The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1907-08-09
HIGH DIVE IS THRILLER
RECKLESS RUSSELL WHITES OFF
INTO SPACE.
AND LIGHTS IN WATER TANK
Quick as Scat Man and Bicycle Flash
Down the Plank and OF Into the At.
mosphere-Wheel and Rider Sepa-
rate, the Man Dropping Safely.


Reckless Harry Russell's high dive
is a thriller He did It Thursday night
and it made several thousand people
gasp.
1t was near II o'clock when the one
legged man shot through space, III in
tank Of water and came up smiling
instead of dead. 1t wouldn't have sur
priscd the crowd if he had been con
verted by the dive into a corpse, But
he wasn't He was merely transferred
from the platform into a water tank
and he is ready to do the stunt again
tonight.
Owing to scarcit yof carpenters for
building the scaffold, Russell's plat
form was not completed until late in
the day. Hundreds of people came
down town after dark to see the feat.
And they got their moneys worth.
A helper mounted the ladder and
carried Russell's nervy bicycle up to
the top of the incline. One-legged
Russell, CARRIED in the proper shade
of brilliant tights, climbed up the lad
der and walked up the incline with
the aid of crutch. When he was all
ready lights were turned on around
the water tank. A spieler assured the
crowd of the mans peril. Russell
gave the signal that he was coming,
and then he came.
Seating himself on the bicycle, Rus
sell lifts his foot from the platform.
A streak shot down the incline, a hui
man missile dropped through the air,
there was a splash in the tank below
and one-legged Reckless Harry Rus
sell was out of the water, his days
work done
AS quick as scat the bicycle flashed
down the long inclined plank. 1t was
so quick in it's descent that the crowd
had little time to realize that the feat
for which hundreds had been eagerly
waiting, was all done and over.
Striking a horizontal stretch of
track at the end of the incline, wheel
and one-legged rider were tossed up
wards a trifle into the air upon leav-
ing the scaffold. Then bicycle and
rider parted company, the iron wheel
dropping straight down into a net and
Russell flying forward in his descent
In midair he turned half somersault
so that he would strike the water with
his head and hands. Twisting his
frame into just the proper angle, he
slipped into the waters surface and
then, by a convex movement, instantly
slipped out again. People right
around the tank got wet and, their
eyes full, missed seeing just what
happened to the water.
The point from which the leap was
made is about thirty-five feet high.
The point from which the bicycle orig
inally starts on its downward flight
is about siXty-five feet from the
ground. The incline down which the
wheels whiz is some sixty feet.
The siXty-five feet of height at the
start, the sixty feet of incline streak
ing, the dive into space at thirty-fve
feet, the separation of wheel and man
and then the accurate and altogether
safe skimming of the man into three
feet of water forms a stunt sensational
enough to satisfy the most fastld1ouS,
and one which makes the crowds
heart stand still for one-half second,
during which all of this process takes
place.
The only disappointment manifest
among the hundreds of spectators was
here and there a regret that the worst
had not happened; that their gloom
lest hopes of seeing the man miss the
water tank, had not come true.
Five minutes after the dive was
done the throng of many hundreds of
persons had dispersed. Instantly their
curiosity had been satisfied, the crowd
went home and to bed. 1t was as
though a sudden rain storm had come
up, so quickly was the street cleared
of its people.