New-York tribune. [volume], September 19, 1920, Page 7, Image 71

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^Latest Tragedy Turns Notoriety Seekers to Niagara Falls
Not Deterred by the
Fate of Charles
Stevens
By Lloyd S. Graham
TT TOOK a tragedy and a freak?
ish streak in human nature to
JL revive the interest of the pub?
lic in the possibility of navigat?
ing Niagara Falls and living to teil
the tale.
Several years ago various daring
ones became possessed of the desire
tc go over the big cataract and still
live. The first one who was success
ful was a woman, Mrs. Anna Edsoi.
Taylor, who did the stunt in Octo?
ber, 1901. Of course the opposite
sex cou!d not rest until its repre?
sentative was successful. So it was
that Bobby Leach, English born,
went over the Horseshoe Fall in a
gteel barrel July 25, 1911, and spent
weeks in the hospital with a multi?
tude of broken bones.
Lost Interest In It
After that exploit interest died In
the feat. It had been done by a
man and a woman and had de?
scended to the realm of things com?
mon in human ken.
After that exploit by Leach no
other serious attempt was made to
go through what the Indians used
to call the Thunderer of the Waters
until Charles O. Stevens, of Bristol,
England, tried it a few weeks ago.
Stevens failed. His body has never
been recovered.
Promptly upon the news of the
tragedy resulting from Stevens's
attempt men and women In nearly
all of the largo cities of the coun?
try seemed filled with the desire to
go the Englishman one better. The
failure attracted far more real
attention than Stevens's success
would have done.
It seerns that Stevens was pos?
sessed of a great fear that he would
be arrested by the Canadian authori?
ties before he had a chance to make
his attempt, lie traveled by automo?
bile from Toronto to Hamilton, Ont.,
registered under an assumed name
in a hole! in the latter city, in?
sisted or. members of his party walk?
ing on the opposite side of the street
from him when he went out, so as
not to attract attention, and so on.
Because of that fear on the part
of Stevens, who had not the slight?
est visible fear of the trip over the
falls, newspapers naturally played
that up, and the idea that tho au- j
thorities would prevent any at?
tempt to accomplish the stunt be?
came fixed m the minds of a large
Mi:.,her Dt ; eople.
A Flout! of Requests
The result was that in almost the
next mail after the new.-* of the
Stevens tragedy was published,
Mayor Maxwell M. Thompson, of
Niagara balls, began to receive let?
ters asking permission to go over
the fails.
The officials of the City of Niag
ara Falls have always frowned on
any such attempts, and the chief
of police of the city promptly made
a statement that any one caught
making the attempt within the city
limits would be arrested.
Mayor Thompson referred the mat?
ter to the corporation counsel of the
city for an opinion, and as a result
of that official's ruling made up a
sort of form letter to answer the
correspondents on the subject. The
letter reads something like this:
"I beg to advise it is the opinion
of the Deputy Corporation Counsel
that 'any person attempting such a
feat (as going over Niagara Falls)
would be c.early a disorderly per?
son.' In view of the above, the offi?
cial granting such a permit, as well
as the pu?son performing the feat,
wou.d be violating the law."
( early tie sympathies of the
city administration are against any
such feat being accomplished.
Mayor Thompson went out of the
w:iy m? official necessity in answering
his first inquirer for a permit, Miss
Vernia Morrison, of 20 Bismarck
Avenue, Detroit, in sending her a
copy of The Niagara Falls Gazette
*7 HE man in the center is
* Bobby Leach, who went
over the falls in a barrel in
1911 and lived
I carrying a full account of Stevens's
i death.
"Crazy to Try It"
"1 am crazy to try It," Miss Mor
' rison had written, asking for a per?
mit and wondering if the people of
I the city would "take up a collec?
tion" or something for her if she
were successful. Miss Morrison
gave her age as twenty-four.
Despite the official chill of Mayor
Thlmpson's letter, it can be seen
that nothing very serious would
happen at the hands of the repre?
sentatives of the law if any one was
vaught making the attempt.
