The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-09-13
MAID OF THE MIST.
| Reeo1lsetions of the Trip Made through the
| niagara RaLids in 1859

Reeo1leetions Of the Trip maze through inc
Niagara Rapids in 1853
The dispatches contain thrilling nc
counts of the passage of the bogus steam
boat over the boiling waters of the
whirlpool below Niagara Falls, in imita-
ton Of the celebrated trip of the Maid
of the Mist" which made the descent OF
the rapids on June 80, 1859. A repor-
ter of The Republican happened 10 be in
the vicinity at the time above mentioned
and saw the boat after having made the
perilous voyage In company with an
other newspaper man, who afterwards
Joined John Morgan's cavalry and was
killed, he was visiting the old fort at
Niagara, short distance below Youngs
town, when heold sergeant in charge
after showing bis visitors about the fort,
emerged with them from the gate Of the
rampant on the river side, and casting his
up the river saw q strange boat putting |
off steam at the Youngstown wharf. The |
old sergeant appeared to be surpnsedand |
shading one eye with his hand, he OK |
claimed. "What boat can that beY at
the same time remarklng that he knew
every boat that passed up the Niagara to
Lewiston (opposite Queenstown seven
miles above-from the lake. II was to
him strange craft and he could not con
lecture what it all meant. The name Of
the boat, The Maid of the Mist was
soon ascertained, and the fact of her
wonderful trip from Suspension bridge,
through the terrible whirlpool, feat
which everybody thought would end the
life of any one attempting the foolhardy
voyage Before the sergeant's party
reached Youngstown the little boat left
the wharf and steamed across to Niagara
village on the Canada side. Some OF the
party from the fort Immediately crossed
| over n skiff. and on returning reported
that the engineer was obliviOus from
having imblbed too freely and that no in
formation could be obtained from him,
as it was getting dark and an interview
had to be deferred. A Buffalo correspon
dence of the Cleaveland Tender, in a re-
| cent issue OF that paper. saws:
Now that new Maid of the Mist is
being built to be sent through the whirlpool
rapids at Niagara, chat which Lender
correspondent had to-day with the only
survivor'of lhe famous trip through the
rapids of the Maid of the Mist, in 1859, is
very entertaining. The voyage, though
of less than eight minutes duration, was
as perilous as any steamer has ever made
How it came to be undertaken and all
about it, can be best told in words of the
survivor, Dewitt C. McMurlry, who is
now a clerk in the City hotel here;
"The trip was made June 80, 1859. aud
| shall never forget the day. But sup
pose you want to know how We came To
make it, First will have to tell you
that there were two Maid of the Mists
The first had been running several years
and IN 1850 was pronounced unsafe. She
was accordingly dismantled and scuttletl
in the river, James W. Buchanan, a
Toronto man of some wealth. just then
took up his place of residence at Sus
pension bridge. He thought il would
be good idea to build new Maid of
the Mist, larger and more powerful than
the one which had just been destroyed.
Accordingly n boat l50x1e feet over all.
was put on the stocks Buchanan't
money gave out when she WAS ready te
l receive her machinery. Her owner wanted
to use the old boats engine and boile
but Joel Robinson who had been selected
for her captain, refused to run her with
out new and adequate propelling power
t Judge Addington of Buffalo loaned thu
f money, and took 5000 mortgage OF
!, the steamer as security. This he Thoughts
was entirely safe, for the boat was lOcatet
permanently. everybody supposed, be
I tween tie cataract and the impassabl
| -, II
his payments of interest regularly unit
1859 Then he found himself on thu
verge of ruin. The mortgage would sool
e be foreclosed. Some Toronto parties
a who wanted pleasure boat to run be
tween Prescott and Kingston, offered $25
} 600 for the Maid of the Mist if she de
liyered at Queenstown, Canada, near tn
). mouth of the Niagara. 1t was their de
e termination to send the boat through til
- rapids. Capt. Robinson came to see IN
and said: If we succeed it is worth $50
II to me and 800 apiece to yon and Jones
= Jones was the engineer and ! was tn
1t fireman. We concluded to run the rish
70 OF course the scheme had TO be kept yer
quiet, but on June 30 there was gooC
u sized crowd on the river bank
y AT 2:30 in the afternoon steam wa
,. blowing off at 22S pounds; our usual pre-
- sure was 1870 Robinson was dashed in tn
wheel house and Jones and | were in thu
II hold, and the matches were securely fast
" ened The hawser was cast off and ava
l. we went. After we struck the rapids
# would have given anything to get ashore
!, We went along with frightful speed. TIL
i distance from our landing to Queenstow
W five miles, was made in seven and thre
id quarter minutes, and it only took us tw
10 minutes to go Though the mile of rapid
When we struck the rapids the boat mad
IN a downward plunge-it seemed to /
a thirty feet-when the waves seized hi
as and hurlediher, elear out of the waite
ID First she would go down, it seemed new
:. er to stop, and then with sudden lurcl
at quick and fast The current was fort
nj five miles an hour, the waves were twel
d. ty feet high, and you can imagine no
O we tossed about. From the time "
left the landing until we reached Queens
NJ town we lived our lives over again tim
innumerable. We were tossed about
the hold, Jones and l. until it seemt
te as if the quick successionOf shocks wOu
g kill us. There was barely time to cate
breath between them. Every moment
'ei thought we should go out onto the rocl
d. the boat be dashed to pieces and Il
N. three of us left al the mercy of the sur
ba to be beaten to death by the huge wave
felt that we were standing on the vel
verge of death, and cannot find wort
to give you complete idea of the owe
nd towering sense of death we felt, sudden
re the keel grounded lightly on rock; Th
a Maid swung around and shot down Il
river. 1t was the entrance to the viii
We pool and we had escaped it. l w,
nd satisfied that any man who braved Il
to torrent after our experience was simp
mn trying to do battle with the Almigh
. himself. There is more there than ma
OF can conquer. 1t is something God hi