Feb, 5, 1891.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



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and ui)set at a signal, the canoeist right his canoe, bail it out, jump 

 m agram and sail to the finishing stake. 



Q. What was the widest stretch of water, Mr. Bakcwell, that 

 you ever paw a ranoe orosF? A. I am not sure whether Lake 

 Champlain is wider or the St. Lawrence, hoth are pretty wide. I 

 saw a sailing race in canoes on Lake Champlain from the deck 6f 

 a steamboat as I was going hotre from the meet, I had to leave 

 early, where the people were seasick on board the steamer, which 

 was as large as one of the Sound steamers, very large. 



Q. Fr'.m your experience in canoeing, do you consider canoeing 

 as it is piafticed within your knowledge, in all kinds of waters, 

 mountain streams, placid streams, lakes, lakes in times of storms, 

 when the waves are high enough to make people sick on steam- 

 boats, under such circumstances do you consider canoeing a dan- 

 gerous sport comparatively speaking? A. I think all out-door 

 sports are more or less dangerous; I do not think canoeing is more 

 dangerous than any other out-door sport, such as boating in the 

 ordinary sense of the word, tiorseback riding, driving or any other 

 of the ordinary sports. I have never considered it dangerous my- 

 self or been in a place that I would consider perilous. A certain 

 amount of skill is of course required, as it takes a certain amount 

 ot skill to ride a horse; but it is not as dangerous, and a canoe In 

 my opinion is not as dangerous as an ordinary Tarentum skiff, 

 working boat, shell. By the words "Tarentum skiff" I mean the 

 usual kind of skiff used on the Allegheny River, with which I am 

 most familiar. 



Q. Mpjor Howe testified yesterday, if I remember correctly, that 

 a wooden boat would be safer in going down rapids where there 

 were rocks than a canvas boat for the reason that it would slide 

 over the rocks while a canvas boat was liable to have a hole torn 

 '^^■Ih What have you to say to that? A. I don't agree entirely 

 vfith that. A canvas boat— I think a wooden boat would be safer 

 than a birch bark, to a certain extent, or about equally as safe. 

 A birch bark, on the other hand, has more lightness, would 

 slip over more easily than a wooden boat. A canvas boat would 

 be apt to give, and although on a sharp rock it might be torn in 

 certain cases, yet on anything other than a sharp projecting rock 

 it would be safer than a cedar boat. 



Q. Mr. Bakewell, you have te&tifled that you thought, compara- 

 tively Bpeakine, canoeing was not more dangerous than other out- 

 door sports. I wish you to consider that question in regard to loss 

 of life, and I ask you if you have any oi.inion, and if so, upon 

 what basis it is formed? A. I have made a study of canoeing. 



Q. If you had gotten off at Johnstown that morning and had an 

 offer of an Osgood canoe would you have been willing to have 

 come down in it? A. Yes, I have already testified that I think 

 that Osgood canoe would be as safe as a wooden canoe. I don't 

 think I would have hesitated at all. And so far as I am concerned 

 I think I would have been perfectly safe. 



Q. Mr. Bakewell, would the fact that that canoe floated for a 

 mile or two as has been testified, supporting Mr. Orth,be any 

 factor in your judgment as to its being one safe to trust to? A. 

 Yes, because where a canoe will float and support a man if he is 

 able to swim there would have been no trouble about Mr. Orth 

 saving his life in my opinion. 



Q. You have heard the testimony describing the manner Mr. 

 Comingo fell head foremost from the canoe. Are you able to ex- 

 press any opinion as to what was the cause of his death? A. From 

 the testimony it appears— it struck me he struck his head agains*- 

 a roek, that might have been the occasion of being stunned; not 

 being able to help himself he drowned. If it had not been for 

 something of that eoit, he being a swimmer as has been testified 

 to, he could have held on to his canoe, and the river being a eom- 

 paiatively narrow one, there would have been no trouble in 

 swimming ashore even if he had been carried down some distance 

 before he reached the shore. 



Mr. G. H. Singer was the next witness called. Q. Have you had 

 any experience in canoeing? A. Yes, sir, more or less in the past 

 ten years. 



Q. On what streams have you ever been? A. I have been on the 

 Ohio Kiver, the Allegheny, Lake Chautauqua, Conorango Creek, 

 the St. Lawrence River, Ohartiers Creek. 



Q. Haveyou ever taken a trip in a canoe where there was swift 

 and rushing watu? A. Yes, sir. 



Q. On what creek or river? A. Well, the swiftest water I was 

 ever on was on Chartiers Creek. 



Q. Can you give any idea how rapid the stream was? A. Well, 

 I should say in some parts it was not less than ten or twelve miles 

 an hour. 



