Show STORIES OF NIAGARA Some of the Foolhardy Feats rents Per Performed Pe r formed In Its Waters San Ban Francisco Call The recent remarkable feat of Mrs Mr s Anna Anno E IL Taylor in going gong over the ti ii Horseshoe falls falls of Niagara lagara ra in a barrel b rr Si recalls recall a other thrilling experiences experience end and nd performances at Niagara The Indian legend connected with Niagara asserts a that the Indians who dwelt In that vi vicinity vicinity emiLy worshiped the Great Spirit of the fals their worship culminating annu annually annually annually ally In Jn the sacrifice of the fairest mal mai malden malden maiden den of oC the tribe to the Great Spirit of Niagara laden with fruit and flowers Since then many lives have been voluntarily or involuntarily In inthe the mighty current and many deeds of I daring attempted and performed there for the sake of at notoriety or money The following instances of this kind art are taken from The Niagara Book by W D Howells Mark Twain Professor ProCessor Na thaniel S Shaler and others collected In a chapter entitled Dramatic Inci dents written by Orrin E Dunlop During the final twenty years of the th last Jast century says Mr Dunlop the ef cf forts torts to attain notoriety through some somO Niagara feat were perhaps more ire fre frequent quent than ever before but as far ball baci as 1827 1821 Niagara was recognized as at an a Ideal place where great crowds might be assembled by thrilling incidents ts About the first feature of this charac character character ter was the sending of the pirate Mich igan over the falls faHs on the afternoon Sept 8 1827 1821 This vessel vesse v el was wa W it t ti t O of the largest f ler e fe bu but had b bre en condemned by her ner r ners ai sit d unfit to longer sail sall the lakes Dressed as a pirate she was loaded with wild wile and tame animals and with a crew in h effigy was towed to the foot of Navy and set adrift She was caught by b the current and hurled through the upper rapids and over the Horseshoe falls It was never recorded that any of at the animals were recaptured to be besent besent besent sent to the th museums in New York Montreal and London as a was the in intention Coaches left le Buffalo o on the afternoon of the Ot Of t September to accommodate the t e crowds W and all alt the i Niagara hotels were vee w e full fUU of ot guests tt the crowd crow drawn dran to the falls faHs by b this Incident was Sam Patch a man who had won fame t me at Pawtucket P falls faits t c and thor other eastern points as a high Jumper He erected a platform at the waters edge of the debris debri slope Just north Of of the Biddie Biddle Stairs and from this thIn tbt platform leaped into the rivet river the f the jump being about bout ninety feet Patch was considered a wonder but hilt shortly after his Niagara expert experience ence once he tie lost lest his life Ufe in a leap from the Genesee falls taUs in Rochester 5 o S SOne One of the most daring feats ever eer performed at Niagara Falls was that of Joel Robinson and his two ates aten at MacIntyre and Jones on June 6 when they voyaged through the whirlpool rapids in the steamer Maid MaW of the Mist The boat was Vaas libeled and mortgaged to such an extent that the watery wa of the Niagara were vere too warm for f her tind pd Robinson agreed greed to deliver her at a Canadian lake port On the afternoon of the day mentioned to the surprise of all alt who saw the boat in Instead stead of heading over her usual course up the river her bow was directed right into the rapids with the waves of oC which she was battling It was the first trip of the kind e eY ev er r made but under a full head of steam she made the th trip In safety the stack be being beIng ing lug swept swep away alWa in the seething waters Robinson was born in Springfield Mass Mess He lie died in 1863 18 If any man deserves the title of o nero Hero of the Whirlpool Rapids it is Carlisle D Graham a Philadelphia cooper who 00 despite Webbs death traveled to Niagara determined to show the world that he had confidence that he be could go through the rapids and live as well as being willing to risk rl k his life In a barrel of his own construe construction construction tion Graham made his first trip on the th afternoon of o Sunday Sun July l 11 1866 1886 ong to oc occupying occupying ui about minutes Graham rode In a barrel weighted