few yards
in safety, was upset, spun around like a
piece of cork at the end of 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, "a distance of little more than
twenty miles) by electric telegraph, de-
string that life boat should be sent by
the first train $50 AM, and this in time
arrived, borne on the shoulders of
about twenty men, and a splendid boat
she was; large, built entirely of sheet
iron, with air tight chambers; a boat
that could not sink. She was girt
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 i'm
patience seemed extreme, SO that it was
thought advisable to let MIN know
what was going on. This was done by
means of a sheet, upon which was writ
ten in large letters in Dutch, (his native
language 'sThe life-boat is coming"
He stood up, looked intently for min-
ute, and then nodded his head. When
the boat was at last launched, the eX-
element was intense. Two cables each
held by many men, were let down from
either end ofthe brid ;e, so that they
might have some command in direct
ing the coarse of the boat down the
river. aSheseemed literally to dance
upon the surface ofthe water like
cork. ,f,.,. p"
The rapidsEconsists of number of
mall falis distributed unevenly5aoverI
all the parts Of the river, so that there
are thousands of cross currents. eddies
and Whiripoo5, which it would be ut
terly impossible to avoid, and in which
lies The danger of transit Tor any boat
between the bridge and the log.1 fFhe
Iife-boat coarse was steady at first; she
arrived at the first fall, tripped up and
swung around with a rush, but contin-
ued her course safely only halt-illed
with water. Again she decended with
safety, but at length approaching the
log she became unmanageable, swing
ing either way with immense force,
spinning completely over, and finally !
dashiDg against the log with such vio-
lence that fully expected the whole
thing, man and al, to have been
dislodgedand hurliad down the rapid.
But no it stood ffrm-the boat had
reached its destination. Yet, alas! how |
useless, was its position. i 1t lay COM
.pletely on its side above the log, and
with its hollow inside directed toward
the bridge, played upon by the who
force, OF, the current, Which fixed its keel
firmly against the log. 1t seemed i'm
moyeableA Thelman himself climbed |
toward it, and IN vain tried to pull, or
shake the boat; no. was itIn0ved un- !
til both cables being brought to one side
of the river, by the united force of fifty |
or sixty men she was diSlodged and |
swung down. the rapid upside down,
finally pitching headlong tpeneath an
eddy, entangIing one of her cables on
rock, and there lying beneath a heavy |
fall of water, until, in the coarse of the |
day, one of the cables being broken by
efforts of he.men to dislodgeher, and
the other by the sheer force Of the cur
rent, she went over the fal1--the sec
ond sacrifice & to the poor fellow, who
still clang to the log, swayed between
hope and fear, The loss of this boat
seemed a great blow to him, and he
appeared, aslfar as we could judge at
distance, at times to giveIIway to the
utmost despair. "A third boat WIS now
brought- wooden, very long, and fat
,bottomed. Its passage was most fortu-
nate, and as she, fioated down, even
alongside of the log, without accident,
hope beAn1ed y inh every countenanee,
and we all felt the man might be saved.
Hope also had revived in him. He
ing signals to those who directed the
boat. 1al'a1i. ''1 d ssy7ae.7g naui.
He now eagerly seized her, drew her
towards him, ju'rped into her, and
made signs to them to draw him up.
This was commenced, but some of the
tackel had caught, and it was deemed
necessary to let loose for an instant,
which was done; the boat fioated a few
feet down the rapid, swung round the
lower end of the log, entangling the
licable beneath il, and there remained
immoyablyI =. fixed. Once more. the
poor fellows work began, He drew
| nfrnifa If his boots and halefl the haat.