The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-02-05
Three Persons Perish i'm the
Niagara whirlpool.
Ice Bridge Leaves Its MoOring
and Carries Them Down.
MAKE GREAT FIGHT FOR LIFE
A Man and a Woman Disappear
From View.
Big Crowd Unable to Help Wit
nesses the Tragedy.

Niagara Falls, N. r. Feb. 5--The
great ice bridge that has choled the
river channel between the cataract
and the upper steel arch bridge, below
the falls for the last three weeks
broke from it's snoring Sunday and
went down the river. taking with it to
their death man and woman said to
be Mr.. and Mrs. Eldridge Stanton, OF
Toronto. Canada, and Burrel Heacock,
II years old, of Cleveland, Ohio
Four other persons were on the ice
at the time, but managed to get ashore
IN safety.
The bridge was considered safe. For
weeks the great fields of ice had been
coming down the river. pihng up
against the barrier until 1t was from
so to so feet thick and under the in
fluence of zero weather the great mass
had become firmly anchored to the
shore. The jam was about LOCO feet
wide and in some places quarter or
a mile in breadth.
FOR two weeks it had offered safe
passage to the hardy and an immense
crowd of excursionists came to view
the winter wonder of the river Had
the accident happened an hour later
hundreds would have lost their lives,
for the crowd was moving into Pros
pect park IN the elevators that run
down the cliffs for the purpose Of ven
turing out upon the Ice
Somewhere deep in the great Whirl-
pool sleeps the man, partially identi-
fled as Mr.. Stanton, who twice put
aside chances of rescue in order to
remain with his terror stricken wife,
and who, in the shadow OF death-Just
at the break in the rapids, spurned as
eistance for himself and attempted TO
bind about the woman's body a rope
dangling from the lower steel arch
bridge.
&C, {
in the same mold. Had he not turned
on the ice to give assistance to the
man, he. too. might have made the
shore
The man and woman started first
toward the American shore, but they
were stopped by a lane Of open water
Back they ran again towards lne
Canadian side, turned about and MADE
for the American side. When hardly
more than so yards from the rocky
shore. the woman fell on her face, ut
i can't go on: I can't go on" she
cried. Let US die here.
All the time the great field OF ice
went on breasting the terrible outrush
of the Niagara Falls Power company
tunnel outflow, the mightest current
in all the river, without being broken
As the woman fell. the man strove &c
get her to her feet again and tried tc
DRAG her along the ice, calling for as
sistance.
Heacock turned back to the couple
and helped support the woman Inc
act cost him his life.
Roth struggled along over the mum
rnocks Of ice, getting close to the opel
stretch of water at the Canadian enc
of the jam. There We're men on the
shore ready to give him assistance
The moving foe with the three
helpless beings passed slowly down the
Efforts at Rescue.
Meantime. Niagara Falls hremeI
were sent to the lower steel arcl
bridge and there took station with
rope. Canadian fremen had two rope
down from the Cantilever bridge
which is about 500 yards above tn
A quarter of a mile from the whirl
pool rapids the foe on which tn
three were borne broke into two sec
tons, the man and woman on one
Heacock on the other
Heacock saw the ropes danglini
from the bridge and made ready t
catch one. Coolly he took off hi
overcoat and poised himself on tn
tossing foe. In his course Their
dangied one rope, and second wa
moved toward him. He caught tina
held by Officer Pat Kelley of the On
tario police force, and q company o
about twenty railroad men and jump
ed free of the ice.
The sag of the rope let him into tn
Ch1lly water up to his waist. and n
was frightfully battered by three sue
cessive foes of outlying ice. Not con
tent with the efforts of the men abov
to draw him up, he tried to aSsis
himself hand over hand. The ic
ducking had Slapped his strength H
stopped trying to pull himself up an
hung limp on the rope, which spu
him around like a top. Kelley and hi
men pulled steadily. Ten feet, tweT
ty feet, twenty-five feet UP he CAM
The great crowd on the bridge
cheered.
The boy hung on, trying always to ge
himself or his leg wound around the rop
Then his hands began to slip. He sougF
to get hold of the rope with his teetl
but could not. Finally, just as he Ws
about sixty feet clear Of the water. hi
head fell back He was utterly spen
he lost his grip and plunged far dow
into the stream. When he came up, h
face turned toward the great wave. /
feebly moved his arms in the brea.
stroke.
Rush of Water Too Strong.
The rush of water was too much Il
him and he was sent racing on into II
seething waters For half minute
was in view, and then he disappeared
the spume.
Heaeock's failure was Witnessed by Il
man on the other ice The woman a.
parentIy dared not look The man a.
peared calm as he in turn prepared
make a play against death
As the couple swung under the Ca
ti1ever bridge the man grasped rol
and tried to put it about the woman