The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1883-08-23

,hem. Bat the emotional histories OF u
falls. the crimes and tragedies, accidents
rescaes aud escapes along It's banks have
believe. never heen done justice 10, Sin
pie snicides are Of course too numerous :
tind place IN even . partial glance o
snch events Of contemporaneous hums
interest Bat some suicides are exception
al. OF course, q suicide who leaps lot
the rapids means business He does no
expect 10 be rescued and have thing
smoothed out because be soaked hi
clothes. And yet II isvery strange 10 reas
the verscious chronicle OF the man Wit
quietly. strongly aud deliberately swan
10 tho giddy verge. And when brav'
rescuer would have saved him, this mar
who sought death as others shun il. sctu
ally swan farther away. There is the
ory that capable swimmers cannot drovr
80 long as they have the power to swim
any more than IN ordinary man can STOP
breathing or diges,ing. But to swim tow
ard death is the very next thing 70 mol
swimming from it, Equal deliberation
was shown by one woman lsuicide- She
calmly tested the current with her parasol
before gathering her skirts for the plunge.
Still another is peculiar from the fact that
it is one OF the somewhat rare cases in
which two persons have been known to die
deliberately together, and which some
doctors think 20 far to disprove the doc
trine that all who take their own lives are
insane. One suicide might become insane
suddenly and without warning. But that
two should be simultaneously so silly is
more improbable than that they sanely
meant TO die. This couple we're middle.
aged, Of good social position and sufficient
means They we're also both married,
though not to each other. There had been
q little scandal. and their bodies iwere
found near together below the falls. Thai
is all that is known. Perhaps they were
insane. At all events that is q somewhat
ghastly fashion OF elopement which they
sought to set.
There were daring men before Captain
Webb, and OF course they found their way
to Niagara. One jumped from the bridge,
1872 feet, to the swirling current For so
feet he fell like plummet. Then he
turned over twice. At last he struck the
water with an awful slap-what the boys
call "belly-whopper." After reading an
account OF q fatal accident one Of the nu-
merous Mrs. Partingtons asked II the man
died. So | say plainly this man died,
probably before he reached the water.
And yet perhaps that idea, too, has gone
to meet the exploded legend Of William
Tell. But such little accidents only stim-
ulate the reckless Another jumper soon
appeared, as soon another swimmer may.
He wore harness over his shoulders. To
it was attached wire running loosely ov
or cylinder on the bridge. That kept
his feet straight toward Davy Jones locker
and he survived the leap, to his considera
BILE personal profit. From bridge to the
water he went in four seconds-the only
time on record. Another foolhardy feat
was performed by some OF the reckless
men who decorate some OF the most mac.
cessible landscapes with possibly truthful
but most certainly inapropos pufis OF ague
pills, liver pads and such. A log once
lodged forty rods above Goat Island. For
four years it lay there, seemingly as much
beyond redch as the north star. Ittouched
the pride OF certain shameless and profess
sional advertisers who were famous for
their vandalism, that such chance should
be wasted. So when the rapids were thin
ly frozen over, they made their cautious
way to the log, and soon there was gor-
geous sign fixed, IL feet by 4, hideous
eyesore. inescapable. on the very fore front
OF one OF the worlds grandest spots, I. G.
go east via Lake WInnipisogee r. r.
Their deed almost mel its deserts. They
treated the log too roughly. A hole was
made through the ice, and the current
soon did the rest. II was even betting
that they would not got ashore, but they
did. This was not fatal accident.
OF accidents some very strange ones are
recorded. One lady stopped for cup OF
water, lost her balance and was out OF
reach and over the falls. almost before her
amazed husband knew what had happened.
Another lady stopped TO pluck flower on
The brink Of Table Rock. She was picked
up dead from the rocks below.
In 1875 an accident equally sad and
foolish occurred. An engaged couple went
behind the falls. into the Gave OF the
Winds without guide. The lady actual.
ly sought to bathe in pool which even
The guides never visited. Her lover lost
his life in trying TO save hers. Perhaps
the most dramatic accident was the follow.
ing: A playful young man caught mp
cuhrmiuR cuilu Wuo was "hsth'uS tuV
waves. snow. Lizzie, ! am 60
ing to throw you into the water" and
swung her back and forth. She screamed,
struggled and escaped from his hands.
He gszed after her, realized what he had
done, and leaped. Rescue was hopeless.
Perhaps be did not deserve death, and at
least censure may die with him.
" escapes. there are one or two narrow
I, beyond belief, and which involve
most skill and bravery we'll worth re.
ories OF many years ago . painter was
ting. Not ID Sisters Island when he
work on Seco. He was old and weak
II into the water. wM not very dan
"a while his position 'own and toward
rous at first. lie Hoated /, ,cmed hover
when just as be s, fee, from
9 on the brink. and exactly A. he be.