Niagara — Historical and Reminiscent 



when this time came, the waters dashed his life out as though 1902 

 angered at the victory that Robinson had won. In 1 883 Capt. "" ap 

 Matthew Webb, a famous English swimmer, left his home and 

 crossed the ocean to battle with the powerful currents in the 

 Niagara gorge. It was generally believed that when Webb 

 reached Niagara and viewed the rapids, he would reconsider his 

 determination. But he did not lose confidence, and on July 24, 

 1883, he entered a small boat, with Jack McCloy at the oars, 

 and started down the river. When yet several hundred feet from 

 the rapids, he leaped from the boat, and with nothing on but a 

 pair of red trunks, swam with all his skill into the foaming 

 waters. Thousands were on the cliff-tops and bridges. As 

 Webb passed under the suspension-bridge, he swam with much 

 grace and beauty. Right into the crested waves he was hurled 

 as the force of his own strong strokes and the current sent him 

 forward. He was seen to pass a few of the swells, and then he 

 was sucked under by a mighty wave. Four days later his life- 

 less body was picked up seven miles down the river, and to-day 

 it rests in a grave in Oakwood Cemetery. Webb's mistake was 

 in failing to recognize that even if he could have battled with the 

 swirling currents, the air-charged waters of the gorge and rapids 

 lacked the buoyancy necessary to support him. 



The fate that befell Webb, instead of discouraging others, 

 inspired them to emulation. Among those who aspired to make 

 the trip was Carlisle D. Graham, a Philadelphia cooper. Many 

 jokes were cracked at Graham's expense when in 1886 he 

 announced that he would make a barrel in which he would go 

 through the rapids. In due time Graham, true to his word, 

 appeared at Niagara with a barrel in which he could stand, so 

 weighted that it would float nearly upright. Not only did he go 

 through the Whirlpool Rapids, but he was swept through the 

 entire gorge to Lewiston, the trip occupying thirty-five minutes. 

 Then he announced that on his next trip he would have his head 

 out of the top of the barrel in full view of the people. This ven- 

 ture left him very little hearing, for a big wave gave him a deafen- 



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