The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1884-11-15 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

BLONDIN AT HONE.  ..••••••14. .1 S, • t ••, ••I • 'V t • M es thil  "Why, I thought Blondin had gone to heaven long ago," said someone in a railway carriage the other day, as he conned an advertisement in his paper which announced that the Hero of Niagara was walking the , tight rope at the Britannia Theatre in far-away 'Raton. To most of us Blondin is now merely a name, but he is almost as active as ever, and quite ready to chat about both the present and the future. The affectionate regard felt for the Chevalier of the Falls which made him famous is shown by the name which he has given to his house. The visitor rings the bell at the gate and reads the legend inscribed in large letters, "Niagara "M. Blondin at home ?" "I am M. Blondin." The intrepid one stands before me, short and stout. He has evidently been a model of muscular compaeSness and symmetry, a Frenchman to the bone, with small, twinkling eyes, hair thin and slightly streaked with gray, a moustache, and thick imperial. No spot is so dear to him as Niagara Villa, whither he retires to the bosom of his family for a few months during the year to take his well-earned rest. "When will you say good-bye to the fascinations of the rope, and cast off the tights and spangles for ever?" "Sir, it will be long, I hope. I am 60 now. Have I lost my nerves? No. Am I strong and active? Feel the muscles of my forearm a.nd my legs. I am fat. I admit it. Therefore I no longer assume the monkey's skin, as once I did." M. Blondin is as sound a man as he has ever been. He has had only one accident, and never a fall. He has never even broken an arm, and the only wound I saw was covered by an inch of sticking plaster. It is said that the reason why he never tumbled was the marvellous power of his forearm, which enabled him to carry a balancing pole of great weight. But when asked the secret of his success he tells you that "it was because I didn't want to tumble." He has never smoked, and if you ask him whether he drinks he tells you with is twinkle in his eye that he" does not wear the blue ribbon," and takes claret at dinner. In 1851 Jean Francois Gravel 6 was performing in a French provincial town, when his agility, grace, suppleness, and intrepidity were remarked by a certain Ravel, himself a famous gymnast of his day. "Join us," he said to the young fellow, "and come to New York." "Done," replied Jean Francois. "But how art thou called "Gravel." " &ere Dieu! we cannot bill such a name." Then they fixed upon Blondin, from the colour of his hair. Triumph after triumph followed, until his career was crowned at last on the 30th of June, 1859, when he crossed Niagara. "Sir, I was a rope-walker at four. My father was a gymnast. I have never felt fear—no, not even when crossing Niagara. In 1860 I crossed on stilts. There was a danger in crossing Niagara. In straining a rope of that length to the requisite tightness it was liable to snap. The shorter the rope the easier it is to walk on, for the dip in the middle is less. I once offered to carry the Claimant across a rope, but he declined, with thanks. 'I will not endanger your life," he said, "and I do not wish to expose mine.' A tightrope walker is born; nothing can make him. None of my family will ever appear in the arena, because not one of them has been born a rope-walker. I am always well when I ant working. When lam lazy I feel a twinge of lumbago, and that is all." Not the least interesting of M. Blondin's collection of mementoes is a small library of scrap-books, containing cuttings from all the newspapers of the world—French, English, German, Austrian, American, Australian— critiques, reports, interviews, caricatures, jokes. He , is called the "King of the Tight Rope," "The Lord of the Hempen Realm," "The Emperor of all Manilla." There are wonderful woodcuts, plain and coloured; verses too. "Did nervous terrors ever oppress you, M. Blondin ?" "Never, sir; never. Not even when I first crossed Niagara. Pouf. They laughed and said, There's a fool of a Frenchman going to commit suicide,' or I don't believe he'll over try,' and so on, but I have crossed Niagara 300 times sines then. I carry three sets of ropes. which are two in, hes in diameter, with a body of steel bound round with hemp. The balancing poles vary in weight according to the business, from 37,40, 45,47 pounds." "And the height at which you perform ?" "From forty to a hundred feet, according to circumstances. I am indifferent."—Pall Mall Gazette.  A