at atthe atthe atthe the bottom The height of the barrel was such that he could stand nearly n upright in it and the top was w of a 8 larger diameter di meter than the bottom On Thursday Aug 10 1886 Graham made H 1 second se ond trip going as far as the whirlpool 1 In this trip his head pro protruded protruded through the top of the barrel throughout the entire trip He made madea a a third trip June 15 16 1887 and on Aug K Ii 1889 he made a Ii fourth trip using a barrel of much smaller size and go gong goIng going Ing ng way through to Lewiston Graham will be remembered as never haVing disappointed a gathering His nerve never failed him Copying somewhat the Idea that Graham Gra Gm Graham ham had developed so successfully George G orge Haslett Heslett and William Potts of ot Buffalo made a trip through the rapids In a barrel said to be of their own con construction on n Sunday Aug 8 1836 1886 The barrel they used more closely resembled resembled resembled bled the familiar type of barrel hav hay no unusual features of ot form I Two weeks after Haslett and Potts had tad made a trip there appeared at Niagara a Boston policeman named W WJ WJ J S Kendall The date was Aug 22 1886 Unannounced Kendall went through the rapids to the whirlpool projected by only a cork life lite preserver All previous trips had been announced but Kendall slipped through with only onty a few spectators accidentally on the cliffs cUffs or bridges to bear witness For this reason some have haye felt that the trip was never made but men of or Integrity are known who witnessed the perform performance ance nee a S J In the t e same barrel that was used by Haslett Hulett and Potts Miss Mine Sadie Allen AlIen aDd and George Haslett made a trip through the rapids on Nov 38 S Miss Allen was wag g the only woman n who had ever made the journey through the Niagara gorge Next ext on Aug 28 1837 Charles Alex Alexander lon lex lexander ander Percy of Niagara Falls made a successful trip through the rapids to the whirlpool in a boat of othis his own con construction construction n This led Robert William Flack of Syracuse to travel to Niagara to demonstrate the merits of or a boat he had h d built buitt Percy rcy and Articles of Qt agreement aSTee n nt for a race aee through the rapids but Flack was first to show If it his craft was seaworthy On the afternoon of July 4 ThiS Flack made this trip and he went down to te death Flacks boat was a clinker pat tern fern In the trip rip through rapids i It k capsized three times but Flack re ye main d in ln the boat because he was wa held there by ha bya a harness about out a his I body It was wa a a frightful spectacle this trip of Flacks and was witnessed by thousands of people The last time the boat capsized was on the final big wave at the entrance to the whirlpool High in the air the boat tossed tos ed It stood on end for an instant and then it toppled over on poor Flack From the point where the boat capsized it floated about the t e pool upside down for an hour or more until captured on the Canadian side Flack was found hanging dead by the straps he had placed there to toi i aid him to save his life On July 9 L 1900 Peter Nissen also known as Bowser appeared at the falls faUs and announced his intention of go Ing through the rapids Nissen Ni n was a a bookkeeper and the boat in which he be made the trip was built after his own ideas In length the boat was twenty feet It had a beam of or six feet and a d of four four our feet It was decked all ali over oer with w th the exception of a Ii small cockpit in the center enter There were two air compartments In the front and in the roar ar r and one on each side lIide of or the cockpit To the keel of the boat boot prop er cv hunt hung an Iron keel weighing 1280 pounds Pfunds It was after 4 when Nissen and his boat came out of ot an eddy in tow of a Ii rowboat After being set adrift he got caught in an eddy just above the rapids and had to be started again It was approaching 5 Ii before he was In the rapids His craft rode the waves magnificent ly bIt l y j It was a glorious sight quite in con contrast rast t with the spectacle presented by hy Flack and his little craft Never once did boat capsize for all aU it was frequently After reach ing l ag the whirlpool Nissen arid and his boat floated about bout until captured when Nis Nissen Nisson son sen landed Nissen was from Chicago |