Year: 1871

was standing about thirty or forty
arts in advance of the Clifton, that il,
thirty or forty yards nearer to the Horse
shoe aIr.i.s the brink of the rocks, and
Opposite The American fall The ground
must have been about the same light
as the opposite fall, but owing to the i'm
mense hill down which the rapids rush,
it was possible to distinguish any object
of the size of Il beat a considerable dis
tancc above the fall, 81 that. now ii was
pointed out to me saw in the middle of
the rapid,a huge log of wood, the trunk of
a tree, which had lodged there some years
before, and upon ii a black spcck. This
after some observation, | perceived to
move. 1t was a man. Yes. he and hi>
two companions had, on the previous
night, been rowing about some distance
above the fall BY some means or other
they had ventured too near the rapids, had
lost all command of their boat, and had
been hurried away To destruction. ltwas
supposed that about half mile above the
fall the boat had upset, and, with two
wrctched men still clinging to it, went
over the fall at about nine or ten O'Clock
at night, while the third man was driven
against the log of wood, climbed upon it,
and sat astride of il through the darkness
of the night, amid the roar, the turmoil,
and the dashing spray of the rapids.


/ crossed the river, aScended the rock
by the railway, and hurried to the spot,
where found him 80 near that l could
almost distinguish his countenance. He
was then lying along the log. grasping
it with both arms, and appeared exhaust
ed to the last degree. He WIS evidently
is wet from spray, as though he had been
standing under water. BY this time peo-
pie were assembling, and different plans
for his rescue were proposed and discus
sed on all sides already indeed, one eff
fort had been made. A small boat had
been firmly lashe,i to strong cable, and
dropped Gown to him from the bridge.
which crossed the rapid between the
mainland and Goat Island about sixty
wards ABOVE the log.


This boat had proceeded a few yards
in safety, was upset, spun round like a
piece of cork at the end of a thread by the
force OF water, which finally snapped the
cable in two, and the boat disappeared
over the fall.


But now dispatch had been sent to
! Buffalo Ia distance OF little more than
| twenty milcs) by electric. telegraph, de-
String that life boat should be sent BY
the first train, $50 p. m, and this in time
arrived, borne on the shoulders of about
twenty men, and !. splendid boat she was,
large, built entirely Of sheet iron, with air
tight chambers; boat that could not
sink. She was girt round with strong
ropes, and two new two-inch cables
brought with her. All this arrangement
naturally took up much time, and the
poor xretch's impatience seemed extreme,
so that it was thought advisable to let
him know what was going on. This was
done by means of sheet, upon which
was written in large letters in Dutch (his
nslve language), "Fhe life-boat is COM
ing" lie stood up, looked intently for a


minute, and then nodded his head. When
the boat was at last launched, the excite
ment was intense. Two cables, each held
by many men, were let down from either
end of the bridge, so that they might
have some command in directing the