Niagara Falls 



1902 through three-quarters of a mile of rapids above the fall before 

 Dunlap the frightful precipice was reached did not deter her. 



On Sunday, October 20th, and again on the following Wed- 

 nesday, the waiting crowds were disappointed. Owing to a high 

 wind, the barrel could not be towed into the current. People 

 became skeptical, but the next day Mrs. Taylor was true to her 

 word. Starting out from Port Day, a mile above the falls, she 

 was rowed to Grass Island. There she was strapped in the 

 barrel and towed far out in the Canadian current. Just before 

 the start, the craft was pumped full of air. Fastened to the 

 bottom was a blacksmith's anvil weighing about one hundred 

 pounds to keep the barrel upright in the water. 



When within two hundred yards of the Canadian shore, one 

 of the boatmen rapped on the barrel with his oar. This was the 

 signal to Mrs. Taylor that she was to be cast adrift, and a minute 

 later, at 4.05 o'clock, the line was cut. With all speed the boat 

 hurried out of the dangerous current, while the barrel in which 

 was Mrs. Taylor sped on toward the great Horseshoe. All who 

 have viewed Niagara know the wild nature of the waters above 

 the falls. Reef after reef extends from shore to shore, over which 

 the tumbling torrent flows in splendid fury. It is a spectacle that 

 delights the artist's eye, but one to strike terror to the heart of any 

 would-be navigator. There is a descent of fifty-five feet in these 

 whitened waves before the fall is reached, and through them Mrs. 

 Taylor and her barrel shot. Tumbling, rolling, now and then 

 it lingered under the foaming waters at the foot of a reef, but, 

 reappearing, was swept on toward that awful brink over which 

 no human being had passed and lived. 



After the barrel came in sight, plunging down the rapids, little 

 was said by the thousands gathered at every point whence the 

 broad surface of the river could be seen. Each eye was strained 

 to catch the movements of the small dark object tossing on the 

 white-capped waves far out on the river. The last reef was 

 passed. There was nothing but smooth, clear water now between 

 the barrel and the brink of the Horseshoe. It felt the suction of 



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