"It would probably mean a pinch
and a $5 line for any one that tried
it," one of the city officials said
>~utto voce.
There the matter stands at pres?
ent. The police have not been over?
worked at all in preventing folks
from committing; what most natives
of the city consider an extravagant
form of suicide.
It is a significant fact that no i
native has asked permission to
navigate old Niagara. They know I
The Co?fee Peddler Arrives
ORIENTAL scenes on the
East Side have been given
an added exotic touch by th?
advent of a b.?
Turkish coffee sellers, who, dressed
in their native costumes, thread their
way through the crowded, narrow
streets with huge copper coffee urr:s
strapped across their backs. Wher?
ever you may happen to be, if the
thirst for coffee attacks you, all you
have to do in to hail one of .these
loud-shrieking Turks, and there, as
you stand m the middle of the street,
or on the sidewalk, or lean against
one of tli" p,liars of the Second Ave?
nue elevated, you may quaff a couple
of mouthfuls of the amber fluid.
How ?he Turkish coffee sellers
came recently to Invado the East
Sido is unknown even to the deni-1
tens of that picturesque quarter of
the city. Perhaps the war made
business poor in Constantinople, or
some Turkish immigrant, shrewdly
observing the great number of caf?s
past of the Bowery, wrote to his fel?
lows at home of a new field of en?
deavor. The East Siders are noto?
rious'y fond of coffee. And just as
they i ike coffee, they like color and
gutter. The Turkish merchant is a
combination of all these attractions.
H yon saunter down one of the
-ast Side streets, which are lined
on each side with pushcarts piled
? ?7gh with clothing, shoes, hats,
groceries and every other article
conceivable for human consumption
or wear, you may watch how the
Turkish coffee seller plies his trade.
In tne first place, he is visible among
? multitude. He wears a white cot?
ton suit and is capped with a red
turban. Most conspicuous of his
outfit, however, is the urn. Its cop?
per exterior, bound in brass, is so
highly polished it can be seen fo.r
blocks, and when the sun shines on it
? glitters like a searchlight.
On closer examination you will
and that it is boiling hot inside, the
?*?*? spurting out of a little funnel
*t the top, and a charcoal fire at
?*?rk at the hase. Around the top is ?
* Hw of ?nail hooka upon whiobj
bang half a dozen tiny cups, some of
retal and some of china. There is
; jingle and a dash about the Turk
a.'; he wends his wuy through the
ctowd which seem to make his
shrill cry unnecessary. One might
think that the cry was emitted be?
cause the hot and bubbling urn was
burning his back, but he has too
good-humored an expr< ssion for that.
Whether the contents of the hot
urn prove a palatable stimulant de
ponds upon whether you have culti?
vated a taste for Turkish coffee. The
Turk respond?? to your signal. Ib
shifts his unwieldy burden more ca>
ily to reach a cup and the spigot. A
little stream of bubbling black liquid
falis into the cup, which holds only
a few thimblefuls, and then with
i out any cream and only a speck of
! sugar, your lips touch the coffee.
I Perhaps you wince a little, for Turk
I ish coffee to the uninitiated palate is
the blackest, bitterest substance
i which bears the name of beverage.
It is made of coffee beans half
scorched, ground to powder and
boiled until hardly a sediment re?
mains. You get all the coffee when
you drink it Turkish style.
i In spite of the shudder which over
i runs you as the hot liquid slips down
I your throat, the beverage is popular
: on the East. Side. This is evidenced
1 by the new customers who approach
\ while you are drinking. One is, per
' haps, a long-bearded Jewish mer?
chant who has abandoned bis push?
cart momentarily in favor of a little
! refreshment. His great eyes glisten
i as he swallows his drink, which is
| concluded with a grunt of satisfac?
tion. Then comes another merchant,
: until soon a regular coffee party is
on. It all is taking place on the side
i walk, or perhaps, when the party
becomes too numerous, it adjourns
to a doorway.
