The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-13
RISK THATNIAGARA
FooLHARDY FEATS ATTEMPT
 ED IN THE CATARACT.
Swimming the Rapids fin Barrels. ! Crossing the Gorge on Ropes. Daring the Whirlpool in ..
 Life-boats.

oeIeu attempt or the Famous Enghsn swimmer. Captain Matthew Webb, to | brave the mighty force of the Whirlpool was notable In so much that he wore no life preserver. but trusted entirely to The rock. enveloped constantly in a fu- rfous mantle of water and spray. where he was last seen, and upon which he IS supposed to have been killed. is pointed It is not generally known. perhaps. that | Maid of the Mist" or it's predecessor close view of the American fall, and ap- breaches within reasonable distance of the Horseshoe" made a trip through Joel Robinson. who is said to have aged | twenty years In appearance during the | terrible ordeal.
 So far as can be ascertained, the mania risk their lives at Niagara commenced | to attract public notice when Sam Patch | erected ladder on the footpath under Goat Island and am that Rver ne Patch rested the bottom of the ladder on | the edge of the river, with the top fn- clinifg over 1t. and staying 1t with ropes small platform. and from this Patch dived ninety-seven feet. He repeated the | feat. but on moving to another location | he jumped and was killed.
 | Traditions of Blondin are still current | at Niagara. Other tght-rope performers have repeated some of his feats over the "a pids, but there seems to have been a 1 grace and sangfroid about the Canadian 1 which have distinguished him from all the rest. He is said. on the occasion | of the Prince of Wales visit. to have of- | fered to carry his Royal Highness over the rapids upon tight rope. seated in a wheelharrow, which enticing proposal was firmly but respectfully declined by the present. ruler Of Great Britain. or some member of his suite It was in 1859 that | Blondin first proposed to stretch a wire across Niagara River, and there was universal howl of derisfon at the idea. | Nevertheless. one of the largest crowds ever gathered at Niagara went to see him | throw his life away.
 l Blondin got out on the rope with a forty-pound pole. crossed crossed tn, the river river. ana | cord to the old Maid of the Mist and drew up a bottle from which he took a 1 drink. Then. after some feats of balanc- | ing, he came ashore amid the huzzas of | the crowd. and the whole country rang with the news of the exploit. A couple of l months later, he carried his manager l Harry Caicourt, across on his back. It is said. and it also has been denied, that | on this occasion Blondin had quarrel with Calcourt. The latter had previ. ously been trained to balance himself the rope in the middle of the river, while 1 Blondin took a breath. The wind was strong, the managers coattails began to fiutter and the rope swayed ofdin in sieken sic tha
 
 story. Blondin threatened to leave. his manager on the rope. at the mercy Of the waters underneath, unless he kept him. self under control. The threat was sue cessful, and the trip across was safely made
 A few days later the fearless B1ondin again crossed the river, chained hand and foot. On his return. he carried a cooking stove and made an omelet: which he lowered to the deck of the Maid Of the Mist for consumption, On another | .z4,. t,z N1 h f0h
 on each foot, and once carried a lady on his back. In 1860 he performed before
 the Prince of Wales, the rope being stretched 23e feet above the rapids be- tween two of the steepest cliffs on the riAer. He turned somersaults before his Royal Highness. and went through his
 whole repertoire. He even crossed on :.
 pair of stilts. It is wonderful to reflect
 that this daring man walked the tight
 rope without accident for nearly seventy
 years.
 Since Blondin's time, Niagara has be-
 come the jumping off place" for persons who crave a certain sort of notoriety. or who desire to take leave of this world at a-spot where, one would suppose the
 splendor and majesty of nature would
 woo them back to life. There has hardly been a year in which some tight-rope
 exhibition has not taken place at Ni-
 agara Falls. Some years ago young man named Stephen Peere stretched a cable across and made several passages. In 1878 he jumped from one of the bridges and in 1887 he leaped to his death. A
 man named Mcdonnell made several very creditable attempts, and proved himself
 an excellent walker. He went across with baskets on his feet, and frightened the crowd of spectators by hanging with his legs from the wire, head downward. Another man, named Jenkins, made the trip on & bicycle. The machine. however.
 was specially constructed, so that the feat was really not so remarkable as one might suppose.
 Samuel J. Dixon, a Toronto photog- rapher, on September c. 1890, crossed the gorge, and gave an excellent exhibition.
 One of his crack feats was lying on his
 back on the wire. It is marvellous now
 few accidents there have been on the tight-rope at Niagara. The first woman daring enough to try conclusions with
 Blondin and his host of imitators was Signorina Maria Speltriui. She crossed the rope with baskets on her feet, In safety, and forever became famous.
 On September :, 1S99 Steve Brodie, who had achieved great notoriety by jump ing from Brooklyn Bridge, created a greater sensation by going over the falls ed by thick steel bands. The suit was very thickly padded, yet Brodie was brought ashore bruised and insensible.
 The power of the Whirlpool Rapids IS said to have been first tested in 1Sll, when daredevil British soldier got ahoat on log and was carried about in the pool for hours. He was finally res cued In 1877, man named Charles A. | Percy got through in a lifeboat specially constructed for the occasion and con 1 taining two air-chambers, in one of which | Percy hid himself Elated by his sue cess, Percy made wager with Robert W. Flack, of Syracuse, for race through the Whirlpool RagiSdas in their !. Hacks boat had llo air-cushIons and was partly constructed of cork. The race was set for August l, 1888. but on July f. FlaclS made a trial trip in the presence of an immense con=ourse of spectators. At first he went along gayly. but Tn three 1 minutes his boat was upset and carried into the whirlpool, bottom upward. 1t wIs secured an hour later. and Flack' s body. a mass of bruised flesh, was found strapped to the seat.
 | 4 burly policeman. named Kendall, went through the Whirlpool in a life-pre- sewer. and several men have done it in barrels. A man named Graham was the fi st to accomplish the latter feat. His first trip was made on July il, 1SSG On August 19 of the same year he went again with two coopers from Buffalo, named Potts and Hazlitt Then Mir Potts and Miss Sadie Allen got into a barrel and performed the trip.
 | The ferrymcn below the rapids are 'al- ways on the lookout for bodies. The rap Ids immediately above the falls offer a fearful temptation to the suicide. It is literally but a step from the beautiful shores of Goat Island into the sparkling and tumultuous water, ana all IS over. There are persons who. out Of love of ,nischief. throw dummy men into the | water above the falls. just Tor the fun of the thing. The excitement which Is Sometimes caused by this cxpedient. however gratifying to the perpetrators of the joke, is deplorod by all riGht-mind- 1 ed people.