Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1901-10-31
OVER THE FALLS.
A Woman Goes Over Niagara In
Barrel
The Trip was Made on the Canadian
Side and the Performer was Only
Slightly IDjured-She Is so Years
of Age and a school Teacher
A Remarkable Feat.

Niagara Falls, n. Y, Oct. 25.-Mrs.
Annie Edison Taylor, 80 years old,
went over Niagara Falls on the Cam
adian side Thursday afternoon and
survived, feat never before accom-
plished and indeed never attempted
except in the deliberate commission
of suicide. She made the trip in d
barrel. Not only did she survive, but
she escaped without a broken bone,
her only apparent injuries being Il
scalp wound half an inch long, a
slight conclusion 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 last night SAID that though she
was somewhat hysterical, her condi-
tion is not at all serious and that She
probably will be oat 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 staunch as q
barrel could be made, was butfeted
through those delirious waters, but
escaped serious contact with rocks.
AS it passed through the smoother,
swifter waters that rushed over into
the abyss it rode in an almost perpen-
dicular position with its upper half
out of the water.
AS it passed over the brink it rode
at an angle of about As degrees on
the outer surface of the deluge and
descended as gracefully as a barrel
can descend to the white foaming
waters 15S feet below.
True to her calculations the anvil
fastened to the bottom of the barrel
kept it foot downward and SO it land
ed. Had it turned over and landed
on its head Mrs. Taylor's head must
have been crushed in and her neck
broken. The ride through the rapids
occupied IS minutes. 1t was 4:23
when the barrel took its leap. 1t
could not be seen as it struck the
water below, because of the spray,
but in less than half minute after it
passed over the brink it was seen on
the surface Of the scum-covered water
below the falls.
1t was carried swiftly down to the
green water beyond the scum, then
half way to the Maid of the Mist
landing it was caught in what is
known as the Maid of the Mist eddy
and held there until it fioated so close
to the shore that it was reached by
means of a pole and hook and drawn
in upon the rocks at 4:40 o'clock,
or II minutes after it shot down the
cataract. Ten minutes later the
woman was lifted from the barrel
and half an hour later she lay on a
cot at her boarding place in Niagara
Falls, on the American side. She
thanked God she was alive, thanked
all who had helped her in any way,
said she would never do it again, but
that she was not sorry she had done
it, "if it would help her financially"
She said she had prayed all during
the trip.
The barrel in which Mrs. Taylor
made the journey is AZ feet high and
about three feet in diameter. \
protected her body. Air was secured
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.
Bay City, Mich, Oct. 25.-Mrs. Anna
Z. Taylor. of this city, who went over
Niagara Falls in a barrel. before leav-
ing here said she desired to attract
the attention of museum and theatre
cal managers in order to secure
money to provide a home for herself.
She said she was the owner of a ranch
in Texas. left her by relative, which
was heavily mortgaged.