Show CIlANKH It has become customary of late to I peak of tho person who pi upases to perform per-form porno hitherto difficult feat aM n crank and thereby class him or her its I wanting In good ellis or menial bd mci Prom tlio dais of lllondln the groat tlghlropu perfoi titer w hotroseeil Niagara Tails on a rope down to our 1ur ninny i men ha a conceived the I idea of dominating i domina-ting the might current of that river nnd f luuo regularly been clashed as trunks for ilmir mliw IXLtMrflni in tho case of Call tain i i Webb who lost his life in the attempt at-tempt and then the public said he acted altogether on siientlfic principles 9 prin-ciples nnd should 1 tae succeeded rite nptltudo or I tin iiaingiiphcr ot journals which employ largu HUfT MV therefore alford their writers plenty 01 time lo pick up I any floating mibjcct am class him or her us n crank has crop into the puns of the mun of the Inlerio press und bo to the people of the whole connlrj until it is now a I MIIQthing to call n man n tiank who IIIH the hnrdi hood to pioposo Hiinothlng new and it is i all the 1II0m strange as the present age i3 i developing mote now lnentiu gcnln nnd reaping the benelit of it than tIter before wns known Asa natural runna ijuonco Uraham the Philadelphia mop or who made known bis intention 01 going tluough tlii inpids and whirlpool whirl-pool in n banel was lit once deelaiei I cray anil a nink but now that ho hi HiiciCHsfnll atiumplihci till feat ho will bu lauded n n IIPIO am be in demand nn ntliattlnn in nil the museums in the count To piuxo h I was not a crank but leulheaded tool and calculating man of good grit he built a barrel calculated to remain btioy mt in all Cull nried waters It was to ei counter and it worked 1 to II challII Ito wan not troubled in his attempt for the reason that but a fuw coplu knew of il i and they kept it quiet Home hi I III pro chetl his task without hindiuncc tun had plenty of opportunity to make life preparations It It i claimed by men who attended thu recent fatal attempt jinn e from Iho Brookl > n Bridge in Now York harbor that if tho jumper Oilhn had been permitted to mafia his t jump in n cool and deliberate mannc ho would have Miccceded 1 Avoiding tho police flurried him and ho had to jum without time to calculate his distance or position thus being sent to hid death by men who wore far moro deserving of the a name of crunk than was Odium Me have gone into the air thousands of feet suspended by their toes on n bar Rwung under balloon inflated with heated air and they have not been molested when i in fact the act is far moro dangerous titan 4 jumping from the bridge or shooting the I falls In the case of Captain Webb it ho i 5 now plain that his contrivanc saS was not lit to withstand the fall i5dt and ho perished for Mat reason only The men who perform these nets lire by no means cranks in tIm common tic coptation of that term but men of cou ago and hklll who can find no outlet III 1 the common opportunities of errydi t life for the daring that is in them am who naturally cast about them for II suitable uhante to givo it play Me who lead forlorn hopes in battle tare C classed an heroes because the ohject I sought U beneficial mankind from their standpoint and 1 the object not tho act iR considered The men who poifoim the I perilous feats In the piping times of Ioacu are pquall deceiving ot the name of heroes mid not half ns cranky as Iho 01 idiots who thin btigmatio them they nerve to keep nine the valor anil gilt ofF tho ace F |