The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-26
A REMARKABLE DARE.
HE STOOD ON HIS HEAD 5000 FEET
IN THE AIR.
scared His Brave Comprehensive
His Nerve Deserted Him He'd Have
shot Down to Instant Death.


From the San Francisco Examiner.
Fancy standing on your head on the
very edge of a precipice 5000 feet high
and kicking your feet in the air. It's
a wild feat at the best, but that's what
Robert Edgren did in the Yosemite val
ley just to raise the hair on the heads
of his camping companions. They were
all muscular, athletic young fellows, bub-
bling over with animal spirits, and
throughout the trip each one tried TO
outstrip the others in some venturesome
prank. But Edgren's feat on the edge
of Glacier Point capped them all. That
daring risk of life sobered the others and
thereafter they were content to tell sto-
ries and exercise their superabundant vi
tally with racing and vaulting.
The whole trip up to the Yosemite had
been a series of fiips cartwheels, somer-
saults and running jumps. Not one of
them minded the fifty pounds OF pro-
visions, blankets and guns he carried, but
ran and skipped like schoolboy just
out of school Their muscles had been
developed and hardened by several years
course in the Berkeley gymnasium. VIII
Roblee had been a gymnasium instructor
and could tumble and turn somersaults
like a professional Eugene Trefethen
/ was one of the best runners that came
out of the University of California, and
everybody knows that Edgren is one of
the very best hammer throwers in the
country. He went east with the college
team last year and he is going again this
year. Nearly every day after a ten hours
tramp up the mountain side they would
tumble and vault around their campfire
for the edifcation of those on the ROAD.
But their skylarking reached its limit
when the boys were in the valley ana
had nothing TO do but see sights and sky
lark. one day the party divided. Edgren
climbed the Sentinel dome trail TO Glacier
Point and Roblee and Tretethen tramped
around by the Nevada Falls trail to the
same point.
an abutting rock on Glacier Point about
five feet broad and fifteen feet long, which
oVerhangs in a perilouS fashion the valley
below. Edgren coolly walked out TO the
end of this rock, sat down with his feet
dangling over the edge and began to take
a friendly interest in the Lilliputian OBJ
jects 1900 feet below him. At that hight
men in the valley looked ike dots, the big
Stoneman house was no bigger than card
house, and as for cattle, they looked as
small as ants. 1t was a sheer drop below;
nothing interviewed to break the straight
descent Most people would have fallen
off the point through dizziness, but Ed
gren didn't mind IL any more than sitting
at a table and looking at stereoptican
While waiting for Trefethen and Roblee
to come up he began to amuse himself
by tossing bebbleS into the air and watch
ing them go down, down, down, till they
grew so small they disappeared from view
With his dangling heels he kicked on the
side of the rock and watched the dust and
rock and rubble go sailing down through
the clear air
Then he tried to think of all the daring
feats that could be done on such an eerie
point. That led him to thinking of doing
some Embarrassing feat that should daze
his companions and force a dare" that
would hold the record on the trip. III
try standing on my head" he said.
So he turned over, with his knees rest
ing on the perilous edge of the cliff and
his feet pointing out into III blue air
overhanging the valley. With his hands
spread out and close UP to his knees he
began to elevate his feet and body, slow
ly, very slowly. One elbow was crooked
considerably more than the other on ac-
count of the slant of the rock. Upward his
| feet slowly went till his body was straight
| as an arrow. An instants dizziness, the
| giving of an arm muscle and 1t would
| have been all up with the venturesome
| fellow. Had he even fallen backward
| there would have been no hope. for his
rock before he could have righted him
| self. His only safety was in coming
down as carefully and accurately balanced
He was stlil in the air when Ire
| fethen and Roblee came over the trail ana
| caught sight of him. They were half
| scared out of their lives on account of the
too evident danger, but they did not dare
| shout, didn't dare run to his assistance.
| didn't dare move, for fear that they might
do something that would startle Edgren
and make him lose his balance. So they
| stood like statues, and saw his feet de-
| scend slowly, while his knees crooked
| and edged carefully toward the snread-
ing fingers on the rock. A moment more
and Edgren, very red in the face, began
| to creep in on the shelving rock. Trefe-
then and Roblee ran forward and grabbed
him. They dragged him back several
| yards from the edge of the cliff Then theI,
began to belabor him with their fists and
c cal him a fool4ardy fellow and certain
things given to blithering and to trifine
| with common sense. Bert Dyer and yojlng
Joseph lie Conte of Berkeley came along
and when they Joined Trefethen and Rob-
Yenturesome fellow, and dragged him to
the butt OF a sugar pine. Finally the
| whole matter was compromised by Ed
| gren solemnly promising never to do sc
any more. Everybody conceded that he
had made the record-breaking dare ;.
| and then they all went out on the point
/ and had their nictureS faI<ap in $3.50