Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-07-02

yedder tragedy Pierson and Veddcr werc
brothers-in-law, and Pierson, who had
been cashier in q local railroad Office, had
been suffering for some time from O bodily
disorder that unsettled his mind. On the
first Friday in April, 1884, the two went
out driving together, expecting to return
in an hour or so. Late in tho afternoon,
nothing having been heard of them in the
meantime, their friends started out on n
search which was rewarded by the finding
of their horse and buggy on Goat island,
the body of Pierson on Luna island and
the coats and hats of both men near by
Nothing to further elucidate the tragedy
was ever found, but theory was current
at the time that the two men got into a
quarrel, as they often had before; that
Pierson, the insane one, had attacked his
brother law, who had shot his assailant
in self defense, and then, himself crazed
by remorse, had jumped to his death in
the river just above the brink.
Another sort of tragedy has occasionally
resulted from an insane desire on the part
of professional swimmers to breast the rap
ids and the whirlpool below the falls. Per
haps the most prominent of these was the
death of Captain Matthew Webb, the Eng
lish swimmer, in 1888. He was carried
through the rapids to the whirlpool, then
the roaring waves and foam closed over
him in a flash and no was seen no more
alive. He left n young and handsome
wife, who fully believed her husband could
accomplish whatever he rel out to do In
tho swimming line. She was almost heart
broken ut his death and blamed herself
bitterly, saying that II shc had dissuadcd
him he would not have made the attempt
A most extraordinary exhibition was
given at Niagara in 1928 that was wit
messed by many more persons than was
NNnfW
ing less than sending schooner over the
falls, and from the contemporary records 1t
appears that il was behcld by thousands,
the estimates ranging from Is, 900 to 80,
600. The schooner that was sent to ever
lasting smash on this OCCASION was the
Michigan, then the largest vessel on Lake
Eric-too large, in fact, to enter some of the
lake ports. The boat was besides, an old
one, and the prOprictors of the hotels OH
both sides of the falls ard the owners of
some "a the Buffalo steamboats, dubbed
together 40 buy her, believing that they
would bc fully repaid for their expenditure
by the patronage Of those who would flock
| tn SOC the novel sight of ship sailing over
| the falls The exhibition was accompanied
| by an inCrSliblc piece of cruelty, for, on
| the alleged excuse that IL would be we'll to
STE what would happen to any animal who
might chance to go over the falls, n buff
faln, two hears, two foxes. n raccoon, n
| dog, n cat and four geese were sent down
with the boat None survived the awful
plunge, according to the veracious chron-
| iCles from which I am transcribing the
story, but the geese.
| The bears indeed escaped alive, but they
| SWAN ashore and did not take the
plunge, leaving the vessel before the falls
| were reached. She went over stern fore
most, and of course her wreck was com
plctc, the records stating that of the entire
craft scarcely two boards Were found
nailed together, and many of the timbers
were broken into as many as 30 pieces. -
Besides tho animals, several effigies, to
which names of men then prominent were
given, went over with the Michigan.
| One of the saddest accidents was the
death of Marcus NJ. Mason OF Boston in
1892, who lost his footing in the Cave OF
| the Winds and was carried away by the
/ waters and drowned, and the deaths at
| that point have been numerous. There
have been many marvellous escapes, too, OF
persons who have unwittingly placed
| themselves within the power of the falls.
All these things make good material for
| newspaper correspondents, and so it Is not
| surprising that some years ago n few
| young men conceived the idea of getting
| up sort of Niagara falls accident news
service. AS they were all possessed OF vivid
imaginations they invented stories of acci-
dents and escapes when they did not hap
| pen, and for time the wires were kept
| hot with thrilling stories devised by these
| ingenious youngsters. They overdid the
matter ut last, and the practice was stop.
ped perforcc. A few years later an ingen-
ious young man employed on one of the
New York papers came here with a certain
| bridge jumper and several subsidized com
panions to act as witnesses They inflated
q rubber suit and sent it over the falls at
daylight. The bridge jumper and some
| members of his party were posted below
the whirlpool, and when tho suit came
| down they hauled IL from the water and
telegraphed q story broadcast that the
| jumper had been in the suit during its
descent and was the only person who had
ever passed over the falls alive. Their story
was too monstrous for belief, and its ex.
posurc and q full confession followed.
Since then there has been little Niagara
falls news taking" NJ. ]. DEXTER.