Niagara Falls 



1902 each end and also at the sides of the cockpit. A new feature in 

 *p rapids navigation was that to the keel there was fastened by iron 



straps an iron keel that weighed one thousand two hundred and 

 fifty pounds. He intended to establish a boat service through the 

 rapids, he said. On July 9, 1 900, Nissen made one of the pret- 

 tiest rapids trips ever seen. It was after four o'clock when the 

 " Fool Killer " appeared on the river in tow of a rowboat. After 

 being cast adrift, it was caught in an eddy on the Canadian side 

 and had to be started again. It was close to five o'clock when the 

 boat finally entered the rapids. It rode the waves magnificently. 

 Frequently the foaming waters dashed clear over it, but it did 

 not capsize. Reaching the whirlpool, Nissen floated for an hour 

 before his boat was caught by men from the shore. The follow- 

 ing day the boat was sent out of the pool, and in the trip down 

 the river the rocks tore away the iron keel and rudder, also a small 

 propeller-wheel which he had intended to operate. 



Nissen rebuilt his boat and turned it into the smallest steam- 

 boat afloat. About a ton of iron was fitted to the wooden keel. 

 When he came to Niagara Falls, in the summer of 1901, he 

 announced his intention of taking soundings close up to the Horse- 

 shoe Fall in hope of discovering new facts about the great water- 

 fall which is credited with excavating the gorge. After his boat 

 was launched, he made several trips near the Horseshoe, accom- 

 panied by a young man named James Rich, who was tied on the 

 deck of the boat for fear the wash of the river would sweep him 

 away. Rich had several narrow escapes, but he stuck to the boat. 

 Nissen gained no important facts by his alleged soundings in 

 the vicinity of the falls, but hoped that he might have better luck 

 in the whirlpool. 



On Saturday afternoon, October 12, 1901, in the presence of 

 the largest crowd that ever assembled to witness such a perform- 

 ance, Nissen made his second trip through the rapids. His craft, 

 though a steamboat, had no steam up when going through the 

 gorge. It simply floated like a log, and when it approached the 

 rapids Nissen concealed himself under the deck. The smokestack 



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