The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-12-12
SAM PATCH's LAST LEAP.

Ihe recent fiftieth anniversary Of the
/ first great leap made 10y the roted sam
| Patch, has resulted in the bringing to
| light of the following description bv
an eyewitness, of the great acrohat's
/ last and fatal jump:
The writer first saw him in Rochester in
the autumn of 1889. sam had spent the
preceding month i'm the vicinity of the Falls
| of Niagara, and had made two successful at
tempts to leap the cataract" rs the feat
was styled. 4 stage was erected some eighty
feet above the surface Of the river, at the
foot of the pTecipice, and from that Patch
Jumped, alighting in the foam at the edge Of
the American fall. sam maintained 4 large
black bear as a pet, and he always took his
animal on the stage and threw him of before
Yenturing to jump himself. The bear always
alighted and swan out safely Not So how
ever, with his master. Soon after showing
that ''Some things could be done aS well as
others" at Niagara, Patch and his bear came
10 Rochester. He was Hospitality received BY
that portion Of society called ''spOrtsmen" 4"
who maintained a delegation then, as now,
in every large town. These diSinterested
gentry lodged sam at n fashionable reStau-
rant, and kept him generously supplied with
the ardent. 4 day was set for the leap at
the Genesee Falls, the principal Of which
then was a copiOuS cascade ninety-five feet
in height within the corporate limits of Ro-
chester-the fall Of which now furnishes
water power to many mills, factories etc
10 the exhaustion almost OF the usual stream
Patch came on the ground at 10 A. n, in
fine spirits, leading bruin by j chain. He
was received tumultuOusly by a crowd esti-
mated At 1, 600 people, lining the river bank
on both sides just below the falls The
performance" was designedly deferred until
the afteTnOon-the interim being occupied bv
Sans patrons in passing hats and collecting
large quantities of small coin 'for the poor
fellow" Ut was believed poor Patch ueith-
er knew nor cared much about these contri-
butions). About l L. NJ the 'cynoSure Of
all %, lao rs.g-
jutting over the abyss below. dragging his
unwilling hiTSute companion. By a sudden
Jerk the man sent his ''cSlored friend" whirl-
ing in the air, descending 20 the misty depths
which he pierced in = moment, a moment
longer hid from view. and thence emerged
and gained the bank with half drowned
aspect
Bruin having been recaurht BY a friendly
hand his master prepared 10 follow in his
footsteps. Arrayed simply in pantaloons,
shirt and slippers, with a kerChief Of gay
cOlors Jauntily tied on his head. Patch
bowed TO his admiring audience on either
side, and then, gracefully leaping out from
the rock, spreading his arms as he assumed
position, holding his feet together and lean
ing slightly backward, he rapidly gravitated
to the waters below. As inc always Cr adua-
ted his place aS to strike tn e edge of the
fall at the end OF his descent, he was fully In
sight to all from whom the river banks did
not hide him. until entering the river below.
Thus he was seen to strike the water feet
foremost, having suddenly thrown his arms
down close To his body. lie reHppeared some
rods down the stream; and i'm such fine
feather that a little boat which was wait
ing to receive him was spurncd from him
with contemptuOus push, and the triumph
ant diver swan ashore.
This feat was so successful that its pro-
jectOTS, Sans keepers, determined on a sec
Ond performance even more wonderful
They erected Scaffold on the same iuttinr
rock, twenty-five feet high. 50 that the entire
height proposed 10 be leaped was forty wards.
The time was set for the next feat precisely
one week from the first, and on this occasion
even greater crowd than before assembled.
Similar delays and collecting operations were
observed but early in the afternoon poor
sam climbed 4 ladder to his dizzy evric, and
assumed aS erect a position a. his maudiin
condition warranted. The writer viewed
him from the roof OF a uciEhbOring factory.
and memory Is Yet fresh to the disagreea-
BILE sensations experienced while seeing sam
tOpple on his dizzy height However, there
was not much time for suspense. The bear
was looSed from his moOringS, whining q
pitiful strain and ruthlcssly plunged into
the deep. As before, he escaped scot free,
guided by a provideutial instinct. Besides,
the bear was sober. Not so with his unfor-
tunate master. who. after 4 " Swardly making
. Obeisance toward the spectators. This time,
however. his form bent TO the right and it
struck the water below with noise that
might have been heard half a mile. This
was on a cold, murky, dismal day in N0vem-
Der. The body of poor sam was not again
seen by human eye until the next March.
when it was found by fishing party at the
mouth of the river, seven miles below, sadly
blOateG by decomposition and uihbled by
fishes. On that gloomy autumn day, the
author OF the adage demonstrated that among
the things to be done as well as others was
not that of safely jumping the Ger eSce Falls
with skin full Of whisky