The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-01
STEVE BRODTE, B. j.. DAI
FAMOUS BRIDGE JUMPER. s,>,
ACTOR AND PHmANTHRoPr.
Said 10 Have Died on "a Train lrry
ing 10 New York, but No Fra of
His BOdy--May re April ia. 4


Special TO the indianapolis Journal.
CHICAGO, April 1.-Steve Brodierna-
ager received startling message In A.
rian, Mich. this morning announci tint
the bridge-jumping actor had dieon 4
Lake Shore train there. Brodie pbd at
TWO performances at a bcal theat here
yesterday, falling on the stage twi from
weakness. At night he told his marer he
thought he would be able TO finish en-
gagement. To-day's dispatch was { FIRST
heard of him, and it was supposed had
realized his serious illness and leb,,r-
rledly for home. His company So a
performance tonight without Brodand
tracers were sent out TO get furtherews
Oh the reported death. The officials the
railroad said they could get no trace anv
man having died on the train. but sis
patch came from New York confrmithe
nrst report. Later it was again |, in
doubt by failure to get word of Brodie aer
on the train or at Adrian. At o,ck
this morning a dispatch from New ,rk
SAID the report of Brodies tseath was dit
ed by many. There was a report inavv
YORK that he had telegraphed frienday-
ing ne would be in New York at o,ck
III III inc morning. III Brodie is alive he'll
nave played the greatest April foolke
OF the season. NJ
The story of Steve Brodie's last perm.
ance in Chicago is an example of thait
ana nobility in the nature of one Of the,s,
notorious characters of the American sc.
Inc good that Steve Brodie did in humans
ways would furnish material for seal
sermons; the bad one can afford to fot.
HIS ambition and many aehieyements,r
exceeded those of thousands born RI her
Things in life. When the body of Clara IN
away the unfortunate social outcast ID
suicide, lay in the Boston rnorgue 81
years ago this March, unclaimed by srns
and disowned by her family. with mono
give 1t a decent burial, Steve Brodie. m
his saloon on the Bowery. ordered nv =
graph the most expensive funeral that, =
dertaker Jones, in Boston, could furn
This act of kindness of the impulsive Bro
won Tor MIN and for the poor girl the ST.
pathy or thousands in Boston and OR
cities. Crowds thronged the little chanen
Wnlch the funeral services were condtc'
ana the street was packed when the y
Gssslon moved to Mount Hope Cemete.
~ eea "a, horal offerings, more than enoa
10 Ill wagon, were sent by wealthy We
en- OF Boston and others came from dists
cltleS- Brodies entire theatrical comp5
AMENDED the funeral, and after II was o.
al ne nad to say was; SHE was q WON
without friend, and L buried her. Lei
go at that"
lie was the typical Bowery boy, and so
became s rich during his theatrical tours
natural role without make IN. - or ha
Iender In scene representing his own 5
loon. He couldn't act and didn't attenot
brodle s taking to the stage was simply
sam wealth. and notoriety. His ADVERTISE
OF the BoWery character is resnOnsihle
the many similar characters that have he
introduced on the stage. He became such
prominent hgure that all his doings We
printed ana sent out or the telegraph wir,
one day 1t would be his escapade of nil,
ing Booth-Tucker through the slums of N,
YORK, and the next ii was the fortune
lost on the Sullivan-Corbett fight Whsth
as reieree of watermelon eating conte
climbing an Il" Railroad pillar to recoy
a soubrettes pocketbook or saving a WON
from death in front of cable car in Cl
cago, the reading world heard of his {
plolts the next morning. During the ha
times of 1893 he fed thousands of poor mt
BoWery saloon. One day he saw a party
working girls hurrying along i'm the "a
rev Gays afterward it was known that
poor girl might borrow an umbrella
Brodie's without leaving deposit. He pl
cured supply on which was a tag wi
the words This umbrella belongs to ste
Brodle. ia Bowery. Please return 1t
When visiting London, Eng, some yea
ago, Brodie created a sensation by cali
down Charley Mitchell, the English box,
LOT speaking disparagingiy of John l.. Sui
van, then the champion pugilist of Anne
lea and of the world, and a good friend
Brodie. Mitchell sprang for Brodie r
Bowery boy had revolver out in a secor
s Dont try to make a reputation by, licki
Steve Brocfe," he said. IF you hit n
therell be lot in the papers about
but you won't read it,
Brodie succeeded in just what he set Q
to do-make himself rich and widely know
He did not misjudge or overestimata I
kind of notoriety he enjoyed He knew E
actly where bridge jumper and Bowe
philanthropist belonged in the scale of
nown. His education extended little r,
Their than the ability to write his own nan
and he generally left that to his wife.
Steve Brodie was born on the Bower
rot far from the spot where his saloon
located. He was of Irish origin his parer
being born in TraIee, County Kerry, Ii
land. His father died before the birth
the bridge jumper. His mother was We
poor. and at an early age Steve became
rewsboy on the Bowery. AS he grew old
he mixed in all kinds of athletic sports a
soon came into public notice. His reco
as bridge jumper and swimmer. not
Guiding great many lesser feats, is as fl
lows:
Jumped High bridge. July 49, 1856, 10 .e
Jumped Brooklyn bridge, July % $50.
feet.
Jumped Covington bridge, May Z. 1887,
feet.
Jumped Pittsburg bridge, July 4, 1887.
feet.
Swan from Albany to New York.
miles, in six days. one hour, June "a to
1888.
Jumped Poughkeepsie bridge, Nov
1883, 222 feet.
Swan from High bridge TO Battery in tN
hours and forty minutes, April 20, 1883.
Jumped Passaic Falls, May q. 1889.
feet.
Jumped High bridge Cleveland, July
1889, 100 feet.
Jumped Pawtucket Falls r. l.. Aug.
1889, 60 feet