New-York tribune. [volume], April 30, 1905, Page 2, Image 18

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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u\y INSTRUCTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA, WIIO SLIDES DOWN A LONG WIRK CABLE FROM
THE TOP OF A SWISS MOUNTAIN.
DARING TRIP BY WIRE.
Hade by an Adventurous Srciss
Doxcn a Mountainside.
WJ:i!f m:iny Americans are standing agape
»t th» almost reckless daring- of Mile. D? Ti>rs,
the pretty young: French woman who daily take 3
Jior life in her hands aa she makes the "dip of
death" at the Bantam & Bailey circus, there
eoires from quiet Geneva, Switzerland, another
tale of daring calculated to set the pulses beat-
Ing with unwonted vigor.
K. Chapuia is the name of the performer in
this latest death defying feat, but the perform
anci differs from others of its kind in that it
takes place In the open, with the sky for a
canopy, a mountain for part of the "property"
:•■ ! wondering peasants for an audience. From
t timmit of the mountain down a steel wire
< ■'.'< nearly half a mile long, and at some points
ever thru- hundred feet above the ground, M.
ills slides to the valley below.
Tl • cable Is about three-quarters of an Inch
tfci k. and from the valley the highest part of
It can hardly be seen with the naked eye, the
daring performer having the appearance of
1!' sting in space when mounted upon It. At
one point in the distance covered there is a
span of about nine hundred and eighty feet be
tv. •• n the supports, at a height of one hundred
anJ sixty feet. The angle varies from forty to
lift. <lej»rees and the greatest difficulty M.
< ! i vis Bays he experiences Is to prevent him
self Hum sliding down too quickly. During his
li 1 trip down the steep incline he burned his
hi Is terribly trying to hold himself back, and
t . . then the speed of his descent was such as
to tear his clothing to shreds. Since that first
til., lie baa gone down astride a saddle of stout
leath r.
i haps the greatest difficulty he experienced.
however, was that of keeping his balance on the
iw^ying wire. Until several trips had aecus
loi I him to It, the tendency was to turn over
li. i lownwaid during the descent Realizing
thai this would mean Inability to maintain his
h"i : of the wire and death on the rocks several
J feet below, the intrepid man fought
bravely against It and finally succeeded in inaa-
I the secret of keeping his balance.
M Chapuia is not a professional slack rope
pi rJ inner. lie is :in instructor in the University
»f < ieneva, but he Is a young man full of the
InLi m love of adventure and daring, for which
tli> young men of Switzerland are noted. The
Wire cable down which he slides was originally
en '•'! to convey blocks of limestone from the
quarries on the summit of Saleve. a mountain
to the southeast of OWMM. to the valley below.
tl'vakuig of his sensations during the trip, M.
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
(Photograph by I* MoltT. Genera.)
Chapuls said recently that a feeling of horror
sometimes possesses him when from the sum
mit of the mountain he glances along the slen
der, silvery thread stretching away before him
to the valley below. At such times it is only by
the exercise of all of his will power that he can
bring himself to make the trip, but once seated
on the wire all fear leaves him and he fae!s per
fectly at home.
MISINTERPRETED.
Relshazzar saw the writing on the wall.
"Probably frenzied warnings from Boston."
they interpreted.
Hastening out to sell his copper, he was un
able to avert the real catastrophe.
SHOWING ms TONGUB TO THB DOCTOR.
An ape In the Philadelphia Zoo which has been Inoculated with tuberculosis germ*
AN ANIMAL INFIRMARY.
To Ascertain If Their Diseases En
danger Human Beings.
In a little low build ins at the Philadelphia
Zoological Park investigations are now being
made of great Importance to the worlJ. For
a long time it has been suspected that the
germs of contagious i n co:iimunieated
to human beings by domestij pats, cats, dogs,
rabbits, birds, monkeys or mice. But no sci
(Photograph ty J&Bea Frfcex Gean*J
entist has been able to say: "I know that
germs are communicated In this way." It will
be the work of the corps of doctors now en
gaged in investigating animal diseases at the
new infirmary of the Philadelphia Zoological
Park to settle this important point-
So far the scientists enlisted in this work bava
confined their efforts to obtain from animate
and bird 3 afflicted with tuberculosis and kin
dred dJseases germs tor culture purposes. In
the culture room" of the infirmary are a hundred
or more tubes in which germs taken from sick
birds and animals are being fostered. When
the proper time ccmes a careful comparison will
be made between these germ 3 and similar ones
taken from human beings, with th object of
determining whether or not they are identical.
Experiments will be made also to determine
how far disease germs peculiar to one syeclea
of animal can be communicated to another.
whether or not the tuberculosis germ common
to birds can be communicated to animals and to
what extent an animal is liable to succumb to
the ravages of a disease communicated from a
weaker species. The primary object always to
be kept in view at the infirmary is to ascertaia
the extent of the danger to the human family
from the diseases of the lower animals, if the
experiments determine that the germs common
to birds or monkeys or cats can ha communi
cated to man.
A secondary object to be attained by the
experiments is to determine the best moans to
cure the ills of the animal world. This is the
phase of the work that will chiefly Interest
veterinarians all over the world, iv*..: the first
named feature of the experiments will chiefly
concern those Intrusted with the alleviation of
the woes of the human race.
In the Interests of these important questions
the authorities of the Zoological Park and the
veterinary surgeons and medical men engaged
with them In conducting the experiments have
not hesitated to sacrifice valuable animals. The
veterinary department of the University of Penn
sylvania has purchased a number of monkeys.
These monkeys have been Inoculated with the
tuberculosis germ and turned loose among a
cageful of monkeys at the Zoological Fork. They
have been carefully watched, with a view to
determining whether or not they coir.muniou.ta
the disease to the healthy monkeys. and a
record Is kept of all the'^condltions of their
vitality during the progress of the disease. At
the. beginning the scientists engaged to (ft work
find themselves confronted by the most puzzling
questions. For Instance, an ape was isotuted
after proof of his being afflicted with tubercu
losis. The scientists at the Infirmary made
careful tests of hl3 temperature to determine
the course of the disease. An ape temperature
la not easily taken. It is necessary Cor three <■>*