The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-10-02
THE RAPIDS OF NIAGARA
Impossibility Of Swimmer Pass
ing Through Them.

Times writes From the base Of the
falls to Lewiston, a distance OF seven
miles, the descent of the river is 104
feet. The FIVE miles of it commenc-
ing at the railway suspension bridge
is roaring seething torrent. OF which
the first mile-it is rather less be-
tween the bridge and the whirlpool,
is the very worst part. Capt. Webb
was frank enough to say that 1t was
the "angriest bit of water l have
seen" 1t looks angry enough, im-
passabie enough, to the living when
viewed fl ON the bridge. but it must
be examined from the waters edge to
obtain any adequate idea of its might.
About sixty rods below the bridge are
two elevators, one Oh each side OF the
river. That on the Canada side
brings you nearest to the water. and
is the better for our purpose. 1t Is
unnecessary to 60 into any detailed
description of that which never can
be adequately described. Let US
simply say that here are the waters OF
all the great lakes but Ontario. choked
iuto a channel four hundred feet wide,
struggling ana rushing to escape, with
a descent of twenty-five feet to the
mile. Waters are piled in wild tur-
MOL upon waters as they dash onward
with a depth OF near a hundred feet,
and velocity of twenty-seven miles
per hour, carrying into the whirlpool
in the same time over 100, 600, 600
tons of water. My figures are from
the United States survey, and are as
} near absolute correctness as it's poss-
ible to make them. The laboripg of
this mighty mass to find an outlet is
seen in the piling up Of the waters in
,nidstream to the height Of at least
thirty feet, above the shores. Some
enthusiasts put it as highas sixty feet,
but after a careful measurement with
the eve thirty feet satisfies me. The
notion that there are rocks near the
surface in the middle of this channel
is q absurd the depth that there must
be to carry of the accumulation OF
water al ali forbids it. and had there
been hicks there the Maid of the Mist
would have been splintered to atoms
upon them on her voyage down in
] June, 1861. Its my conviction after
q a long and careful survey of these rap
s ids, that the man who ventured into
! them will be certain to have the
|. breath buffeted out his body before he
can reach the whirlpool, and suspect
=! that DR.. G. n. Palmer was not far
e from the truth when he testified be
e fore the coroner's jury that Webb wa:
Z stunned and shocked to death, if
may so phrase it, by what he styled
b 'the reactienary force of the water.
He might easily have been carried
e against rocks lower down the river
d but the business was done for him her.
as it will be done for any man foolish
d enough to emulate his attempt.
Yet it is gravely stated by one Of
It two eyewitness" that after thu
}. worst of these rapids was passed. anc
e near the entrance of the whirlpool
Is Webb was seen to raise his head
o look toward the Canadian shore, and
e dive, which was the last seen of him
'. This is simply-bcsh As the body
of this unfortunate man was whirleG
l through these rapids, carried up ant
:, down and dashed hither and thither
e it was utterly impossible for the ex
u cited on-lookers to tell, in the brie
le and imperfect glimpses they had o
Ie him, whether he was alive or dead
,t whether he raised his head or
,e great billow threw it up, whether b
Owed or was borne under by the cur
rent. There is no certainty Of any
( thing in any of these statements es
cept that the body of a man was see
Il TO be hurled over through these rapids
n The nature of the place and the cor
ditions of the view forbid anythin
like certainty.
rs But supposing, what l assume ne,
I er will happen, that the body OF N
90 Hilario Baisan, or some othe
Nv water-crank, be discharged fro1
= the rapids into the whirlpool wit
m some breath in it, what then Ii
he us ascend this elevator and 60 dow
e. the river three-quarters of q mil
n and see for ourselves. A great ben
in the road occurs just before v
in reach 1t, corresponding to the indie
tation in the bank which is the bas
II. of the whirlpool. / will use a fe
Sc more figures from the United Stat
mo- survey, which will help us to reali
I the savage grandeur and immensi