IN THE WHIRLPOOL OF DEATH.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1096, 8 October 1883, Page 2

IN THE WHIRLPOOL OF DEATH.

The Story of* the Maid, of the Mist. In reference to Captain Webb’s death at Niagara, the -Globe contains the following: The passage is not absolutely impracticable to a boat, as is proved by the achievement of the Maid of the Mist, r that used to ply pnrthe river between the Whirlpool and the Falls. The owner of the craft wished to sell her, and as he could find no custoraci for her in the pool, and had an offer of something more than half her cost if delivered down below the rapids, ho determined to make the venture, and the narrative of the voyage certainly is not encouraging either for a swimmer or for a navigator. Mr G. W. Holly tells the story with considerable effectiveness. An engineer, a firemnii and a pilot were the indispensable crew, and three volunteers were found to run ; the risk, r They pnt her in complete trim,: removing everything that was superfluous, and notice haying been given of the intention to run her through, a r vast assemblage gathered on the beach to witness the fearful plunge. •‘With a.shriek from her whistle and a white, puff from her escape pipe, to take leave, as it were, of the multitude congregated on the shores and on the bridge the boat ran up the eddy a short distance,: then , swung round to right,: cleared.the smooth water, nndyj shot like an arrow into the water under the bridge. The boat, it shonld ho observed,[was 72 feetjong, with 17 feet - breadth of beam, and 8 feet depth ol hold. : She took the outside curve of the rapid,.and, when a third of the down it, a jet of water struck against her rndder, a column dashed up nnder . her starboard , side, heeled her over, carried ! away her smoke-stack, started - her bulwarks on that side, threw one of the crew on his back, and hurled another against the starboard wheel-house with • such force as to break it through. Every;, . , eye was fixed, every tongue was silent, and every looker-on . breathed- more freely ns she emerged from the dreadful baptism, shook her. wounded side, slid, into the whirlpool, ami for a moment rode again on an even keel. The pilbt rose at once, seized the helm, set her to the right of the cauldron of the pool, then turned her directly .through the neck of it. Thence after receiving another drenching from its crushing waves, she dashed on without-farther-accident to the quiet bosom of the rivet, below Lewiston. : This; is the voyage that Webb was to perform, and as this little boat had engines of 100-horse power, working, under the highest pressure they were capable of, the of a swimmer in this current to control bis own course maybe The whirlpool is not quite accurately naiaiod. It is a large eddy in which small whirlpools are constantly forming and breaking, and trees, fifty feet long and from two to three feet in diameter, may often be seen whirling in-it-for a month or six weeks before escaping to the rapids below.' The terrors of such a passage : may partly be inferred from. the effect the voyage: of the little st.eamer had- , Upon her pilot—a man whose courage . was beyond . question, and whose coolness at the helm was conspicuous. His wife used to say that he had aged 20 years during that short voyage, and it was commonly reported to have 'been the real cause of bis death.’ Both manner and .appearance, it was said, were changed. “He had been, ns it were, in the arms of a power so mighty that its impress was; stamped-:on his features and on his-mind. Through a slightly opened door he ; had seen a vision which awed and subdued him. He became reverent in a moment. He grew venerable in an honrj”; v?; i J 1 '