Within a few minutes the party
breaks up. The Turk collects his
i money, washes his cups and con?
tinues his way, throwing behind him
the glitter of his shining copper urn
Tind before him the cheery announce- j
j ment that coffee is about to be
? nerved. j
too much about it. Bobby Leach,]
the one successful man, has been
quoted as saying rte would do the
stunt again. He lives in Niagara |
Falls, although he is not a native of '
it. But Bobby Leach also told the
writer that once was enough and
plenty. Never again for him.
A Gamble With Death
But if any one knows how the
stunt ought to be tried to have a
fair chance of success it doubtless I
is Leach. At its best, he points out, |
it is a gamble with death, with the
odds far from even.
Consider the facts to be faced: It j
would bo utterly impossible to go j
over the Americun fall because the
water is so shallow In the rapids
above and there are so many rocks
just below the cataract This fall
is given as 1.080 feet wide and 167 !
feet high. The chances are th.it
any kind of a receptacle would be
dashed to pieces on the shallows
before it ever got to the brink of j
the precipice. It certainly would
not stand a chance of remaining ;
whole after the drop of 167 feet !
to the rocks, which can be plainly
seen, below.
That being the case, the only fair
chanee is at the. Canadian or Horse-1
shoe Falls, whet? there are aomej
fH ARLES STEVENS en- ?1
^tering the barrel in which
he hoped io go over the falls
safely. A small piece of the
barrel is all that has been
found
deep channels. Leach says that the
river is much more Rhallow and,
therefore, more dangerous now than
it was at the time he tried it.
Some idea of the shallow condi?
tion of the Horseshoe Rapids above
the falls can be obtained by an inci?
dent of a few months ago. A mud
scow broke from its moorings on
the American side several miles up
the Niagara River. There was
nothing to control it, and all at- j
tempts at a rescue were futile. It !
drifted across to the Canadian side j
at the parting of the waters, at
Goat Island, and made for the brink
of the Horseshoe Falls.
Saved at the Brink
One of the men on the boat made i
an effort to escape what seemed cer?
tain death and Jumped overboard, j
He was dashed over the falls, but
the others remained en the boat in a
forlorn hope. The crowds watching
on shore would not have given them
a chance in a thousand of coming j
ont alive. Yet, about 150 feet from j
the brink of the cataract the scow
struck and stuck fast on the rocks.
It is still there and can be plainly
seen from Goat Island. The men
were rescued by those on shore
shooting a rope over to the boat.
There are a variety of reasons
why the water is more shallow than
in 1911, when Leach made his trip.
The chief reason is that a large
amount is being diverted for power
purposes, not only actually at
Niagara Falls, but from Lake Mich?
igan, so that the volume of water is
ne t as great?
But even with the comparatively
shallow water there still is a mod?
erately good chance, in the opinion
of Bobby Leach, of some one success?
fully navigating the Horseshoe Fall.
The latter is said to be about 2500
feet wide, following the contour line,
and 15S feet deep. Besides having
the advantage of the deep channel
above the brink it also ha.s a deep
pool at the bottom in which to drop.
A Series of Rubber Balls
The equipment, Leach says, should
consist of a series of gigantic rubber
balls, on? within the other, v. ith the
man or woman who attempts the
feat in the inner ball. This material
weuld have to be especially con
I itructed to provide the* utmost,
rVHE rapids below the falls,
only less terrifying than
the falls tin. msclves
strength ami resiliency. It would
not easily snug or be iestroyed on
rocks if it should get out of the
channel above the cataract and its
resiliency with the tons of water
racing at the speed of an express
train behind it would serve also to
toss it far out into the deep pool
with the least possible chance of dis?
aster.
Most of those who were eyewit?
nesses of the Stevens disaster, in?
cluding Bobby Leach, say that it
was doomed to failure from the first
because of the poor equipment.
Stevens himself was supremely
happy and confident in the attempt
and would let nothing dissuade him
from it.
