LAD’S AMAZING FEAT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19783, 5 March 1927, Page 9

LAD’S AMAZING FEAT

DIVES WITH LIMBS TIED DARE-DEVIL ACT FOR A BET A dare-devil act was performed by Tom Alorris, an employee at Perdriau’s rubber factory at Drummoyne, last Tuesday. With feet and hands tied he jumped off Iron Cove Bridge into tfye shark-infested waters of the Parramatta River, and reached shore safely. Morris had mentioned to someone that he was able to swim with his hands and feet tied, and a bet having been made and taken up by him to perform the feat from Iron Cove Bridge. He was at least 50 yards from the shore, and jumped from a position on the bridge where it is about 40ft. above the waterline. Morris was clad in swimming costume, and when he had clambered out on to the iron fretwork, which is above the actual bridge level, a boy climbed through and securely tied his feet and wrists. Within a few seconds, to the tune of cheering from a group of about 40 of his friends, he jumped straight out from where he stood. He dropped like a plummet, was under water for a fraction of a minute, and then reappeared. Not content with swimming the 50 yards to the shore in a direct line, he turned and went under the bridge, working his way through the water with a peculiar swaying action of his head and shoulders. He landed without mishap, fortunately, on the shore near Drummoyne Baths, where the lessee, Air Andrews, was waiting to receive him. Morris stood up and hopped a few steps to show that his hands and feet were still tied, and was then released. It is not known what was the extent of the wager, but there were many who saw the jump and the swim who would not have undertaken the same risk for a million pounds. The waters of Iron Cove have been renowned for many years as shark-in-fested and, apart from those risks, there was the ever-present chance of injury in the long drop from the bridge.