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diff --git a/78938-0.txt b/78938-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..680c2b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/78938-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,541 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78938 *** + + + + + OVER THE FALLS + + ANNIE EDSON TAYLOR’S + STORY OF HER + LIFE + + HOW THE HORSESHOE FALL WAS CONQUERED + + [Illustration] + + Copyright July 15, 1902, by Annie Edson Taylor + + Published by + Mrs. Annie Edson Taylor + June, 190 + + [Illustration: The lines on this photo show the direction Mrs. Taylor + and her barrel took on her frightful plunge over the Horseshoe.] + + + + + Preface + + +Despite the thrilling nature of the story of which this book is +designed to be an accurate record, no attempt has been made to +embellish it with sensational statements. It is a plain recital of +fact. Annie Edson Taylor is the only human being who has ever gone over +the Falls of Niagara and lived to tell the story of her experience. +Even in its plain way, this little book has the distinguishing feature +of being a story thoroughly original; a story which no other one of +the million of people on this earth can truthfully tell as Annie Edson +Taylor has told it. + +In the face of her wonderful accomplishment of having conquered the +greatest waterfall in existence, Mrs. Taylor is not unmindful of the +history of Niagara, and so it is her wish that this book be dedicated +to the memory of the Indian maidens whose lives were sacrificed, as the +legends of old tell us, in the days gone by, when it was the custom of +the tribes to offer up their fairest daughters to the Great Spirit. As +the world has progressed science and invention have demonstrated where +mistakes were made in many fields, and it remained for Mrs. Taylor to +show that the mistake of the Indian maidens was in trying to conquer +Niagara in birch bark canoes instead of in barrels of Kentucky oak. We +live to learn. + + + + + Niagara’s Voyagers + + +Ever since the early part of the nineteenth century Niagara has been +the scene of perilous feats. Perhaps the earliest of these performances +was the leap of Sam Patch in 1829. From that time on, at various +intervals, men and women have journeyed to Niagara to win fame and +fortune by doing some deed they hoped would make them an unusual +attraction in the several fields they elected to enter to gain a living. + +The most popular feat at Niagara for many years was to voyage through +the Whirlpool Rapids in a boat or barrel or protected only by a life +preserver. Possibly the feat of Joel Robinson of June 6, 1861, set +the pace in this field of adventure. It was Robinson who piloted the +steamer Maid of the Mist through the marvelous Niagara canyon and its +rough waters to the more placid portion of the stream at Queenston. + +The intrepid Capt. Matthew Webb, a man who had successfully swam across +the English Channel, had the daring to try and pass through the wild, +tumultuous, tossing waters of the Whirlpool Rapids unprotected, but +instead of being a trip to fame, his was a trip to eternity. After +Webb came many others, and it was then that the barrel voyager of the +Niagara came into prominence. Protected by barrels several have made +trips through the Whirlpool Rapids and Whirlpool, in fact this voyage +long ago became lacking in interest. + +These circumstances and conditions led several to look about Niagara +in hopes of discovering some other route to golden fame. Of course, +there was the Falls, that stupendous downpour of water that drops +the overflow of Lake Erie to the stream that runs so swiftly on to +“Old Ontario.” The Falls of Niagara were there, and had been there +for centuries, but even the ambitious men and women who desired to +link their names forever with Niagara and its wonders, looked upon +it as too great a proposition for them to trifle with; they wanted +fame, they wanted dollars, but none of them sought death. And it was +written all about Niagara, on the tongues and faces of the oldest and +youngest residents, that whoever dare try and conquer this noble and +sublime Cataract would surely go down to the grave--a grave marked by a +monument bearing a statement of the occupant’s foolishness in presuming +to pass over the precipice of Niagara and live. + +When Annie Edson Taylor journeyed to Niagara and announced an +intention of going over the Falls, the announcement commanded but +little attention. Everybody looked upon it as a ridiculous ambition--a +foolish idea--and the knowing ones guessed that when she had studied +the chaotic nature of the waters in the three-quarter mile stretch of +rapids above the Horseshoe, she would quickly conclude that her home +was a more peaceful place in which to end her days. Nobody believed +that a woman would require but a glance at the awful plunge over the +Falls to convince her that death lurked in those waters, eager to +continue the unbroken record of fatalities on the list of those who had +involuntarily been caught in the suction of the upper rapids and swept +over the frightful brink into the chasm below. + +But Annie Edson Taylor lingered at Niagara. The date of her announced +trip arrived. The wind was too high to allow the boatmen to reach the +current necessary to escape the rocky reefs and to be swept over the +Horseshoe, and the world was amazed by the statement sent out from +Niagara that night that Annie Edson Taylor was still determined to +conquer the Horseshoe Fall of Niagara or die. It was then that the +people of the locality got serious on the matter. Previous to this time +there had been a vast amount of joking, all at Mrs. Taylor’s expense, +but this woman’s will was terribly set, and even the Coroner of Niagara +concluded that it was time for him to interfere in his official +capacity. + +On October 24, 1901, Annie Edson Taylor and her barrel were again taken +out on the Upper Niagara, and the story that follows tells that she +is the only person who has ever voluntarily made the frightful trip +through the Upper Rapids of the Niagara, plunged over the Horseshoe +Fall and floated on the foam-lashed, whirling waters of the Lower +Niagara. When it was announced that Mrs. Taylor had successfully made +the awful trip, the terrible drop into the gorge, the world was amazed, +but none more so than the people who had passed their lives close by +the Mighty Cataract, and who had come to believe that no human being +could pass over it and live. + +In the lines that follow Mrs. Taylor has herself told in a plain manner +the story of her life and her victory at Niagara. Her deed singles her +out from all the world, in that she has done what no other man or woman +ever before attempted. How she became impressed with the belief that +she could conquer Niagara is a mystery, but conquer it she did. + + + + + The Story of Her Life + + +[Illustration: Photo of Annie Edson Taylor standing next to her barrel.] + +Mrs. Annie Edson Taylor, born October 24, 1855, near Auburn, N. Y., on +the bank of Owasco Lake, the country seat of her father, Merrick Edson, +who was of English descent, born in Massachusetts. Her mother, Lucretia +Warren, was born in Albany, N. Y., and was connected with some of the +oldest and best families of that day. Merick Edson owned large milling +interests on Owasco River, which runs through the city of Auburn. In +winter the family lived in the city, in summer on the farm, where +little Annie went to the district school, and in winter to the city +school. She was of a dreamy, imaginative disposition, fond of out-door +sports and of books, especially those which run on adventures, such as +“Life in Australia,” historical novels, and at the age when most girls +were thinking of lovers, was reading Roman History and Plutarch’s lives. + +Merick Edson, her father, died when Annie was about 10 years of age. +From that time up to 14 life was uneventful. At that age she and two +older brothers were sent by their guardian to Charlottville, Schoharie +County, to a seminary for boys and girls. This was an excellent school, +discipline rigid, under the auspices of 24 selected teachers. There +friendships were formed which changed the current of Annie’s whole +life. Among the older girls was a Miss Jennie Taylor, a fine and +accomplished scholar, who was chosen as a room mate for Annie. + + + Married at Eighteen + +Later on she made the acquaintance of D. S. Taylor, who at the age of +18 became her husband. The marriage was blessed with one child, who +died in a few days. Her husband died in a little over two years. Then +it was that Annie realized the imperfections of her education and the +folly of a too early marriage. In a few months she entered the Normal +State School at Albany and became an indefatigable student, and at the +close of three years graduated, taking her vacation with a married +sister near Auburn. Among the many schoolmates to whom Annie became +attached were two lovely Southern girls, the Misses Kate and Mary +Kingsbury. The latter was of Annie’s age, and most intimate friend. +Annie was invited to spend a year at their Southern home. + +But, in the meantime, Miss Kate Kingsbury had contracted a most +brilliant marriage with her cousin, and had gone to the faraway city +of San Antonio, Texas. Annie concluded to go there for a year. After +much opposition from her family and friends, one stormy day in October, +1880, she took ship from New York for Cuba, and after a month’s stay +went from there to