Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-26
THE NEW MAD or TIE MIST
GraVttc psserip,i0n of Her taiiiai rris
CIess Up 60 the Fails.
fRufalo Express

be paying investment TO hazard about
$4,000 in a new Maid Of the y 4 50
they went aies aid built the boat al
the foot Of e.. s.o,2 roadway which
lead, doao tc g.. " 1ter's '.-, from
a. ''t't.. iousf o.. t-t. ar> "A
August ~ last. The pianr, N0iJa io,so
been followed, called for boat 20 feet
long. I 6 feet beam. and feet hold The
hull ali Of white oak. and is not unlike
large tug. except that the lines are
straightcr. The hold Is divided into
three watcr-tight compartments. The
cabin, the pilot-house. and everything
above the deck are built like the upper
works Of a gentlcman's yacht, and are
painted in white and green, with trim
mings of vermillon, and piot-house
roof of blue, with a smokestack of
shining black and cleaning red, with
brass stair-rails and gay ratings, and
goodness knows what, the very apOthe-
oSis Of the rainbow made up into
Jolly little excursion boat.
And this is the Maid Of the Mist.
Very pretty she looked yesterday as
she lay under the green Canadian bank.
The boat was a-futtcr with flags. The
British colors iloated at the stern.
From the bow the American flag was
raised. and a red-and white pennant on
the wheelhouse bore the name of the
boat. TO test her engines two or three
days ago the new Maid stole out from
her dock at 5 O'Clock in the morning
and ran little way upstream. But
no regular trip over this strange route
was attempted until yesterday.
At 2:30 she blew her whistle and
cast of. There were on board MeSsrs.
Carter and La Blond, owners and cap.
tainS; Lawrence, engineer; McCul-
lough, sailing master; Hans Nelson,
president of the Prospect Park Asso-
citation, the man who christened the
boat at the launching on May 22d the
superintendent Of the suspension foot
bridge; Tom Young. the famous officer
Of the Dominion police, who shared in
the capture Of Clutch Donohue (;
an artist, Mr.. Joseph Fleming, chief
Of the art department Of Matthews,
North1up a Co.. Mr.. d. c. Collins,
Of the Niagara Falls gazette several
veteran guides and riyer-mcn. and an
Eygrcss representative. Such a load
OF official dignity might have Swampei
an ordinary craft; but the Maid swung
out from the dock and crossed over TO
the American side as quietly and
steadily as a dredsing-Scow goes mp the
Hamburg. She did not careen as the
old ,ilc-whecled Maid u~ed to do, AMI
she did not loiter. II took Just tYo
and half minutes for her to reach the
new dock on the American side the foot
of thc inclined railway. Then She swung
ont into the stream and started on thc
course which Captain Webb surveyed
Many people watched her from the
cliffs. Carriages and pedestrians halt
ed on the upper Suspension bridge an,
chcercd the gay little boat as it glide,
down stream. l4O feet beneath them
About half mile below the bridge
and some distance above the old Maid
of-thc-Mist landing. tina boat wa
brought about and started up stream
The passenger l. likely to experience
singular sensation at this turning point
Not many hundred feet distant, almos
under the Cant,eyer bridge, the waite
breaks into a great rapid and the rive
falls away a, at the crest Of a cascade
The great descent Of the water at TIM
9 point cannot be seen or realized tror
above, on bridge or banks. One rea
izcs that lie has yenturcd in probabl
safety between tcrmini of appallin
, possibilities. What an excursion rout
, it is. At one end a fall into secmin
oblivion at the other end a mighty
> but we won't describe it until we G,
, there.
The Maid turned as if IN Stllle
water, though the fa>t-pasSing clil
, showed that She went down stream
! speed scarcely realized. No OF
could think seriously Of danger wit
> so steady, staunch a little craft uni'
>, him. Up stream she went, easily d
. fying the current. The green or rock
! walks of Niagara, from the river, pr
sent many views Of surprising beaut.
From the steamers deck the famili'
falls. framed in unfamiliar setting, toe
: on new beauty. Beauty, howeye
. was a second thought with the pasSe
- ger. The condition of a drown,
., rat is not conducive to Il
" rapturouS observation of beaut
There was strong wind dov
the river yesterday, and the cXhau,
5 less mists of Niagara went trailli
v down stream in endless clouds Al
sheets of spray. The passengers we
e. wrapped in oil-cloth and rubber, bat
N the boat steamed up to the foot OF I
s. American fall mistS by the meaSurele
gallon fell on them, wrapped the
. about and soaked into them. Even
m this Turkish-bath condition the paSsC
A. gers found new beauty and grandeur
" the view before them. From the de
n. of a little steamer, under the Amerlc
e. fall, the cataract seems to come irC
the clouds.
The Maid ran straight up into
of Horshoe Fall, up past Terrapn Roc
up into the foaming caldron where FOL
3 and color die, and only the volume o
great sound-the tone OF the grand
ed organ-pipe in creation-falls on the e
he while the shifting mists now hide a
now reveal the looming crest OF
tn mighty fall, appalling in its volume.
II This is as far as the old Maid Of
til Mist ever ran" said Captain La BloI
the spray dripping from his beard
tn the boat met the foam hundred yal
X or so above Terrapin Rock. On
distant banks many carriages were St
on to have stopped. There were peop
he too. on every point Of view. The wi
ng tie gave three toOts of exultation. I
engineer looked at his steam-gauge.
tn registered eighty-tiye pounds, the VIII
it. was pounding in the water, and the b
was Just holding her own against
currents which boiled around her.
,ts man at the wheel wiped the wa
.o. cror, his aves and rang the bell ."