Q. Between what points did you go? A. We started at Canons- 

 burg and went down to Bridgeviile the first day, and during that 

 night It rained ali night; the creek rose I suppose 4 or 5ft.; then 

 we came down from Bridgeviile to a little below Mansfield. 



Q. What was the condition of the bed of Chartiers Creek, rocky 

 or otherwise? A. Pretty much all rock in the lower part; up 

 above Canonsburg there, about Canonsburg, there was more or 

 less slack water dammed. 



Q. Suppose that a man that was full grown, of mature years, 

 strong and well, with considerable experience in canoeing, who 

 was a good swimmer, should undertake a voyage in a canvas canoe 

 on the Conemaugh River in the condition in which the river was 

 at the time of the accident, what would be your judgment as to 

 whether it was a very dangerous undertaking or not? A. I think 

 the trip could be made; I would be willing to try it myself, I 

 wouldn't be surprised if I would be upset, but I wouldn't consider 

 that a very dangerous feature of it. I have been upset quite a 

 number of times. I consider that as long as a man can swim that 

 he is all right. 



Q. Mr. Singer, from your experience in canoeing, how would 

 canoeing, as practiced in this country and Canada at the present 

 time, compare as to danger with other outdoor athletic sports? 

 A. Well, I don't think it is more dangerous than a great many 

 other athletic sports. 



Q. Can you specify what ones you mean? A. Well, it is not as 

 dangerous as football or as polo. I don't think it is anvmore 

 dangerous than yachting. 



Q. Have you beard detailed, Mr. Singer, the manner in which 

 Jr. Comingo was precipitated from this canoe? A. Yes, sir, I 

 have. 



Q. What would be your judgment as to the cause of his death 

 under those circumstances? A. I think there is no doubt that he 

 was rendered helpless by being struck on the head, striking his 

 head on a rock, otherwise I think tie would have had no trouble in 

 getting out. 



Q. In which stage of water do you think the Conemaugh would 

 be more safely navigable; at high water such as this was, or at 

 In w water? A. Well, 1 think at high water they would have more 

 chance of meeting with no obstructions; they would have a clear 

 channel. 



Mr. Wm. H. Bea was next duly sworn. Q. Have you had any 

 experience in canoeing? A. Yes sir, some. 

 Q. For how long? A. Ten years. 



Q. In what stage of water, low or high water, would you con- 

 sider the Conemaugh River more safely navigable for a canoe? 

 A. Rather high water. 



Q. Have you heard the testimony here as to the manner in 

 which Mr. Comingo was thrown out of the canoe? A. Yes, sir. 



Q. What in your judgment was the cause of his death? A. I 

 think he hit his head on a rock or some log that was there, I be- 

 lieve was testified to. 



By the Court: Q. You say that you regard a high stage of 

 water as better for canoeing than a low stage of water? A. I do, 

 yes, sir. 



Q. Do you mean by that it is safer for life or better for canoe- 

 ing in high than in low water; because that is the question that 

 is particularly involved in this issue? A. I am basing my an- 

 swers entirely on my own experience coming down the rapid 

 stream, the rapid Allegheny, and, of course, if there was only 

 half the water there is no danger to life at all. a man couldn't 

 upset and drown; but I think it is safer to navigate a canoe on a 

 comparatively high stage of water, where the majority of the 

 rocks are hidden by the water, or so far below the surface that 

 they do not interfere with canoeing, than it is on a lower stage 

 where there are more rocks appearing. 



Q. You think it is safer for a man's life? A. I do, yes, sir. 



Messrs. J. B. Slack, J. T. Myler, J. W. Hague. C. W. Robb were 

 also sworn and gave testimony similar to that already mentioned. 

 Myler testified in answer to the questions. Q Isn't it customary 

 for good canoeists to kneel or stand up at the approach to rapids 

 in order to see the course? A. Very often, yes, sir; it is absolutely 

 necessary; yes sir. I came down the Clarion River one time, and 

 there they have brush dams largely, and the onlv way you could 

 get near the brow of the dam was to stand up till you see a clear 

 course, then make for that and let yourself go. 



Q. Suppose Mr. Comingo was standing up for that purpose, and 

 the canoe unexpectedly struck a concealed rock or log, and 

 he was thrown out. io what would you attribute his fall? A. Ac- 

 cident entirely. I don't assume any man is going to expose him- 

 self. 



It is therefore gratifying to have a court and jury decide that 

 this was not a case of "voluntary exposure to unnecessary danger 

 or perilous adventure." 



A. 0. A. MEMBERSHIp.-Eastern DivlBion-George Rear^op 



