The Washington times., 1901-11-17
PLAYING With NIAGARA
A Talk With Man Who Saw
Captain Webb Drown.
Luck Alone Saved the Life of Mrs.
Taylor. the Woman Who Recently
Went Over the Falls In a Harr-I,
The Awful Whirlpool Rapids.

| n
The Awful whirlpool Rapids.
so far as know, Mrs Taylor is the
first living creature .1at ever went over
| Niagara Falls and came out alive" said
a New Yorker yesterday, talking of the
woman who performed that feat the 9TH
| er day. Il practiced law for eight years
at Niagara Fails. and 1 fancy | know
every stone along that river. But make
a possible exception in regard to fishes
There may have been an occasional fgh
that lived through it, b.. s:iisfI ,i,,fs come
ashore TO report the occurrence, no NIT
ter how proud they may feel about It.
There have been stories about a New
foundland dog that did the trick. but In
my opinion nobody ever saw the dog aft
erward. There have been yards OF ad-
yertising about the man who was going
to do 1t In Boynton rubber suit. and the
other who would do it IN rubber boat
but they never came nearer than Buffalo
to the brink of the falls.
Yet it Is said that Mrs. Taylor sent a
cat over In the same barrel before she
tried it herself. SO that / may be wrong
about the cat, and may have to content
myself with saying that only one human
being has survived the plunge. Even wild
ducks have good deal of trouble in that
vicinity. When they are migrating there
are often number to be found at dawn
in that part of the river which is below
the fails and above the Whirlpool Rap
ids. 1 used to go out In scow in that
part and bag them sometimes. They
were generally in somewhat dazed con-
dition, and some of the local sportsman
said that they came flying up the river
in Hn I1rI a..
water and got stunned. Others said they
were simply tired flying round the gorge:
not knowing enough to rise two hundred
feet and get out.
1T was in that quiet part of the river
that the celebrated swimmer, Captain
Webb. the only man who ever swan from
England to France, got out of his boat
in order to swim the Whirlpool Rapids
The authorities tried to step him, and
they would have stopped him II nc had
attempted to make public exhibition of
it. but Webb went down and entered the
water privately. A cabman gave me the
tip that the trial was coming of. Webb
had arranged with John Mccoy, the big
ferryman, ',i., EcweG people across from
below the Clifton House, and he rowed
him down as near as he dareo toward the
rapids, where Webb jumped out-in the
calm water just above the Michigan Gem
trail cantilever bridge.
by that time had descended the prec-
Ipice in one of the cars that slid people
down TO the edge of the Whirlpool Rap
Ids. Soon L saw a black spot on the
smooth water, far up the river. This was
Nebb's head. As he went under the
bridges people were remarking the white
ness of his skin; but before he got down
20 where 1 was he was scarlet. l don't
Snow whether this was due to congestion
through suffocation, or to the heavy
;lapping of the water On his head and
shoulders. On his passage from the
bridge down to me 1 lost sight of him
most of the time The surges of water
hat rush diagonally and partly backward
over the main current of the river were
perhaps hiding him or covering him.
People on the bridges said afterward
hat he attempted TO breast the first surge
md got hard hit. that the second laid
lin out fat on his back, and that he at
empted to dive under the third. as if
0 escape its force. But, however he may
ave Jared on this short passage, ne was
n the last battle of his life when he came
pposite to me. At that time he was trav-
ling at the rate of Eiaeteen miles an
s scientifically measured-and he was
ear enough to our side to chuck a hand
inc to him, If We had had one ready But
e took no notice of US standing near,
nd had no appearance of being fearful
f his life. He was shaking the vet clear
f his eyes and was 'treading water as
winners say, as he passed.
I'm our group of half a dozen no one
hought he was distressed; but when di-
ectly opposite, he descended slowly, feet
rst. He did not dive, and he was in wa
ers that were quiet compared with those
4 the middle of the stream, where they
7ere being flung twenty feet in the air.
lie simply disappeared. and was no doubt
rawn down by one of those crazy rushes
f water which in this spot seem TO plunge
own to bottomless depths. / climbed the
oof of the little photograph house. keep
lg my eyes on the water. For two hun
red yards L could have seen even a chip
n the surface, but Webb's head never ap-
cared again, nor was the body seen as it
assed through the Whirlpool, and two
ays afterward it was found near Lewis
on, N Y. seven miles down the river.
1T was though waters somewhat like
hese that Mrs. Taylor passed in her bar
eI before she came to the great fails.
here is about a mile of rapids above
lie cataract, and as she says her barrel
My struck the rocks three times on the
ay down, she must have been in the
sepest and safest part. If the barrel
ad got into the channel that leads to
lie American fall it would have grounded
good deal, as this part is shallow. and
IRE her chance would have been abso-
tely nil, because the water that goes
-er the American fall drops on rocks.
he only place where she could have de-
ended without being smashed was in
e spot she succeeded in reaching, where
e water is deep and green at the brink
I'd where 1t drops into water below.
Il find that many people have an idea
at those who have gone through the
hirlpooI Rapids in barrels and boats
we really been over the falls. They
MT consider. Or don't know. that-the
ghtful trip of Mrs. Taylor is absolutely
lidue in history. I have seen lot of
ople go through the Whirlpool Rapids
barrels. but that, although dreadful
TX of life and an appalling one to
itch. is mere child's play to what Mrs.
,ylor has gone through. The first ex-
riment l saw was the sending down of
imitation steamer built for the pur-
Sc. with her masts and an imitation
mel looking very natural as did the
mIny hgures of men and women lashed
her bulwarlls. She went down first
re. stern first. but was lucky In avoid
: the worst water in the centre OF the
er.
1t was here the body of another ven
'er was washed ashore. He tried to go
'ough with life preserver lashed on
Il, and. although he may not have sunk.
was drowned or suffocated by the