Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-09-26
CARRIED ACROSS NIAGARA.
Daredevil Artist's Ride ON the Doeh
OF ROpe.Walker BiOndin.

OAAAAED ACROSS NkA6ARA.
A Daredevil Artists Ride ON the Beck
| OF Rope-Walker BiOndin.
HOW IT FEELS TO BE PERcHEp ON THE sHou1-
| DERs OF A NAN FAR ABOVE THE BOILING
WATERs-THE ROPE SWUNG FORTY FEET
| FROM SIDE TO SIDE - VERY ANXIOUS no
| REACH THE OTHER BANK.
From the New York World.
Harry Colcord, artist, now Of Chicago, ran
| away rom home and went to sea. Before he
got through with his adventures he rode across
Niagara Fails three times on the back of Blon-
ain on tight rope. He says he would not do
II again, but that he did not suffer from fear.
one can readily believe him. In his deep gray
eye there Is sugge stion OF self control, and In
MS slight, 1.-the figure of strength and reserve
physical force which his gentle voice and his
easy courteous manner fails to entirely conceal.
ne Is an artist as artists go, and paints tOler-
| cage Ne,cs he said:
he was of the Franoona troupe including Mar
s slnetti ana the famous Ravels. was their
scenic dh artist and painted scenes with white.
WASH Drush We disbanded in Cincinnati, and
| there 1t occurred to Blondin to cross Niagara on
q W. tagnt rope, and went to the falls with him.
we mad no end of trouble getting the necessary
permits to extend the ropes. Blondin only
SPOKE little English; that was one difficulty,
put nnally we succeeded in getting them from
:.
rest was easy. Blondin wanted to carry the
rope from Terrapin Tower and across to Davis
Fails through the mist and spray Of the great
cataract They objected because Blondin was
sure to fall, they said: The spray would keep
stretched the rope from Whites pleasure
ground across to the Clifton house. Not far
away from the place there is now a suspension
| bridge. There was 1000 feet ofrope It was of
MANILA, three inches in diameter, made in q
% In vvyf. pNilA p1<Nvpl fv,
Joined them with long splice which, when the
rope was extended, was in the center Of the
| the rope and to get the guy lines in place.
1T was $50 feet above water at its lowest
point, which was fifty feet below the highest
each 600 feet. There were $4,000 feet of guy
line altogether. Each OF them was weighed
with q ten-pound sand-bag to drop them out of
the way of his balance pole and in putting them
up Blondin crossed a score of times. AT last we
were ready to make the first ascension; that
made several public ascensions. It was adver-
tised through the papers that was to ride on
MS back and was the subject of all kinds Of
out, but Blondin began to taunt me, and got
into that corner of pride and vaingloriousness
Blondin had coached me as to what 1 should
90. was to put my weight on his shoulders
by my arms and clasp his body about with my
legs. But l could not put my weight on his
legs; that would cucumber his movements. 1
had to keep all the weight on his shoulders In
on Blondin's back, and he began the descent
from the Canadian side on the rope; BY rea-
weight on his shoulders and had to use nv nv
arms, and with main strength, to support my
sell, frequent rests were necessary. I told
Blondin when wanted to rest, and then 1
dropped down on the rope on one foot and
waited till my arms were relieved, when 1
would spring up again, using only my arms to
hit and hold myself in place. There was q
great crowd there. did not see them at first.
do not remember what thought. From my
other shore and see below me the stunted pines
thrusting their sharp points up from the edge
OF the foaming water, ready to split us if we
over, and recall. too, that the great rope be-
fore us made swings from side to side. We
afterwards knew that the rope swung forty feet
at the center, and I felt the necessity Of pre.
serving my selfpossession, and did it.
There was forty feet length between the
was impossible to make steady. 1t was the
middle span. Below us $50 feet roared the
Sti n nu Uge ~, ~ we Swung rom SIDE TO side
never trembled. When he had gone about ten
feet on this middle span somebody on the
afterwards found out it was done Intentionally
and the rope was stopped in its swing Blondin
she ana r ms pole went from side to side in
ance. At one time it was up and down on the
right side, at another up and down on the left,
curious to know whether he would succeed in
getting control Of himself or not. I didn't feel
any fear u, Failing in getting his balance, he
safely reached the point where the guy rope
came from the American shore. Then to
rope and tried to stop, but the guy line broke
and with dash of speed he ran swiftly twenty.
fixe feet further to the rope There he recovered
MS balance and whispered loud: 'Descendez--
vous. The perspiratiOn stood out on his neck
and shoulders in great beads and we balanced
said Allons, and raised myself to bis sTon NE
ders and we went on in safety and without &C
cident towards the shore.
ut was not until We landed that appreciated
what had been DONE Then it occurred to me
that the man who pulled the guy line was one
of those who bet that the feat could never be
accomplished, and my indignation Mustered
any reactionary feeling of fear. You see, many
thousand dollars were bet upon the ability Of
pidity stops at no sacrifice. Then there were
the congratulations and the praises of pluck
and the rest of 1t, SO that in my foolish boyish
elation forgot everything else. do remem-
Der, as we approached the shore, the wonderful
tabieau of the 100000 people who stood gazing
at u.s. Thousands OF them turned their faces
away, or, half turning cast glances over their
shoulders at US. remember their white faces.
their strained positions OF anxiety-women who
stared, white and motiOnleSs, and men who
wept and as We drew near the bank the crowd
surged toward us and Blondin stopped, fearing
they would push each other over the precipice
Then the crowd was still again and with a nt,icE
run we came TO the shore and sprang to the
ground. l remember one man Selling me i'm
his arms and lifting me high in the air, saying,
Thank God, this thing is over! From the Othsr
side there was a cheer and then we were thrown
into carriage and drawn to the Internp-
tOnal hotel by the people.
II crossed again, twice, the last time under
the patronage of the Prince of Wales He con-
graduated US personally, and gave US each a
wrote a wonderful sketch of the affair, Tom
Hyer, the prize-fghter, was there also, and he
grabbed me up and shOook me, and looked at
me through the tears that fell so rapidly as to
almost blind him, and said, oh, you - little
cuss! Cuss' was not the word to USE however,"
What was your weight then, Mr. Colcord?"
lone hundred and thirty pounds"
"And BlOndin's?"
"One hundred and thirty-fve"
would you do 1t again?"
mot for all the wealth in the world"
---<O<
Bluaders in Neck DRESSING.
From New york Evening Post.
1t is q noticeable fact that scores of the best.
dressed women In society. whose taste 10 corroa.