LEAP FROM THE BRIDGE OVER FALLS OF NIAGARA.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3096, 10 January 1871, Page 4

LEAP FROM THE BRIDGE OVER FALLS OF NIAGARA.

Fbank Thobne, who haa advertised thafc he will leap, from the new bridge at Niagara, i """"""•^uniped, by way of practice, from the roof of the Watson Elevator iuto Buffalo Biver. 'A v plank was run oufc some three feet, and Thome threw off a coat whicn was over his shoulders, and came out on the plank. His afcfcire was simple—a white handkerchief on his head, a red breech-clout about bis middle, a pair of heavy boots on his feefc, and the epidermis which nature gave him. He stood tbere, the centre of 40,000 eyes, appearing to be measuring the descent;, and preparing for ifc by several long-drawn inspirations. After some hesitation and signs of nervousness, he waved his right hand once in fche air, then, j holding both arms close fco his body, and his legs close together, he made the perilous jump. The most intense stillness reigned as I his downward progress was watohed. The distance was about 125 feefc. Of oourse fche I object; of Thome was to enter the water as - he had started, feet first, and the universal feeling was thafc if he lost his perpendicular death was certain. , For about a third of fcbe descent bis legs were kept together, and his position maintained, but at this point he waß observed to spread them apart. His head immediately canted forward, and, to fche horror of all, he fell sprawling tbe rest of the distance.' In a trifle less tban three seconds from the time of making fche leap he struck the water, the right; side meeting the collision, and at once disappeared. " He's a dead man," was the cry that; simultaneously bnrsfc from thousands of throats, and few there were but , believed ib expressed the truth. In less time than it takes to write ifc, however, his head appeared above water, and he struck oufc feebly for the only boafc between him and the elevator, in which were a parfcy of police and police surgeon Phelps. More dead tban alive, he was hauled infco fche boafc, and afc once rowed to a room in fche elevator. It was noticed by those who were near enough that his entire right side was crimson, and to -—^-SQmeJt appeared fco be cut open. When the foolhardy man was laid down on a blanket after his leap, Dr Phelps at once examined him. He found thafc no bones were broken, but fche entire right side, the outside of the right leg, and tlie inside of the left, were fearfully contused, and there was much extravasation over the whole surface. The beatings of the heart could nofc be detected, and the pulse was scarcely perceptible. The shock to tbe nervous system was evidently great. Thorne was conscious, and very anxious to get the honest opinion of the dootor whether he would survive. The proper remedies were administered, and gradually the heart began to resume its functions, and the pulse to assert itself, though feebly. Between 6 and 7 o'clock he was removed fco.kis boarding house, No. 156, Seneca street. His weakness . was attested here by his fainting away ns he tried to mount; the stairs. Dr Phelps left him after 7 o'clock, in a hopeful state, though complaining of internal pain. A subsequent visit aboufc 11 o'clock showed thafc pleurisy bad set in on the left side, accompanied by sonsiderable raising of blood, und when we last saw the physician afier his visit, he considered his patient; in a very critical condition, as pleuro-pneumonia waa imminent. A strong constitution may carry him through, bufc fcbe case is a desperate one. . The hero of the leap says fchafc almost as soon as he commenced fche descent: he seemed to be going asleep. He was nofc conscious of sprawling oufc in fche air as he did. He felt no pain when he struck the water, but. bad a sensation, as if in a dream, tbat he had fallen a gredt height and was terribly hurt. He did not strike the bottom he is confident. When he rose to tbe surface hebecame conscious of pain. Afterwards he attributed his change of position to a ourrenfc of air, but this is nonsensical ou its iace, and must be considered as an effort of a would-be soientifio jumper to cover up a failure. The homely word "sprawl" precisely expresses what Thorne did in the air, and therefore we use it. It was evident to all who watohed him that fche change in the position of iiis body from the perpendicular tp the horizontal was immediately oonsequent' upon his spreading his legs apart. As h e did this when not more than one-third of the way down, the velooifcy; could eoarcely hare then made him uncon-

scious, and we can only conclude that his nerve failed him, and he threw oufc his limbs through an impulse cognate to tbat which* causes a drowning man to clutch afc straws. Ec said last night he would make his promised jump afc Niagara. If his style of felo-de-se cannofc be considered an offence, it cap be guarded against by tho arrest of him and his imitators by the police on the oharge of lunacy. The law of falling bodies is that they descend 16 feet fche firsfc second, after which the distance increases as the square of fche time. .Tbus if a body falls 16 feefc in one second, ifc falls 64 feefc, or four times 16, in two seconds; 144 feet, or nine times 16, in three seconds, and so on. Since the fall of Thome's body was about 125 feet, the fcime of falling musfc have been a little less than three, seconds. Ifc will be seen by this rule that in the third second a body falls 80 feet, and his musfc have acquired this velocity when it struck the | water. A velocity of 80 feefc per second is equivalent: fco a mile a minute, so that fche latter rate expresses but a trifle more tban the force with which the unswerving laws of gravity threw Thorne against tbe water. When we take this fact into consideration, we mi y well wonder if he survives the shock. — " Buffalo Courier."