CAPTAIN WEBB'S FATAL SWIM.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1111, 17 August 1883, Page 3

CAPTAIN WEBB'S FATAL SWIM.

Captain Wclilt, who swam the English Channel in 1875, ami who was drowned a few woeks ago, while attempting toavvmr through i he terrble whirlpoo. rapids below Niagara Falls, was hum in Shi opshi' e, Eng laud, and was tne son of a physician, lie look to the sra early, ami became the captain of a merchantman. Many years ago he jumped Iruin the heck of Uie Cuaaol mail steamer Russia, during a storm, to save a sailor who fell overboard. For this act he received from the hands of ihe Dnk of E liubargh the firs • gold medal evei given hy the Royal Humane Society, S > daring was he as a ship captain that he could neonget a crew to go to Sea with him a secon 1 time. Alter his thrilling swim across toe Channel, the 24th 11 giment, which waafterwards aim st annihilated in Z tin a M, gave him a Burmese cap taken in batile. He had a trunk full of decorations and trophies. In an interview with one of th ■ siatl’of the aVcui York Herald, last month, ho discussed the perilous feat which has ended so tragically, and expressed himself quite confident of succeed!in;. “ Yes,” he sai l, “ I'm going to swim the whir.pool rapids 1 and I will- say that it. is the angriest bit of water in tne world. 1 came over from England two weeks ago to make the trial, and I went to the lapids last week and made a critical examination. They are rough, 1 tell you, and the whirl* pool is a grain! one, but 1 think 1 am strong enough and skilled enough to get through alive. The people at Niagara Falls tell me that I will be simply committing snici e. You ought to hear the blood-curdling stories that '"ere retailed for my benefit. A year or two aeo a boy who was paddling around in the shore water was drawn into the rapids and had hia bead out oil. A girl fell into them last summer from the suspension bridge, and when her dead body was picked up, at the other end of the rapids, it was bereft of all clothing but a pair of stockings In twenty-three years they say that eighty persons have lost their lives m the rapids.” “ Bat what is your object iu attempting such a tei Hole feat ?” “Ten thousand dollars.” “ How do you propose to pass through the rapids ?” “ I’ll explain my plan. The current, they say, is thirty-nine'miles an hour, arid the river is 95ft deep. It is wide just below the falls and narrows at the - rapids, l am only afraid of two awful le Iges of pointed mck, which j it out-from the shores into the whirlpool. The water fairly shrieks and buses as it boils .over them. Now,! want to avoid the si Its, and y--t T'dii-e not go into the middle, fur theie-lies the vortex, and that means death I will no out into the middle of the river in a small boat, just about the Suspension Bridge. The only clothing I shall wear will be the silk trunks 1 had on when I swum the English Channel. At he time appointed I will leap into the river and float into the rapids. Of course 1 will m ike no attempt to gi forward, for tlic feaiful speed of An water will carry me through. When the water gets very bat 1 will go under the surface, and remain le n ath until I am c mpelled to come up for breath That will be pretty often. I’ll wager. When I strike the whirlpool I will strike nut with all my strength, and try to keep away Horn the suck hole in the centre. 1 will begin with the breast stick s am) then use overhand strokes. My life wib then depend upon my stiength and my Invath, with a little touch of science be hind them. It may take me three or fom hours to get ut of the whirlpool, whicti is anon t a quarter of a mile long. When I dp get t .rough I will try to land on the Canadian si o ; bur. if the current a too swift as 1 thi k ; t is, I will keep on down t.i Lewiston, on the American side.” The Hera'il, adds “ The fe it wil' tiro bahly be peiformed on July 21. The variou railway companies which run to Niagara Falls have subscribed lO.OllOdoi for Captaii Webb, and it is expected that 100, HOD poisons will witness the undertaking. Rreparations are being made to have special ox elusions from every town and city within roach of the railways."