Niagara Falls 



1902 Graham would await her coming through the rapids at the whirl- 

 pool on the American side. If the barrel and its occupant were 

 swept out of the pool, Graham was to swim out and go to Lewis- 

 ton with it; if not, he was to go alone. 



At 3.53 P. M. the barrel, with Miss Willard and her pet 

 dog, were in tow of a small boat pulling out in the current. The 

 barrel was set adrift in the middle of the river, and it shot right 

 into the rapids. It received the usual tossing, and in four minutes 

 was floating across the whirlpool. It was quickly seen by those 

 who knew the pool that the currents were running in an unusual 

 manner. Instead of being carried toward the Canadian shore, 

 where many were ready to capture it, the barrel floated well 

 toward the center, and round and round it swept. On the 

 American shore Graham and others watched the barrel. At 

 4.58 o'clock it was sucked into a deep whirl, and two minutes 

 later it sank from sight, drawn down into the depths of the whirl- 

 pool by the mighty forces at work there. It was a startling 

 spectacle for the hundreds on the banks to witness, and all 

 wondered if the barrel and its human occupant were gone for- 

 ever. Soon the barrel jumped far out of the water as it was 

 hurled up by the current, some hundreds of feet distant from 

 where it had gone down, but it resumed its course with the cur- 

 rent, drifting far out from the reach of those on shore. 



It had not been long in sight before it was observed that it 

 listed to one side, and those who had seen other barrel trips felt 

 that something unusual had taken place inside the craft they 

 were watching. Hopeful that the men on the Canadian side 

 would capture the barrel, Graham, in order to give the moving- 

 picture machine an opportunity to record his swim, was forced to 

 leap into the water before sunset, and while the barrel was still 

 floating in the pool he started for Lewiston. His swim was a 

 success, and he has the credit of being the only person who has 

 swum from the pool to Lewiston. When Graham returned up 

 the gorge, he found the barrel and Miss Willard still imprisoned 

 on the revolving waters of the wonderful pool. 



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