CROSSING THE FALLS OF NIAGARA^N A TIGHT-ROPE.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 218, 22 November 1859, Page 3

CROSSING THE FALLS OF NIAGARA^N A TIGHT-ROPE.

Thk promised feat of walking across the Falla of Niagara, on a tight rope, has been successfully actjomplished by Monsieui* Blondin, in the presence ©I" thousands, of spectaiorc,': .•;'*_. « ■ fit T&ei:?^eati>W'wag'-Be|lghtfu]-rthe sun s.hone jjot there was, breeze eiiQqgh '. from ■ the riyer to Modify jt.g inflqenpe and iqa|e every shady' grove a'pleasant spot to repose in. The banks of the river on either side for half a mile were alive with people, who had selected the best positions they could find to obtain a full view of the rope upon fvhich the feat was to be performed. . ■i '^.bout foqr o'clock Jf. Blondin arrived in a carriage decorated with the American and French flagß, and was received with cheers from the multitude, music from the bands, and the firing of a cannon which was answered by the' Canada side. A ring was made by a rope, within the ring was a tight rope six feet above ,the ground, upon wbieh the preliminary exhibition took place M. Blondin appeared with a smiling face, in tjis. jjiqst agreeable hun^qui;. He; is a n,^n of fne^ium Height, of rather 'niuscujar 'build, bliifc nbtiifles'hy ,hjifs light hazle eyes'wears a sma"lLin9qs<;.ach4sj and goatee. On this occasion he was arrayed |n'«iort of Turkish and half circus, dress'jinjl"wqrp yjm with WRg pw4ftp* cur^. ' H|s feats. MpqntW>t|ghl yqpe BuffipientiQ giyp cqnfideqpp'tq a\\ \fi\q wjtflegsed thejn-^if t))ey )]ad dqi}bt^ of his §upces,s in $&•¥?& &$ P?PftJW4 $Wh ft? wqu|d turn gummePß.W^s, leap qypr cl?a]r§ bapljwavq's and fo.iv .^««s H . .and do a gi'ea.t Many otlwy things Wat.-, * " ■'■-■■•■••■* ■ •q----upon this rope which ordinary gymnasts fina v difficult to do upon the ground. At_ length this performance was at an end, and Monsieur retired %o his tent to dress for the rope walk. The rope was made in j^ew York to order, and is 1100 feet in length. Ac s^e^hing l|ke cpe hunted ewe? the pboifj we may $a^«y e»y ihut the

gorge is at least 1000 feet. The rope is a trifle more than two inches in diameter, and was drawn with the blocks and windlass as tight as it could be without risk of parting. The depression was perhaps sixty feet below a true line, and aa the Canadian bank is some twenty teet or more higher than the American, the greatest depression was nearer the latter than the former. The lowest point was probably 150 feet above the swift water rushing towards the whirlpool below. It was stayed from side sway by small guys of half-inch rope, of which 2700 feet were used. , They were astened' to the main rope and ran fdiagonally to the shore on either side where they were made fast to trees. Only two guys ran down to keep the rope from an upward movement.1 The rope and guys cost 650 dollars and were purchased chiefly by subscriptions made at the Fall. " ~■■<•'

Soon after five o'clock M. Blondin appeared upon the platform where the great rope came to the American shore, and was greeted with cheers from both sides. He was dressed in tight clothes without covering upon his head, and he wore slippers which appeared. to be made of buckskin or similar material. The bands played upon either side. Arrangements had been made for firing the cannon at this moment, but the gun hung fire and refused to go off. Blondin good naturedly called out to have it shaken up, but the gun did not speak. For nearly ten minutes the daring adventurer stood in full view of the breathless thousands, in familiar conversation with those around,hjm, and evinced no signs of faltering. Indeed, from his appearance we do not think that he had the least fear or a shadow of doubt about his success. His manner gave confidence to all about him, and no one expressed a doubt or alluded to the probability that he would fail. At fourteen minutes past five Blondin coolly picked up his black pole,,some twenty-five feet long which he-used for balancing, and walked down the rope with a firm and cautious step. The descent was we suppose, the most difficult part of the adventure. He laid one foot before the other in short but well measured steps, until he had advanced some two hundred feet, and then he sat down as if to rest. In a minute he arose and walked forward some distance, sat down again, and before rising ho threw himself on hi 3 back lengthwise of the rope and pretended to take a nap. Then on he went occasionally dancing or standing upon one foot looking over the abyss. When he had reached a point near the centre of the river, he seated himself and beckoned to the steamer Maid of the Mist to come up the river and give him a drink; meanwhile he took from his belt a ball of cord, unrolled it till the end reached the water below and then patiently awaited the coming of the steamer. The Maid came slowly up against the current, along .the American shore, and when under the rope "stood quartering" across the stream, with her engines in full motion. The current thus drifted her to where the line was suspended, and it was taken aboard. A bottle was fastened to the cord. When Blondin dropped another cord, This was taken by the men on the steamer, and they drew the bottle up to. the main rope. Blondin took it, removed the cork, and drank the health of the spectators. He then threw away the bottle and resumed his journey. The Maid having waited upon him, dropped back to her dock. When the centre of the rope was crossed where there are no guys. Blondin began to ascend to the Canadian bank at a pretty brisk walk, and did not again stop till he reached the shore. He was greeted with cheers at landing, and general rejoicings were exchanged among the spectators. The feat was accomplished, and M. Blondin stands before the world unrivalled as a man of nerve, the champion rope walker. It was just eighteen minutes from the time Blondin tookup his pole on one shore to the time helaidit upon the other.— Rochester Union, July 1.

