Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-02-24
WITHIN AN INCH oFHIs LIFE.
A Lawyer, Who FOOlishIy Crept Out
over Niagara, Describes What he Saw.
PbiIqdeID6ia py,ees


sDid you ever hear of mans standing
on top Of Niagara Falls without losing
his ife?' asked Mr.. G. p. Sherman, Tues
dav. ''Well, l did. You heard of the
magnificent ice-bridge below the falls.
Having business at Buffalo, l ran to look
at the ice gorge. The ice, which had
poured down from the upper lakes piled
up at the foot of the Horseshoe and froze
under the spray. l clambered over the
bridge, and, going up on the Canadian
side, went down under the Horseshoe Fall
into the Cave Of the Winds. What superb
stalagmites and stalactites of ice there
were there, reaching from roof to floor,
with the laundering curtain of the fall
between US and the light.
''After l had recrOssed the river by the
suspension bridge, l crossed the bridge
above the American Fall to Goat Island.
which was covered with snow and desert
ed. The shrubbery and trees near the
Falls were coated with ice-in places, on
some ofthe trunks, several inches in thick
ness-lOOking as if they had been cut out
Of marble or were the ghost of dead trees.
Wandering across the island, l crossed
over to the Three Sisters, ard, by means
of a Jam of great blocks of ice, out TO the
old canal-bOat, past which the water was
rushing swiftly.
Going back to Goat Island, l went
down to the fOOt-bridge to Terrapin Rock,
where the old tower used to stand, and
out on the rock. When l got there / OBJ
served that a quantity of ice, covered
with snow, had by some means become
fixed upon the projecting rocks on the
edge of the Horseshoe Fall beyond the
rock where l stood, forming a bridge on
the extreme edge of the fall, about
hundred feet long, by perhaps ten or
fifteen feet wide. Instantly the desire TO
90 upon this bridge and look over the fall
Il 1 81,
snow, as heavy as | could lift, and, step
ping out as far as l dared, threw it with
all my force upon the bridge, which stood
firm, the stone sticking fast in the snow.
Then | ran back to the island and broke
off good stout staff, and coming back to
Terrapn Rock, commenced the rather
trying journey.
The snow which covered the ice
was itself covered with a thin coating of
ice, which broke beneath my feet, thus
giving me a good tOOth0ld, and as to my
head ] was sure of that, as had through
( ly tested its anti-diZZinesS the preceding
summer on shipbOard and among the
Swiss glaciers and precipices. PrOdding
my staff or alpenstOck heavily into the
snow before me to try the way, | walked
out until had reached about the middle
of my ice bridge, and then | stopped to
look. The sight was the grandest and the
most awe-inspiring l have ever beheld.
AS | looked up the river the curve OF the
On-cOming water seemed almost as high
as my head, and, steadying my eye upon
some floating particle, the whole mass
seemed coming down upon me with an
irresistible power that must inevitably
carry me over the brink and into eternity;
but, with Il swift, kissing rush, it swept
under me, leaped out, and, with horrible
roar, plunged into the awful chasm,
whence huge clouds OF spray, like the
smoke OF its torment, ascending, swept
back and over me.
''steadying myself by my staff, | sank
quietly upon my knees, then stretched
myself flat upon my stomach and looked
down over the fall. You can imagine
what ! saw. When the spray would
clear away the water, rushing so swiftly
as to appear to be drawn into lines and
| burrows, and springing out under my
I very lace, could be seen to tall, at first a
/ lid, greenish mass, then broken into
/ foam, into a chaos which the eyes could
not penetrate. could feel my bridge
trembling with the rush OF the water and
realizing that any moment might see it
and me following the descending flood, /
( arose. took one look up and down. look
to last for litetime-and retraced my
steps. As passed the rock had thrown
on the bridge. / could not resist the
temptation OF dislOdging it, and seeing it
Whlrl away over the liquid precipice."