New-York tribune., 1912-02-05
NIAGARA ICE BRIDGE OUT
Continued from frst PAGE.
bridge which is about three huhureu
yards above the other structure
L.. Ella, Rreaks in Twain.

Ice FIoc Breaks IN i"sn'
rust above the old Maid Of the Mlst
landing. quarter Of mile from me
Whirlpool Rapids the foe on which the
,hree were borne broke into two sec
,ions. each about fifty feet square
the man and the woman on one anu
Heacock on the other. Heacock wave
bis hand TO his companions In distress
as his foe moved clear Of the other anu
caught In a current raced down the
rjvor. The other foe then shot toward
the American shore and was caught ~
an eddy and whirled there for about hVe
minutes. This was within sight Of the
tumbling waters which marked the oe-
ginning Of the rapids, and death
Heacock saw the ropes dangling from
the bridge and made ready To catch one.
Very cooly he took off his overcOat anu
posed himself on the tossing foe. In MS
course there dangled one rope and sec
ond was moved toward him. lie caught
that held by Patrolman Patrick keilF'
of the Ontario police force. and com
pany Of about twenty railroad men, ana
! Jumped free Of the ice.
The sag Of the rope at that great drop
two hundred feet, let him into the chilly
water up to his waist, and before he was
clear Of II he was frightfully battered by
three successive foes of jutting ice.
Makes Plucky Fight for Life.
Not content with the efforts Of the
men above TO draw him up, he tried TO
assist himself hand over hand. The time
was 1:1O o'clock, and the hour or more
that the boy had been on the ice and The
effects Of the icy duckng had sapped MS
strength. He stopped trying to pun
himself up and hung limp on the rope,
which spun him around like TOP.
Kelly and his men pulled steadily. Ten
| feet twenty, twenty-five thirty feet, AZ
he came.
The great crowd on the bridges cheered
those that were not weeping. Grimlv
the boy hung on, trying always to get
his leg wound about the rope Then his
hands began TO slip. He sought to get
hold of the rope with his teeth, but
could not. Finally. ju"t as he was about
sixty feet clear of the water his head
fell back. He was utterly spent. He
lost his grip and plunged far down into
the stream. When he came up his face
turned toward the great wave, ana Le
reebly, moved his arms in the breast
atroke. But the mighty rush Of water
was too much for him. He was caught
like a cork and was sent racing on %
the midst of the seething waters. For
perhaps q half minute he was in view
! and then he was seen no more; he was
swallowed up in the spume.
Heacock's failure was witnessed by the
men on the other foe. The woman ap-
Uarently dared not look. The man ap-
peared calm as he in turn prepared TO
make a play against death, as. caught
bv a downriver current, the foe moved
into the course Heacock had gone.
Tries Hard to Rescue Wife.
As the couple swung under the canti-
lever bridge the man grasped rope and
tried TO put il about the woman's waist.
The force Of the current was too much
for the rope. IT parted md the man
waved the torn end toward the crowd.
There was still another chance---the
rome that was dropped from the lower
steel arch bridge by the Niagara avenue
aremen. AS the foe went into Swift
Drift the man caught 1t and grimly
hung on. He was given slack and he
tried To wind the rope about the WON.
ans waist. He fumbied in his agony
OF effort as II his hands were numh.
The rush Of the ice IN the stream was
oyerpowering When he could not lie