The American aeronauts have just performed a feat worthy of being chronicled—an attempted trip from St. Louis to the city of New York, and an actual trip, owing to adverse currents, from St. Louis to the Northern part of this State. The balloon, one of monster size, was, in addition, provided with revolving wheels for propelling it in any desired direction, and .with a, metallic Jifeboat suspended' to, the car, for use in case of falling into the water. As it turned out the precaution was a wise one. They left St. Louis about 7 o'clock in the evening of the Ist in the presence of a crowd of many thousands. At 4 o'clook in the morning of the 2nd they passed near Fort Wyne in Indiana, and, ty # of the same morning passed near Clevelandland over Lake Erie. In this part of their passage their speed is reported at nearly 75 miles an hour. Up to this point they seemed to have followed the course which they had marked out for themselves. The plan was to have followed the course of the Central Railroad across the State of New York and thence down the Hudson River to New York; but unfortunately they determined first to make Rochester, near Lake Ontario and land one of their passengers. In decending to, do this they fell into a hurricane strata 'which drove them out to sea, a"n,cT Obliged them for safety tp make' way "to shore and abandon the rest of their trip, In less than 20 hours, however, they travelled 1,150 miles, and they think that they have demonstrated that for which this was an experiment—the possibility of an aerial trip across the Atlantic. A still more extraordinary feat, in the acrobatic line, has been performed at Niagara Falls; one that fits the performer for the highest place in a lunatic asylum.

We have been requested to publish at lengtll the depositions in the case H.ale:--v. lahd as we ars infoijmed, thai future proceedings are pend-* ing, we do'6o,'but"dt the sdme time cannot see that any material point was omitted, in the summarisd account; we !gave'last Friday. ' ' v Hale v. Prichard .—-Action to recover £1 10a, William Rale sworn: I delivered six, doaen, gu^ trees to defendants order,s th,e price, was seven shillings B,er d^oaen'; my soivleft tpegum trees; % called ne^t d^ay at defendants and he acknowledged receiving them. Evan. Prichard sworn; I wanted some gum trees for myself and Mr. Muntz: I ordered 6 dozen from plaintiff at, as I understood six shillngs per dozen; I received three dozen, and I understood Mr. Muntz received a dozen and nine; Mr. Jordan took Mr. Muntz, as per orders; it was understood that Jordan was to bring my trees from Hales garden in Waimea-road; he did not do so but plaintiff's son brought me some next day from the town direction: when I saw them I asked how long they had been taken up; he said the previous afternoofrj, I complaiued about them as qqt looking well; tfie following day p^in,tjis himself Called to know why % complained, 'he*stated; that they 'were the best'trees1 inhts 1- plantation }<$ subsequently heard, from him'that they came from New Plymouth,the plants I ordered werStd'be' Nelson plants; not one of the plants have grown; I did not know that they came from New Plymouth till I had plan ted them out. " ' Cross-examined; I did not see plaintiff himself about any gums; 1 sent the order by Jordan to plaintiffs place in the Waimeaas it was there the gums I wanted were; I don't remember plaintiff askingnie to return them if I were dissatisfied; if the gums had grown I should not have compldineaV : '• : ' •'"' ' » * '■ Charles Muntz sworn: I recesyed tvyo, djozen and nine gutn $%$ bj a : earieri n^i!e^'lJ6rdah:| i>tKey picked Wit n straw,' !suri3j fliem | there was' «o earth io HEjie; rbb«\; t planted the ''day .-^ rexeivedtheiifi; I took every (fare;arid;np,t- one of thenigrewj tfe pfentavj qr-derfd/ $r. P-r^arf to get^ere. fa he M*hW pja^ qtljeywise. % wo,uld not l^aye fla^ tliem. ' . i^udgineßtfQcpi^ntif for I^.. a.n.dqoats., ,