Galveston, and from Galveston by rail to Austin, +the capital; thence by stage through to San Antonio. After meeting +her friends, the Kingsburys, Annie took a position as teacher in the +High School. During vacation she went to New Mexico with a party of +officers and their families, taking the overland route, where Capt. +Nolan had a detail of soldiers guarding the building of railroads +in the Shasta Mountains, and where every day the lives of the party +were in jeopardy from Indians. On return to Texas, while rooming in +Kingsbury Street, one night was chloroformed and her room searched +for $3,000, which had been taken in for rents by Mrs. Taylor, who was +acting as agent for the Kingsburys (who at that time were away). + + + Held Up by Robbers + +On return North the stage was held up by a gang of robbers. In all, +$3,000 dollars was taken from the male passengers. Mrs. Taylor had $800 +concealed in the folds of her gown, on the robbers pressing a loaded +pistol to her temple and demanding the money she had, said, “Blow +away, I would as soon be without brains as without money.” They spared +her life. This occurred between San Antonio and Austin, in a forest. +After a year’s course in New York City, under the best instructors in +dancing and physical culture, Mrs. Taylor went to Asheville, N. C., and +immediately engaged in teaching those branches. + +Just previous to that time she was in Chattanooga, Tenn., where I +loaned $1,700 and it was lost in the boom in progress at that time, +she was also burned out, losing all her household goods, holding no +insurance. + +Returning from Asheville, she spent a winter teaching in Washington, D. +C. Returning to Auburn she spent the summer and autumn, and then went +to Indianapolis. She taught dancing in La Fayette, Ind., in a young +ladies’ school. + + + Shaken by an Earthquake + +While in Asheville she visited Charleston, S. C., and was there +during the earthquake felt there. She then went to Bay City, Mich. +She spent one summer at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., teaching a system of +piano music. A year later she returned to San Antonio, Texas, going +from there to Mexico City, where she spent the month of December, then +returned to San Antonio. Assisted by Rev. Walter Richardson, rector of +St. Paul’s Church, and an eminent and cultured woman, a member of the +church, Mrs. J. J. Stevens, she opened classes in physical culture, +returning to Bay City the last of April, where she had been keeping +house. She remained there until October 4, 1900, when she came to +Niagara Falls. + + + How She Came to Go Over Niagara + +The manner in which Mrs. Taylor got the inspiration to go over the +Falls of Niagara, to perform a feat never before attempted by a human +being, is best told by her in the following words: + +For two years I had been constantly studying, when not occupied in +teaching, what I could do to make money--to make it honestly and +quickly. All kinds of schemes ran riot through my brain. Reading in a +New York paper about people going to the Pan-American Exposition, and +from there to Niagara Falls, the idea came to me like a flash of light, +“Go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. No one has ever accomplished this +feat.” I did not think it wrong, as there was nothing immodest in the +act, nor did it involve the life of anyone but myself. I believe in +prayer, and that God will answer if only there is faith. As my motive +was not a selfish one, but to succor two friends, one who has little +children, the other in delicate health, and to aid myself financially, +I believed I would live. I was determined to live, to vindicate to the +world God’s mercy and goodness. + + + Her Desire Was to Help Others + +I frankly avowed what my purpose was, viz.: To aid two friends, raise +money to help me pay a few small debts, and to enable me to sell some +Texas land. Just how this was to be done I did not know, but thought a +crowd would gather and a collection could be taken up. My great mistake +was in selecting a manager, F. M. Russell of Bay City, who was well +recommended, but who proved in every way unworthy the trust reposed in +him. + + + She Designed Her Barrel + +The idea came to me in August. I immediately set to work to shape a +barrel, which I did, cutting it out of paper and sewing it together +with twine. The dimensions were: 12 in. head, 34 in. middle, 15 in. +foot. The barrel was 4½ ft. high, weight 160 lbs. It was made of white +Kentucky oak, with ten hoops, each riveted every four inches. The +barrel was made by Bocenchia of West Bay City. + + + Her Trip Over the Falls + +October 24, 1901, I left the shore from Buffalo Avenue in a boat, and +was rowed by two men to Grass Island. I then took off my hat, street +skirt and coat, and entered the barrel, the barrel being placed in the +water. I then adjusted a woven strap around my waist, and a strap from +the back went through an eye in the foot of the barrel, fastened to +a buckle in front to my belt. This was to keep my head from violent +contact with the barrel. I placed two cushions on my person extending +down to the knees--one in the bottom of the barrel. When all was in +readiness, the head of the barrel was screwed down perfectly tight. A +tube inserted in the chines I held in my hand, and an air-pump was used +to fill the barrel with fresh air. I then put a cork in the end of the +tube I held in my hand. All was now ready, and the boatmen towed the +barrel out to the current, which they thought would carry me over the +_center_ of the Horseshoe. + +I did not say, like Dante, on entering the barrel, “Who enters here +leaves all hope behind,” but as I faced the inevitable, life or a +horrible death in 50 minutes, my courage rose. + + + Cast Adrift + +Thus, as the rap came on the barrel which told me I was cut loose, and +no human power could avail me, for I was started on a trip no traveler +had ever taken, my heart swelled, and for some moments I felt as though +I were being suffocated, but I determined to be brave. By a supreme +effort of will I calmed myself at once, and began earnestly to pray--if +it was God’s will to spare my life, if not to give me an easy death. + +The trip through the Rapids was nothing but a pleasant sensation. I +could feel the barrel toss and often turning partly over, until I +come to first _drop_ over a reef, when the bottom caught for a +moment. The barrel swerved, and for a moment I thought I would go head +first, but with a jerk it loosened, turned foot down, and plunged to +the bottom. I felt the water close over my head, but was not hurt. The +barrel rose to the surface instantly, and pursued its course. + + + Toward the Mighty Cataract + +Again the barrel swerved to the left, and I knew instinctively that +should it pursue its course it would be dashed to atoms on the giant +rocks near the Canadian shore. But God was good. The barrel paused, +raised slowly on its head, then turned over on a rock and pursued its +course down to the Brink of the Precipice. I tore the cushion from my +head, placed it quickly under my knees, and dropped to the bottom of +the barrel. + +As I reached the brink the barrel did what I predicted it would do, +paused for a moment and then + + + Made the Awful Plunge + +of 158 feet to the boiling cauldron below. I thought for a moment my +senses were lost. The feeling was one of absolute horror, but still I +knew when I struck the water of the lower river. The shock was not so +great, but I went down, down until the momentum had spent itself. + +Below the surface _all was still_. Not a sound reached me. Slowly +I arose, but unfortunately on coming to the surface I came under the +falling of water and was carried back of the sheet that tumbles over +the precipice. It was then I began to suffer. The barrel was whirled +like a dasher in a churn; lifted, I should think, four or five feet +clear of the water, and thrown violently about, at the same time turned +around and around with the greatest velocity, struck on the rocks, and +each moment water was forcing itself in at the point where the anvil at +the bottom had been imperfectly put on. As the barrel turned violently +around and around the sensation was terrible. + + + Afloat on the Lower River + +The barrel then shot out from the Cataract like an arrow from a bow, +giving me a frightful lurch. After a short time I felt the barrel being +drawn up to a rock. It was none too soon, however, as my strength was +spent. When I realized I had been rescued my senses immediately left +me. Like a person falling to sleep, I became unconscious. + +Through the kindness of John Ross, chief engineer of the “Maid of the +Mist,” and Mr. Williams of Canada, a wrench was brought, the barrel +opened, and the fresh air struck me. + +A man’s voice exclaimed: + + + “The Woman is Alive!” + +I answered, “Yes, she is, though much hurt and confused.” I was carried +to my boarding house, and after suffering great pain was restored to my +normal condition. The greater part of my life that remains to me will +be devoted to doing good to others, for a woman, be she a true woman, +can bless and glorify the lowest grade of humanity. + + ANNIE EDSON TAYLOR. + + + Newspaper Men Were Witnesses + +TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: + +This is to certify that Mrs. Annie Edson Taylor passed over the +Canadian, otherwise known as the Horseshoe Falls, on October 24, 1901, +and further that we were eyewitnesses of the fact having been present +when she entered the barrel as well