PREPARATION FOR A LEAP FROM THE BRIDGE OVER THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 762, 12 January 1871, Page 2

PREPARATION FOR A LEAP FROM THE BRIDGE OVER THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

(From the livffah Covrier.) Frank Thorne, who has advertised that he will ie:ip from the new bridge, at Niagara, jumped by way of practice, from the roof of the Watson Elevator into Buffalo River. A plauk was run out some three feet, and Thorne threw off a coat which was over his shoulders, aud came out on the plank. His attire was simple—a white hand kerchief on his head, a red breech-cioufc about his middle, a pair of heavy boots on his feet,' and.the epidermis which nature gave him. He stood there, the centre of 40,000 eves, appearing to be measuring the descent, and preparing for it by several"longdrawn inspirations. After some hesitation and signs of nervousness, he waved his right hand once in the air, then, holding both arms tight to his body, and his leys close together, he made the perilous jump. The most intense stillness i-eigned as his downward progress was watched. The distance was about 125 feet. Of course the object of Thorne was to enter the water, as he started, feet first, and the universal feeling was that if he lost his perpendicular death was certain. For about a third M the desceuthislegs were kept together, and his position maintained, but at this point he was observed to spread .them apart. His head immediately canted forward, and, to the horror of all, he fell sp aw ling the rest of the distance. In a trifle' less than three seconds from the time of making the leap he struck the water, the right side meeting the collision, and at once disappeared. " He's a dead man," was the cry that simultaneously burst, from thousands of throats, and few there were but believed it expressed the truth. In less time than it takes to write it, however, his head appeared above water, and he struck , out Teebly for the only boat between him and the elevator, in which wore a party of police and police-surgeon Phelps. More dead than alive, 'he. was hauled into the boat, and at once rowed to a room in the elevator. It was noticed by those who were near enough that his entire right side was crimson, aud to some it appeared to be cut open. When the fool-hardy man was laid down on a blanket after his leap, Dr Phelps at once examined him. He found that no bones were broken, but the eutire right side, the outside of the right leg, and the inside of the left, were fearfully contused, and there was much extrayasatiop oyer thq whole surface. The beatings of the heart could not be-, detefcte]a.,. and the" pukfe ; was scarcely perceptible. The shock to the nervous system was evidently great.

Tiiorno .was. conscious and very anxious to get tho honest opinion of the doctor whether; he would survive. The proper .remedies were administered, and gradually the heart began to resume its functions, and the pulse to assert itself, though feebly. Between six and seven o'clock he was removed to his hoardiDg-bouse, No. 156

Senecaxatreet. His weakness was attested'here" by his fainting away as he attempted tb the stairs. Dr Phelßl leftlbim\aftfer" seven 0%-lock, in a hopeful state, though, complaining of internal pain. A" subsequent visit about" Eleven o'clock showed that pleurisy had set in on the left side, accompanied by considerable raising of blood, and when we last saw the physician after this'visitj he considered his patient iu. a very critical condition, as pleuro-pneumonia was imminent. A stron? constitution may carry him through, but ''the case-is a desperate one. . JL The herd of the leap , says that almost as soon as he commenced the descent he seemed.to be asleep. He was not conscious of sprawling out in the air as he did. He felt no pain when he struck the water,' but had a sensation, as if in. a dream, that he had fallen a great height and was terribly hurt. He did not strike the bottom he is confident. When he rose, to the surface he: became conscious of pain. Afterwards he attributed his change of position to a current of air,' but this is nonsensical on its face, and must be considered as an effort of a wotdd-be scientific jumper to cover up a failure. The homely word " sprawl " precisely expresses what Thorne did in the air, and therefore we use it.

It was evident, to-all who watched him that the change in the position of his body from the perpendicular to the horizontal was immediately consequent upon his spreading 'his legs apart. As he did this when not more than one third of the way down, the velocity could scarcely have then made him unconscious," and we ban only conclude that his nerve failed him, and he threw out his limbs through an impulse cognate to that which causes a drowning man to clutch at straws.' He said last night he would make his promised jump at Niagara. If hid style of/eZo de se cannot be considered an offence,it can be guarded against by the arrest of him and his imitators by the police on the charge of lunacy. The law of falling bodies is, that they descend 16 feet in a second, after which the distance increases as the square of the time. Thus, if a body falls 16 feet in one second, it falls 64 feet, or four times 16, in two seconds • 14-4 feet, or nine times sixteen, in three seconds, and so on. Since the fall of Thome's body was about 125 feet, the time of falling must have been a little less than three seconds.

It will be seen by this rule that in the third second a "body falls 80 feet, and his must have acquired this velocity when it struck the water. A velocity of SO feet per second is equivalent to a mile a minute, so that the latter rate expresses but a trifle rnort, than the force with which the unswerving laws of gravity threw Thorne against the water. When we take this fact into consideration, we may well wonder if he survives the shock.