The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-25
WENT over NIAGARA
DARING DEED OF A WOMAN
SCHOOL TEACHER.
MADE THE TRIP IN A BARREL.
THROUGH THE RAPIDS AND THEN
OVER THE PRECIPICE.

The Woman Is Fifty Years Old and
Seems to Have Planned Her Ad-
. venture Remarkably-She Was
Hysterical, of Course, When Pulled
Out of Her Barrel, but a Scalp
Wound and Some Bruises Are AIT
That She Has to show in the Way
of Injuries-Used an Anvil at the
Bottom to Steady the Barrel and
Harnessed Herself Inside.
Niagara Falls. N. Y, Oct. 24.-Min-
ME e. Taylor, so years old, went over
Niagara Falls on the Canadian side
never before accomplished, and indeed
never attempted. except in the COM
mission of suicide. She made the trip
in barrel. Not only did she survive,
but she escaped without broken bone,
her only apparent injuries being a
scalp wound one and a half inches
long, a slight concussion of the brain,
some shock to her nervous system, and
bruises about the body. She was
conscious when taken out of the bar
rel. The doctors in attendance upon
her tonight, said that, though she was
somewhat hysterical. her condition is
not at all serious, and that she prob
ably will be out of bed within a few
days.
Mrs. Taylor's trip covered a mile
ride through the Canadian rapids be-
fore she reached the brink of the
precipice. Her barrel was twirled and
toppled and buffeted through these wa
ters, but escaped serious contact with
rocks. AS it passel through
the smoother, swifter waters
that rushed over into the abyss, it
rode in an almost perpendicular posi-
ton with its upper half out of the wa
ter Over the brink it rode at an angle
of about As degrees on the outer sur
face of the deluge and descended to
the white foaming waters, 1853 feet be-
low.
Used an Anvil for Ballast.
True to her calculations, the anvil
fastened to the bottom of the barrel
kept 1t foot downward and so it land
ed. The ride through the rapids oc-
cupied eighteen minutes. The barrel
could not be seen as it struck the wa
Ter DeloW because OF the spray, but
In less than half a minute after it pass
ed over the brink, it was seen on the
surface of the scum covered wa
ter below the falls. 1t was
carried swiftly down to the Maid-of-
the Mist landing, caught in an eddy.
and held there until it fioated so close
to the shore that it was reached by
means of pole and hook and drawn
in upon the rocks. Ten minutes later
the woman was lifted from the barrel.
and half an hour later she lay on a cot
at her boarding place on First street
In Niagara Falls on the American side.
She thanked God she was alive, thank
ed all who had helped her in any way,
said she would never do it again but
she was not sorry she had done it, "if
it would help her financially
Prayed During Her Trip.
She said she had prayed all during
the trip, except during "a few moments
OF unconsciousness," just after her de-
scent.
The barrel in which Mrs. Taylor
made the journey is four and a half
feet high and about three feet in diam
eter. A leather harness and cushions
inside protected her body. Air was Sc
cured through a rubber tube connected
with. a small opening near the top of
the barrel
Mrs. Taylor is a school teacher and
recently came here from Bay City,
Mich.