as when she was taken from it after +having successfully made the trip. + + CHARLES E. PERIGO, + City Editor, Cataract-Journal. + N. F. MADDEVER, + City Editor, Gazette. + + + Mayor Butler Certifies to the Trip + + NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., April 1, 1902. + +TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: + +This is to certify that on October 24, 1901, Mrs. Annie Edson Taylor +went over the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls in a barrel and survived. + + MIGHELLS B. BUTLER, + Mayor. + + + Took Her From the Barrel + + STEAMER “MAID OF THE MIST,” + NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., June 3, 1902 + +TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: + +I, the undersigned, certify that on the afternoon of Thursday, the 24th +day of October, 1901, I personally, opened the barrel that had come +over the Falls and found a woman inside in a fainting condition but +after the admission of air she shortly revived. With the assistance of +Harry Williams, proprietor of the Lafayette Hotel, and John Dunn, I +took her out of the barrel and put her in a row boat and took her to +the Canadian dock, where she was placed in a carriage and taken away. I +have seen the woman known as Mrs. Taylor on two occasions since and can +positively say she is the same person who was taken from the barrel at +Bass rock eddy, on the shore of the Niagara River, below the Horseshoe +Falls of Niagara. + + JOHN ROSS, + Chief Engineer, + S. S. “Maid of the Mist.” + + + Saw Her Come Over the Horseshoe + + STEAMER “MAID OF THE MIST,” + NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., June 3, 1902. + +TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: + +We, the undersigned, master and mate of the Steamer “Maid of the Mist,” +plying on the Niagara River immediately below the Falls of Niagara, do +hereby certify that on the 24th day of October, 1901, about 4 o’clock +p. m., we being on board our boat directly under the Horseshoe Falls, +saw a barrel come over the brink and drift down the heavy current close +to the Canadian shore, fetching up in Bass rock eddy, it being about a +quarter of a mile below the Horseshoe Falls. We saw the barrel taken +from the water and the person of a woman taken from the barrel, and who +(contrary to our expectations) was alive, and we confidently believe +her to be the only human being that ever went over the Falls of Niagara +and lived, and we can certify that the woman known to us since as Mrs. +A. E. Taylor was the person taken out of the barrel. + + R. R. CARTER, + Master S. S. “Maid of the Mist.” + WILLIAM THOMAS, + Mate, “Maid of the Mist.” + + + + + Maid Of The Mist + + +Of all the water trips in the world there is none that equals the +voyage on the lower river in front of the + + Falls of Niagara + +The staunch and pretty steamers leave the docks at the foot of the +inclined railways in the great free parks and pass through the spray +clouds to + + Rainbow Land + +Passengers have the privilege of stop-over on the side opposite to +their starting point and returning on any boat during the same day. +Waterproof clothing is furnished as protection against the spray. +The trip affords the most beautiful and unique views of the great +Cataract, and no one who has not taken the trip has seen Niagara and +its stupendous grandeur. + + + FARE, ROUND TRIP + INCLUDING WATERPROOF CLOTHING + 50 Cents + + [Illustration] + FRANK LE BLOND, Manager + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + +In this text, small capitals have been represented by ALL CAPITALS. +Words in italics have been marked by _underscores_. + +The date on the title page has been left as printed (“190 ”). + +Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without comment. + +Variant spellings of the same name have been retained as originally +printed. + +Original spelling has been retained except for the following probable +typographical errors: + + Page 6: + “tumultous” changed to “tumultuous” + “...through the wild, tumultuous, tossing waters...” + + Page 6: + “stupenduous” changed to “stupendous” + “...that stupendous downpour of water...” + + Page 7: + “commended” changed to “commanded” + “...the announcement commanded but little attention.” + + Page 7: + “choatic” changed to “chaotic” + “...she had studied the chaotic nature of the waters...” + + Page 8: + “belive” changed to “believe” + “...who had come to believe that...” + + Page 13: + “heigh” changed to “high” + “The barrel was 4½ ft. high, weight 160 lbs...” + + Page 13: + “stap” changed to “strap” + “I then adjusted a woven strap around my waist...” + + Page 15: + “Lkie” changed to “Like” + “Like a person falling to sleep...” +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78938 *** |