Pieces of the Barrel
Stevens's barrel, according to his
directions, was towed out into the
river with a motor boat and cast
adrift about three miles above the
falls. In about forty-five minutes
watchers on shore saw his cask dis?
appear in the spray as it went over
the brink. All that was ever found
were pieces of the barrel.
The barrel, it is said, was so
poorly constructed that one of the
steel hoops fell off before Stevens
entered it and was not replaced. It
seems that they were simply driven
on the staves of Russian oak and
had nothing but the pressure to hold,
them in place. Stevens wore a
padded suit and had lead weights
strapped to his feet to keep the
barrel in an upright position.
Stevens was fifty-eight years old
and was a barber by trade. He left
a wife and a large family in Bristol,
England. Stunts where danger pre?
dominated had been his specialty
throughout his whole life. He
claimed to have lied about his age
to get into the war and won three
w%r medals. In addition to that he
had nine others for various deeds of
pHE steps down the side of \
1 the cliff lead to the Cave
of the Winds, where three !
persons were killed recently !
by a slide of rock
; heroism, such as shaving a man in a i
'lion's cage, putting his head in a.
i lion's mouth and doing parachute!
stunts. But Niagara bested him.
Ambitious Cet Busy
Then came the ambition of others
to do what Stevens had failed at. '
Nearly every one had a different
idea regarding equipment, from
| variations of the barrel idea to that
of the man who could not swim a
! j
i stroke, although he had lived around
: water (cana!) all his life, and just
hankered to do the stunt in a row
boat.
Undoubtedly some of the letters
to Mayor Thompson were lakes or I
practical jokes which the writer
played upon friends by signing the
| victim's name to the letter. But j
most of them were in earnest.
One of the first letters came from
?Thomas H. Whitford jr., of 1197
East Seventy-fourth Street, deve?
lan I, Ohio, a railroad fireman, who j
?-:
Only Two Have Madej
the Trip and
Lived
had been a safJor and was not afraid
of the water. Frank Lazar, of 367
Ludington Street, Buffalo, asked
Mayor Thompson for suggestions as
, well aa permission, asserting that
? be "was aa gAme as they mako
them."
i
Dudley O. Peterson, of 533 Henne
pin Avenue, Minneapolis, asked per
missaoTQ, suggesting that he thought;
the stunt was feasible in a blown
out rubber suit. Charles Ensign, of
Medina, N. Y., asked permission,
complaining fiat he had been plan
; rang a barrel a long time for a trip
| but Stevens had beaten him to it.
Leach Is Through
Some still insist that Leach will
try it once again. But he insist?
i that be will not? Maybe ho would
like to, but one of the reasons whj
he will not is his charming little
? daughter, Pc3r!, a child in he:
' early teens, who will not listen U
talk of the possibility, even, and ha:
a compelling way of insisting tha
her daddy sbali not repeat his ex
ploit of nine years ago. She sav
that exploit, but was too young V
realize what it was all about. Bu
she was with her father the day o
the Stevens fatality, among thi
watchers on the shore, and now un
derstanda the danger.
According to most of the native
of Niagara Falls on both sides o
the river serious thought of the stun
is foolhardy, even insane. The
want none of it. No one of ther
will be induced to make the trip.
The great cataracts are somethin,
to be enjoyed in a scenic way, thos
people think. Hundreds of thoi
sands of people see them every yea:
stroll along the banks of the rusl
ing waters, explore the parks o
both sides as well as Goat Island i
the centei of the river, enter ti
Cave of the Winds, ride on th
Maid of the Mist, spend honeymooi
and holidays communing with m
ture in its r^iajestic splendor ther
That is all very well. In that w?
Niagara serves.
To be sure, Niagara has taken
heavy toll of human life. Most i
that is through suicide. But son
, cases were accidental. The story
told of three men who went over tl
falls about 1810. That is the fir
instance en record of white mi
losing their lives involuntarily
that manner.
