The Chevalier Blondin.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VII, Issue 327, 15 February 1876, Page 7

The Chevalier Blondin.

Till* celebrated personage is now performing in Auckland, where a monster pavilion has been prepared for his miraculous performances. We append a short sketch of the wonderful career of this remarkable man : He was born at St. Omer, in the Pas de Calais, February 28, 1826. He very early •• adopted his present profession, for at the age of five he came out at Lyons as the Little Wonder. He was soon noted for his cleverness on the rope, and also for his agility and strength as a gymnast. After a long and successful tour in France, Blondin accepted an engagement with the Ravel Family, a troupe well known in the United States. In 1855 he made his first appearance in America, and it is said that during this tour he astonished his fellow-performers by leaping clean over the heads of a circle of soldiers with fixed bayonets. In 1858 he first conceived the idea of crossing Niagara on a rope stretched over the Falls, and in the spring: of 1859 he commenced his preparations. The rope was fixed after endless labour, and the first crossing took place on the 30th June, 1859, in the presence of 15.000 people. Fol lowing upon the simple walk across, Blondin improved upon this by undertaking the dangerous passage under various disadvantages. He wheeled a barrow over, turned somersaults in mid-career, and crossed at night amid a blaze of fireworks. This succession of feats at once caused his reputation to spread far and near, and he was raised to the pinnacle of his fame forthwith. In September, 18G0, i Blondin accomplished the passage of Niagara Under highly sensational circumstances, before the Prince of Wales and suite. He offered to cirry the Prince over on his back, but the offer was politely declined. At; the end of May, 1861, he appeared in England, and fairlv carried the English people by storm by his startling performances on a rope stretched across the central transept at the Crystal Palace. Tn June. 1861, he performed on a high rone on the Upper Terrace, 1500 feet loner. This was the?<onlv occasion on which .Blondin's life was reallv endangered by an accident while performing. We extract the following account of the occurrence: —'•'The most sensational of Blondin's appearances at the Crvstal Palace was on the occasion of a fireworks display, when he had undertaken to walk the rope at dark, discharging fireworks in the course of his aerial journey. The task was successfully performed, but at the close of the passage the

attendant stationed at the centre-mast to relieve Blondin of the barrow which contained his fireworks, contrived, probably from nervousness, to tilt it to one side, and so disturb the equilibrium of the daring ropewalker. Bloudin was seen to stagger and apparently fall, and a thrill of horror, intensified by the darkness which seemed to enshroud the fate of the helpless acrobat, ran through the immense assemblage,—the very darkness being rendered doubly dark by the sudden extinction of the artificial illumination, and by the mental gloom which seized the beholders. A sudden blaze of pyrotechnic light brought gladness back by revealing Blondin hanging by one leg from his rope, and in another instant he had nimbly reinstated himself on the rope, and was safe on the summit of'the central mast." So firmly did Blondin maintain the, interest and admiration which his daring performances excited that in August, 1872, he exhibited his powers and skill before an audience of 84,955 people at the Crystal Palace. Blondin has travelled over almost every country on the globe, and has given exhibitions before most of the crowned heads of Europe. In India, Blondin's success was great, and his recent tours in Australia have only added fresh laurels to his fame. He is now 50 years old, but his strength is unimpaired, and his activity for a man of that age marvellous.