Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-09-19
NAv|GATES MOTOR
BOAT THROUGH
NIAGARA GORGE
FOOLHAROY VOYAGE
THROUGH WHIRLPOOL
Larsen Makes Sue
cessfuI Trip From Foot of
Cataract to Great Whirlpool
and Lives to Tell It.

| III hOIDiNE FNlftfItN AftNf "bRt
Niagara, Fails, y. Y. Sept. Is
Captain Klaus Larsen. In his little
motor boat. the Fcrro. late this aft
ernoon mad % successful trip from
the foot of the cataract through the
whirlpool rapids to within n mile of
Lewiston. a distance OF fou and one
half miles. He started from the Maid
of the Mist dock at 4.45 and ran on
a rock near the American shore AT
$50. Despite the battering of the
whirlpool rapids, Larsen vent through
safe. but his boat was leaking badly
at the finish and through the trip.
Larsen had intended to start az 2;30
o'clock but he was delayed by engine
trouble. Besides, the authorities
threatened 10 interfere on the ground
of attempted suicide.
The Fcrro swung under the bridge.
the engine running at top speed and
was caught in the swift drift where
the river begins its rush down to
whirlpool rapids.
Larsen held to the middle Of the
channel and IN less than three min
utes had made the great pool. In
the trip through the rapids, the little
boat was lost to sight most of the
time but at Great Wave it was shot
twenty feet out of the water. The
boat landed right and continued. Lar
sen Kept to the outer edge OF the pool
and passed out and down without in
jury. Just as he left the pool the en-
gine stopped working and Larsen was
at the mercy of the waters hardly less
violent than those above.
The little boat swung around stern
first ana turned completely over,
Larsen coming up badly battered. 1t
was here he injured His leg.
From here on Larsen vas a mere
playthins of the rapids, unable to
hold the course. the boat swinging
from one side to the other After go
ing through the Devils Hole. the
Ferro swung toward the rocks on the
American side of the river, rolled over
one boulder and g fast bet
two others. There Larsen stayed for
five minutes, working into the water
release the craft.
Getting free he was hit by a COM
Der and sent towards the middle. At
the bend with the Lewiston bridge in
sight. the boat drifted toward the
American side again and was then
caught i'm the shore eddy. The Ferro
grounded again, this time near shore,
10 be caught hy Roy Rockwell of this
city. who waded into the water and
and caught a rope thrown by Larsen.
Larsen wanted to continue the trip,
hut having accomplished the worst
part of the journey he was persuaded
to board a trolley car to Lewiston
the boat adrift.
The trip was worse than ] thought
ii would be" said Larsen, "but I am
not hurt andtT win DO II again some
time with another boat. My leg was
damned when she tipped oven but
that's all. The engine worked fine
through the rapids and / could have
made the trip in half an hour If II
had not stopped after leaving the
Whirlpool
Except that the old Maid Of the
Mist sent through i'm 1854 to avoid
seizure. Larsene is the only engine
propelled craft to have gone through
the rapids. Peter Nilsson, of Chica-
1900 and c. A. Percy, 1887 and
1910. went through the rapids safely
in barrels. No one else mas ever pass
ed through the rapids and lived"