Since that time scarcely a yei
has passed without some thril?r
tale of tragedy or rcsc it both belo
and above the catar et. One of tl
notable tragedies was that of tl
breaking up of the ice bridge <
Sunday, February -1, 1912, causii
the death of three persons. With
the last few days has eome the fal
ing of tons of boulders in the Ca1
of the Winds while tightse? rs we
underneath, taking its toll of liv?
This is the first ancident of its kii
to result in fatalities.
Italy the Home of Quakes
ITALY'S latest disastrous earth?
quake has visited a district that
usually suffers only minor
tremors put into motion by the
volcanic disturbances of Mounts Ve?
suvius and Etna. That these ex
; ceedingly active volcanoes are ex
! tending their fields of violence
] seems assured from the fact that
' Vesuvius is located well down with
j in the instep of the Italian "boot,"
; while Etna is still further south
on the island of Sicily, just across
; the narrow straits of Messina from
i the extreme end of the toe.
These last shocks confined them
I selves almost entirely to Northern
Italy, extending from Florence, the
southernmost victim of the quakes,
to Milan on the north. But the
disturbances at Milan were more or
less mild, the great undulations be?
ing between Florence and Modena,
which is about half way between
: Florence and Milan.
Southern Italy has been visited by
numerous disastrous earthquakes
the first of which there is any reli?
able record occurring at Catania
Sicily, in the year 1157, when 15,00(
people lost their lives. In 1456 there
were severe shocks in the vicinity ol
Naples, statistics of that day allot
ting a total of 40,000 persons U
its toll of human life, while Sicilj
was ?gain the victim of nature':
wrath in the year 1693, when thi
huge total of 100,000 inhabitant:
paid the penalty for living so close
? to Mounts Vesuvius and Etna
Great tidal waves washed in ove
i the low shores of the island am
. added materially to both life am
property loss on this occasior
Aou?a furnished the ground for th
i next momentous quake, with a los
: of 6,000, which seems quite smai
when compared with previously r<
?orded catastrophes.
We now come to the first Teeor
of an earthquake in the northern db
tricts of Italy, severe disturbance
occurring in the Abruzzi section du
j ing 1706, exacting a toll of 15,0(
lives and ranch property damage. /
most of this northern part is mou:
talnous it is probable that the prop?
erty damage was not in as great a
proportion as the loss of life.
No quake of any consequence has
since visited Northern Italy until the
recent one, but it may presage dis?
turbances of a similar nature tele?
graphed up to that section through
the successive strata? uf the Apen?
nines, influenced hy the powerful vol?
canic forcea generated by Mounts
Vesuvius and Etna.
In 1726 the scene of earthquake
operations again makes ita appear?
ance in Sicily. The brunt of theto
shocks is borne by the city of Pa?
lermo and vicinity, which is on the
opposite side of the island from
Mount Etna. The Joss of 6,000 lives
resulted, while many other thou?
sands were rendered homeless. Just
?ix years later Naples had a suc?
cession of tremors that reduced its
population by 1,900, which is indeed
a comparatively email loss for tho
usual earthquake of Southern Italy.
Things then went along quietly
enough in an earthquake way, with
the exception of the many slight
tremors coming yearly to which tho
average inhabitant pays little at*
tention, until the year 1783, when
the Calabria district experienced one
of its worst quakes since becoming
the toe of Italy's "hoot." This dis?
turbance was possibly caused by thi
nearness of the volcano Mount Etna
which is just across the narrow
straits of Messina, It is recorded
that 2$,000 people lost their lives il
this catastrophe.
Twenty-two years later Moun
Vesuvius evidently got in anothe
; one of its telling blows by causin?
i a severe series of quakes in th
Naples district, the loss of life beir.
placed at 6,000 and the propert
damage correspondit;!;,- high. I
; 183,-j Calabria again uffered a los
of 1,000 inbal ?tant.- fn m what the
considered a i-. \:u>r hake. it tl
more disaa rous r t ?low ing it
i 1857 increased its human toll
10,000.