Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-04-11
.B|||L.0ND|N At NIAGARA.

His Famous Walk on a Slack
Rope Over the Cataract.
WITH a MAN UPON HIS BACK.
The Sensations Of Henry M. coIcord,
81 n Who Was Perched on the Acrobat's
Body, as Described by Himself The
Severed Guy Rope Incident.
& Charles Blondin, the French rope
walker, though he died In bed at a ripe.
old age in 1897, performed feats that
no other man has ever dared emulate.
There are few things in the way Of
daring that some one will not repeat,
but Blondin was the cleyerest as well
as the most yenturesome Of his pro-
fession His feats were tasks too
great for the skill as well as the cour-
age of his imitators. as3.s
Blondin's great trip over Niagara
falls in 1859 was the most startling
sensation Of that time. thing talked
OF for a generation afterward. It was
witnessed by crowd Of thousands.
The present king of England, then
Prince of Wales, saw Blondin while
on his tour through the United States.
He once declared that the sight of
Blondin crossing the falls on 8 sway
ing rope made greater impression
upon him than any incident Of his
Journey. IS 4 {.
Though Blondin crossed on the rope
several times, his greatest exploit was
when he carried over on his back an
other man. To the spectators, unused
to the acrobat's feats, it seemed im-
possible for him to keep his swaying
footing with the burden on his back.
Large sums were laid that he would
fail. Blondin's own feeling, however,
was one of complete conf ence.
But the feelings of the man on his
back! That man had never walked a
slack rope, had never been suspended
In such dreadful position before, and
he had to depend for his safety abso-
lutely on the movements Of another.
Many years afterward this man, Hen
ny NJ. Colcord of Chicago, gave an ac-
count Of his experience to a newspa-
per /.
"You ask what it feels like to be
twelve hundred feet in midair over a
raging torrent he said. IT cannot
describe it better than by saying that
the first sensation was an overwhelm-
| ing one. in which it was hard to sepa-
rate awe from fear Then there came
what may best be termed an absolute
cessation Of all feeling. Before start
ling from the shore Blondin gave me
that Injunction which almost every
mother has given to the boy at her
| knee when giving him his first lesson
| In life. "a ~ B
Look up, Harry he said.
''My arms were about his neck, while
my legs were slung in hooks at his
4 waist. Out we went over that horrible
gulf. I heard the roar of the water
below and the hum which ran through
the crowd Of 100000 spectators. As
we cleared the brink the hum ceased
There was not one, person perhaps in
that vast throng who did not feel q
greater strain than was ours
| Unable to resist. stole one glance
down at the black waters. It seemed
for an instant as IL were poised
above the entire universe. There was
a feeling of immensely such as I had
never felt before and have never felt
since. Then I looked up.
sBlondin walked on steadily, pausing
for one brief moment at each point
where the guy ropes Joined the main
cable. The line was a trifie steadiel
/ at those places and gave him chance
to assure himself Of his balance There
was q wide space in the middle Of the
rope to which it had not been possible
to attach guy lines.
sAt the last resting place before we
reached this slender, swaying span
Blondin said to me: 35ss s1
" Harry. you are no longer Colcord
you are Blondin. Until clear this
place be 8 part Of me, mind, body and
soul. II / sway, sway with me. Dc
not attempt to do any balancing your.
self. If you do, we shall both 60 down
to our death y .3s .z n
II had dismounted while he was
talking to me and stood with one foot
on the line and both hands on his
shoulders climbed back into my
perch, and Blondin started across the
unstable part Of the line. had clear.
! ed my mind Of all feeling save one.
tried to think that Instead of being
poised In midair. with nothing but a
manila rope between me and destruc,
ton, was shut up with Blondin In a
confined space where the thought OF a
fall was farcical.
.Blondin swung to the right and
then to the left Each time went
with him as though we were nodded
into one piece with immovable parts.
81 Knew afterward that the line be
meath his feet was swaying horribly
and that to the people on the shore II
seemed that time and again our bodies
were parallel to the rushing Niagara
rapids below. Blondin's marvellous
a - ".