The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-08-08
WHIRLING Own NIAGARA.
A Thrilling Story ofthe Rescue Of Four
Men BY . Brave Canadian.
From the Buffalo Commercial.

of four men, and towed by two horses,
swung out of the Chippewa Cut into the
Niagara River, she met raft Of timber
rather near to the shore for the scow to
pass between it and the land. The scow
was forced to take the outside. The,
driver of the horses did his best to keep
the line clear by urging his horses, but it
finally caught in the logs and snapped.
As the rope parted, the boat trenlblcd
on the surface of the water for an in
slant, as if in dread of the terrible fate
that awaited it. and then swung around
and started for Niagara Falls at terrific
pace. The scow, being destined for
canal navigation. had no small boat or
anchor.
Approaching in an instant their awful
danger, the men on the scow yelled to
the men on the raft to get boat quick.
One of their number sprang ashore and
ran for Chippewa, shouting as he ran:
"Help! boat, quick, men going over the
fallsv'
On reaching it we were horrified to see
that the scow had already got consider
ably below the mouth of the creek, and
was speeding down stream with its pre-
cious human freight to what seemed GER
tain destruction. Some of the men on
the vessel were on their knees, with
clasped hands and upturned faces, COM
mending their souls to God.
Just as all hope had been abandoned,
apparently, by people on land and the
men on the scow, a voice cried from the
upper end of the crowd, ''here comes a
boat" In an instant every eye was
turned in the direction of Chippewa
Creek, and there most of them recogniz-
ed the tall and athletic form of a barge
man named Smith, in an ordinary clink-
er boat, boldly pulling INTO the river.
As he forged out into the stream he
made a hasty survey OF the situation and
then piled the white ash with redoubled
energy. As he sped along, the boat al
most leaping from the water at each
stroke, a cheer arose from the people on
the shore that fairly rent the air. The
moment Smith appeared the attention of
the men on the scoy was riveted upon
him and his frail craft. On and on he
shot, each stroke narrowing the distance
between him and the scow, but the lat
ter was getting alarmingly close to the
rapids, to enter which was certain de-
struction to all on board.
Those of us on shore could not help ad-
miring and applauding the heroism Of
young Smith, but we could only feel that
the result of his daring would be to add
another to the list ofthe lost. AS he
neared the scow he turned his head and
shouted to the men: "Scatter along the
side of the boat and drop in as l pass by
The command was promptly obeyed and
in an instant the little craft was along
side. One after another tho men sprang
in, until the four were safely in the bot
tom.
Now came a moment of painful anxi-
ety. "What will he dot" was the query
that came to every mind. Smith had
his plan of action and never hesitated a
moment. At a point some distance
from the Canadian shore the current d.
vided at the head of the rapids, part of
the stream flowing around an island in
the vicinity of the burnt spring. In
reaching the current leading around the
island lay the only hope Of escape. TAX
ing diagonal course across and down
the stream Smith bent every effort to
reach the Canadian divide. 1t was a
desperate struggle for the life of five men
between the secthing, boiling waters and
the muscle and endurance of young
Smith, with the odds seemingly against
him. But the divide was finally gained
with not boats length to spare, and the
frail craft shot down between the island
and the mainland like rocket. At the
foot of the island the channel widened
materially, the current slackened and
the water bccame more shallow, and
here young smith landed his boat, hav.
ing performed one Of the most heroic
and daring feats ever performed by NOR.