THROUGH NIAGARA RAPIDS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10608, 10 November 1910, Page 1

THROUGH NIAGARA RAPIDS.

A DARING MOTOR-BOAT VOYAGE. Captain Klaus Larsen, of Cleveland, Ohio,' shot the thundering rapids of ! Niagara in a.motor-boat. That ■ tha dare-devil '.navigator! should; live to !tell the ;tale. astonnds everybody who [has seehvthe maddening- swirl- of waters Cthrough which;he passed.'; After a pas;sageVp£:4fcihiles his battered and leak- ? irig'i. craft into the eddy below j Devil's! Hole: As of the Strip : had then been escaped,' and he was | disabled /-inv the : arm .and" leg,. Captain iLarseiv seized* a rescue rope and strug'gled tp,land. .-' ! "-Forty thousand' people watched the was afloat for 45 minutes; ;He-put-o^n;!from the'foot of the cataract at.:4.;*ij,: and ended his fearful, voyage at" 5.30. Every second of that time there:was peril, and the boat actually -'.disappeared■■ from view twice. At one place the terrific force of the current' lifted it clear from the water, and .it took a frying leap of 20ft, and then skidded after, the fashion of a.-flat stone. ' -.

The spectators had a continuous thrill from start to finish.

I Captain Larsen made immediately for mid-channel, with the ' engine of his boat, which is named the. Ferro, rurii'ning at top speed,, but the throb was ;lost.in the roar of the water. Steering was impossible. Cascades of' foaming . waters , pounded the, frail craft crisscross, and tossed it about at will like a chip. ; ,- On approaching the great waves in the .rapids the boat again acquired a ; break-neck", velocity;' and as the spei-tn-i tors ;looked'on?:aga!pei.t took- its, oleeord leap, of 20ft clear, of the water. Tht" p_ush that catapulted it into ..the -air Happened to catch it on an even keel, and this, lucky. chance , enabled it to strike the water again right side up. Then it skipped along as if doubtful whether to remain afloat or turn into an aeroplane. Righting itself, it passed tooth's edge of the pool, and got beyond the danger-point .without notable mishap. ■ ..... There had been so much bumping and tossing iii the early stages of the passage that Captain Larsen was sure of little by, this time : except that he was alive, and that the iboat was still under him. , As he emerged from the pool, however, in a moment of ".comparative quiet, lie, discovered that the engine had broken down. Ahead of him were; waters scarcely less'turbulent than'those through which he. had struggled. From this .point onwards the Ferro Was a plaything' for the river. It dropped into hollows as if it would never i come up again, and was as often tossed aloft as if it would try for a flight through, the air .again., One. wave spun it "around until it pointed down stream stern first, and next gave.it a broadside blow which tilted,, it. A third wave turned it completely over, and then, as if the-sport were 'becoming too serious,■afourthrighted.it. In this somersault Captain Larsen's left leg was struck so hard that he thought it was broken. With a useless rudder and an engine disabled. there was' nothing for Captain Larsen to dp except throw himself on the mercy of'the river. His antagonist had no disposition to take an unfair advantage. . It sent him over a zig-zag course, and made him, hold tight to his seat. An occasional billow, climbed aboard, and there, was. .a - continuous, shower of spray. , , ■".,,' . Onqe through Devil's.Hole the -Ferro iswung . towards • the rocks, on the American side/. Captain .! Larsen saw" his danger, but, he could but,pimply wait in the hope that the worst would not happen. There was. a boulder right in the boat's track, and its passenger, when a kindly wave got beneath and, rolled them directly over that obstacle, but clear of it. The toss was so herculean, however,, that it plujtged ' the Ferro's nose fast between two other i boulders.

" Captain Larsen scrambled forward, and for. five minutes worked desperately to get the boat clear. He was.then 40ft from shore. His strength counted for nothing in that predicament, and when he was despairing and decided that he must swim for it a : comb of water came along, lifted the Ferro out from between the rocks, and sent her careering tu-mid-stream. '-■ .. ~-...;

This buffeting and'cross-current action supplied a fine example of continual motion without much progress, until the boat entered Dead Man's Eddy,, and went aground A man on shoic waded into the water and threw a lope to Captain Larsen. He hauled the boat after him, tied it up, and then went home by tramcar