Connecticut western news., 1880-08-26
BLOWER tNIAGARAol EALLS..
' .EfEH.tI TT NIiJI TTTI7siEst z I. .VUsl
 adi sta.u An An old: storyI RetolId,, ,,o,

An accident with 8 very dramatic ac- occurred at 'Niiagyara Falls /! some years ago. 10 Ohea nS6rning, soon after ldaybfeak,,I the early fisers at ,theiI Fall discovered something moving ons ! huge oldllog or trunk of. a tree which for I years had shown itself, above the boiling rapids on the American side, having been caught by and become firmly wedged into the rocks on its way toward the falls.c .chHL Locking downward ipfrom the | bridge, sthislog was and still is in sight, in the fereest part of the rapidss, c6nside erahly, nearer to, the small island on the, | American side of Goat Island than to l the American shore. The moving object was soon found t6 be man, and it was evident that his boat had been. carried 1 avera the falls during! the night, while he himself had miraculously been cast against the log, by which he had man aged to Stop hi" fearful rush toward death. ' aDfspatches were 2 innaed diately sent to Buffalo to the coast life saving station, and, Capt. aDorr ahastened to. Mi agara rbysa special, train, carrying with him two metallic Gfeboats, and plans to save the man were concerted. But, be- fore the arra1fg gements were completed, the news had been spread abroad, and many thousandsoof persons had reached the, Faalslby special trains. Goat Island, the bridge, the American shore,e the roofs and windows of all adjacent build-, ings and the branches of trees were coy7 cred with anxious and mortified specta- \ tbifs.: 9cq8 'Ght r9li E9Iil Ir3y aod ''1's The first attempt at rescueowas by means of a Francis metallic hfeboat at tached: to g. cable which was slacked off from the bridge opposite the log and ! guided byy" siidee-:ropes. The boat had not got far from the bridge when the, fierce, rapids seized it, ttfnednit round, and tound9 andnappeared to- be- deavoring boIerush in its sides, The strong cable snapped like aiwhip-cord, and the poor fellow who had been watching the effort made for his rescue saw the boat ,whirl past Him and carried over che falls, as if i1 mock keryo fof ilis4 would be rescuers.. cGonsiderahlar time WAS then consumed in deiberating on new plan, and 1t was ing on the American Side, to carry it '5' over to the island until it would sag near the log, and then to- rescue the man byo means ofa basket hung on, the. cable by rings, and to. be let down and pulled in by means of smaller ropes. The inateri-- als for this experiment could not be pres cured, so at last it was decided to, send down strongly constructed raft in the same manner as the lfeboat had been slaunched, and if it reached the man in safety, to ease it over toward arc the small l. island, from whence his rescue would be, but it was 4 o'c1ock in the afternoon be- R.
 without the flight of time being needed The, excitement was intense. Men and women, who had stood for hours without food, were painfully agitated. Q The raft moved. It withstood braveiy theowild
 assaults of the angry rapids. 4 Itneared. the log The man stood up and waved
 his arms. 51 The raft came within his reach and he got on to it, eat the food,- drank, 8 small quantity of weak brandy and water that had been put aboard, and
 fastened himself by the lashings which
 had been pfeparedj and the intent of which he understood, b. Then the draft was cautiously and steadily moved to-:
 ward the island, with its precious freight The people shouted and many -wept from overwrought feeling. Suddenly, the raft came to.a stand The rope was
 taut! It had caught in rock. To att Etempt to force it was to risk its parting, | and the fatal consequences could not be
 misunderstood. The poor victim seemed
 to take in the situation and to grow des- perate. He 1lnfastened the lashings, stood up, made spring from the raft in | the direction of thed island, and was in
 he,foaming waters. Instantly he struck out, for; the island. He seemed to be 8
 powerful swimmer, and thousands of
 men and women held their breath in
 mortified suspense. He appeared to
 near the island in his desperate efforts.
 Then arose the cry, "He's saved :! he's
 saved! II" .
 But suddenly those on the bridge, who
 could see more distinctly from their
 location, became aware that the space
 between the island and the swimmer s
 head was gradually widening. There
 was another dreadful moment of sus-
 pense, and then the unpitying rapids
 seized their prey, and apparently mak-
 ing sport of the efforts that had been
 resorted to to snatch him from their
 grasp, twisted him round and whirled
 him along until they hurried him over
 the precipice. As the poor fellow went over singular effect was observable. The vast body of falling water curves
 over the edge of the falls like huge
 wheel, and as the body was shot forward
 by the force of the current, 1t seemed to leap completely out of the water, the
 feet being visible, before 1t took the ter
 rible plunge. The deathlike silence that had fallen upon the crowd was broken by 8 fearful cry "a sound mingling 6
 wall, howl, and shriek in one. Many
 strong men as we'll as women tainted
 They had witnessed tragedy more in.
 tense in its painfulness than any the
 drama could present, and one not likely
 to be soon forgotten.
 You PUT binders on horse, so tha
 he can see scarcely anything that is go
 ing on about him, and then blame hin