St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-27
HE TELLS ABOUT THE DIFFER
ENT SENSATIONS THAT HE
EXPERIENCED.
ONLY ONCE HAD He ANY FEAR.
WHEN HE LET Go OF THE BRIDGE
WAS THE UNPLEASANT
MOMENT.
IN THE POLICE COURT.
He Was Charged With DisordefIy y
Conduct, but the Court Let
Him Off.

Henry Menier, who jumped Wednes-
day from the Wabaslla street bridge,
was arraigned yesterday in the munici-
discharged. He gave his occupation as
that of a professional swimmer and
teacher of physical culture" He said
that he was accustomed to give eXfi-
bitions of athletic and swimming feats,
and denied that he had been disorder
ly himself or that he had been the
cause of a disturbance. He gave no
evidence Of having sustained injury.
This case was watched by a. crowd Of
such persons as believe that Washing
ton is less heroic than Steve Brodie.
Menier left the police court in COM
pany with one Of these new-found
friends who welcomed the hero to a
restaurant Menier afterwards went
over to Minneapolis to see the manager
Of Kohl & Middleton's Flour City mu-
scum.
The bridge jumper was interviewed
by the G l o e last night. Menier had
obtained some new garments, and had
been freshly shaved. He is, when
dressed, an intelligent, rather hand
some man, with a German cast of feat
ures, blue eyes, light brown moustache
and a. sallow complexion. He doesn't
reveal his muscular development. His
conversation last night was rambling,
and filled with strained words and OBJ
scure expressions, apparently designed
to increase the Importance of the state
ments made.
Menier said that the unpleasant mo-
ment of yesterdays leap was when he
let go of the bridge, choosing then be-
tween safety and possible destruction.
A moment later he began to lose con-
sciousness, but his fear had disappear
ed. He felt no sense of suffocation or
of giddiness. He had taken a moderate
breath at starting, and held it until he
was in the water. He did not close his
eyes, and observed all the details of
the sky, the bankG and the ice-covered
river. AS he nesTed the water he felt
himself going over backwards. In Or
der to retain a vertical position he had
drawn both hands quickly to his sides
as soon as he let go Of the bridge. He
clinched his fists and impaired all pos
sible rigidity to his body. This he has
found to be the safest way of keeping
himself upright while in the air. AS
he felt that his head was going back.
he threw his hands out and brought
his body forward. Yet he entered the
water fairly with his feet, but as he
went down he kept turning, so that
when he reached the bottom ten feet
below, he struck upon his face. He
felt against his cheek the slime and
rocks of the river bottom, and in his
left arm sharp pain, as if he had come
in contact with a jagged piece of tin
or iron. Next the frightful cold of the
icy water entered every limb. He
seemed in the midst Of molten lead.
Then came back the sense Of danger.
He felt death upon him. The shock Of
cold had forced out his pent-up breath,
and he convulsively inhaled quantity
of freezing, Shiny water. But he willed
into his limbs the terrible energy of
him who is shrinking from death. Once
above the water he felt safer, but again
as the wintry air struck his drenched
and almost naked body, the cold burned
into and through him. He suffered in
tensely until he reached the shore, and
he did not know until afterwards that
he swan the river with marvellous
speed. On the shore he tainted. Quick
ly aroused, he ran up the bank and
turned a handspring, not only to show
that he was unhurt, but to drive off
the overpowering chill which was still
upon him. After the handspring and
a sharp run down the railroad tracks
he felt much better.
Menier said that his father was an
American. his mother French woman
residing at Hamburg, Germany. Both
parents were circus performers. Me-
nier Is twenty-siX- years old, and has
been practicing athletic exercises since
the age Of four. He began his aerial
leaps at the Royal Aquarium eight
years ago. There he used to jump from
a height Of seventy-five feet into
tank containing six feet Of water. Two
years later Menier came permanently
to America, and began leaping with
parachute, from hot cir balloons. His
highest jump was at Vera Cruz, Mex,
where, according to his own most as
tonishing statement, he dropped from
g. balloon 5000 feet, or mile and
half above the earth. He began his
bridge calisthenics by leaping from the
Brooklyn bridge, which Is 1S9 feet high.
On Christmas day, 1894, he jumped, he
says, from the Poughkeepsie bridge,
and descended 212 feet into the Hud
son river
The bridge jumper added that he had
signed g. contract to spend one week
dime museum For this he VIII reeeive
S75. After that he will, perhaps, ar
range to leap into a net from the top
of one oS the highest Sss1iasags Ss st.
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