No Barrel Riding For Me, Thanks - 2009-09-12 18:55:24
<<< Previous - Some Kalispell Photos I Forgot to Post | Next - Odd Things In Airports, Part One... >>>I swear, I totally didn't start out looking for this information, I just sort of wandered into it. Great run down of the area and diagrams of the falls here:
How Going Over Niagara Works (How Stuff Works.com)
"...Charles Stevens, 1920
The next daredevil to challenge Niagara Falls was Charles Stevens. Charles was also from England and was also something of a stuntman. He was a barber who performed high dives and parachute jumps and was well-known as "The Demon Barber of Bristol."
He went to Niagara Falls in 1920 to go over the Falls in a very heavy, Russian-oak barrel. Bobby Leach and William Hill, Sr., a local man who had rescued many from Niagara's swirling waters, tried to convince Charles to send the barrel over the Falls on a test run first, but he refused. His stubbornness was the death of him..."
So then I became interested in poor Charles. How could you not realize that tying an anvil to your legs, rather than making sure you'd not land on your head, was going to end in tragedy in 180 feet deep water?!
Bottom of the Barrel, 1994 Darwin Award Nominee
"...But Charles believed that if he strapped his arms to the side of the barrel and his feet to a large anvil as ballast, he would pop up out of the foam at the bottom of the cataract, safe, and right side up. He knew what he was doing and he was going to do it.
He launched his ungainly craft early one morning, and floated minutes through the rapids toward Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. 45 minutes after launch, the heavy barrel flew over the brink of the falls. So far, so good. But when Charles hit the water below, the anvil plunged through the bottom of the barrel, carrying most of Charles to the bottom with it. The barrel became stuck behind the falls. It wasn't until much later that the barrel's battered remains floated out into the mist. Attached was Charles' right arm, still strapped down, with his tattoo visible: "Don't Forget Me Annie.""
Hmmm. Perhaps I should have mentioned that it was a somewhat graphic story.
Actually the more you read about the falls the more you realize how amazing it is that
more people haven't died. And how much many of the folks going over owe to the people who fished them out when things went bad. The link from HowStuffWorks.com gives you the full run-down. And here are a few more links...
Daredevils of Niagara Falls
Includes people who accidentally went over the falls, and various other stunters. Tightrope walking over the falls was a fad for a while.
Has anyone really gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel?
Straight Dope column, July 18, 2003
History Channel's Niagara Falls Timeline
Niagara Falls Webcam
Note that you will see commercials from time to time. Ah I remember when the web was young, and webcams didn't broadcast commercials...
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