Connecticut western news., 1895-09-12
A NIAGARA TRAGEDY
A MAN DROWNED WHILE PowERLEss
 HUNDREDS LOOKED ON.

He Started to Row Across the River, Lost
 Control of His Boat, Took Refuge In
 Lodged Tree and Finally Went to His
 Death Attempting to Leap Into Boat.
 Since sunrise they had been reviewing the wonders concentrated between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, for who could TO- sist the stop over priyilegesY Certainly not Chicagoans, who love the rush and roar of life and stupendous ways of doing things. They chose q seat where they could look into the majesty of the American cataract and tried as the June day waned to realize that the grave thunder, the desperate leap of silver and sapphire, the grinding into white smoke on the rocks below had been going on for eras. This was n tremen- dous mental undertaking for mortals accus- toned to the evanesccnce of great power, and they presently abandoned the effort as vain and confined themselves to remarking the daring position of tree washed down .he river by a recent freshet and apparent ly rooted in the ledge of rocks over which rayed and plunged the American falls. The wooded giant extended at full length, seemed to be looking defantly over the rocky wall down into the caldron below. That the torrent must finally conquer was evident, but to defy Niagara for even few hours-how magnificent
 "That tree reminds me of my first visit to the falls" said sudden and deep voice from beneath a bench few feet away from where the two travellers were sitting. As no ono else was within req sonable hearing distance, the awakened dreamers felt the remark must be for them, though the speaker looked as If he oIl ha GhnT0 Three Sisters. He was stout, elderly, benevolent faced man to whom 1t was sure ly quite proper to listen. He went on hurriedly as if he felt impelled to tell story and wished it finished, somewhat aft CT the manner of tho Ancient Mariner.
 "It must have been near tho end of the flfties, that first visit of mine. had just become captain of boat on the river and had come down here between runs. A big tree had lodged over the falls, just like that one there now. I seem to see 1t all over again, only things along shore are different. A little before o'clock one evening a man started from the other bank at what he must have thought safe distance from the falls. Very soon we saw that it was desperate rowing with him, but he seemed to be getting across when suddenly his little boat began to whirl downward with the current. He went with it of course, but he uttered no cry, and when almost at the verge of the precipice he leaped up and caught limb of that tree-no, not that one, but tho one there 40 years ago-and seated him. self across the trunk. And therc he sat, with tho waters roaring close around him like hungry wolves.
 "You should have seen the excitement. Men, women and children gathered on the bank and stood hour after hour, shouting and praying and crying over that man, and not one of them knew him. l never did hear who ho was. People coming in on the train stopped of to see what the ex- citement was about, especially those from the west on tho Canada Southern, the ono now called the Michigan Central. You know it runs several miles along the shore, | giving view of things from the rapids to the whirlpool, and so people could see from | the car windows that something unusual was happening down here.
 "And some of the men who stopped of | dubbed together and offered s10, 900 to anybody who would save that man-he a | perfect stranger tool And they went up and down through the crowd, throwing up their arms as if they were insane and shouting out their offer till they were hoarse. Ten thousand dollars then seem- | was awfully tempting, but everybody was afraid, some because they didn't know anything about the rocks and underour- rents, and some because they knew too much.
 "The man was but few feet from shore we could talk with him from the bank. He was well built fine looking young fellow of about 25. When men wanted q few years ago to get the cable across for the suspension bridge over there, and did not know how, some one-an American no doubt-suggested a way which they fol lowed. They sent across n kite. To the tail of the kite they tied a cord, to the cord rope, to the rope cable. I've been won. dering as sat here why, in all that crowd, not one of us thought of trying to help in that way. The wind blew toward the is- land, just over against where the man sat, and we might have lowered n rope to him | -possibly. Heaven knows we wanted to. As the hours ran on we seemed to get ac- | quainted with that man until he appeared to be our own brother, and yet we could | not got to him mouthful of food or help him back to life. We'll, he sat there look. ing into the face of death, speaking only when spoken to, from c o'clock in the even. ing to o'clock the next afternoon-2e hours At last something had to be done, and so a boat, secured by ropes, was drift ed toward him. It seethed round and round and then seemed to stop n second right under where he sat. He gave brave, well aimed leap, but the boat glided from under him, and with tho words they say every one uses in meeting sudden, con- scious death-'My Godl'-he went over the falls"
 Here tho elderly gentleman rose abrupt. ly and strode away as if he could not trust himself to say another word.-Chicago Tribune.