A VETERAN ROPE-WALKER.

Waikato Times, Volume XLII, Issue 3424, 9 June 1894, Page 11

A VETERAN ROPE-WALKER.

An interesting account of the career of the veteran rope-walker Blondin, appears in. the.March English Illustrated. The Chevalier Jean Francois Gr.ivelot, as the hero of Niagara ought more properly to be called, is now sevanty-one 'years old, and was born at Headin, near Calais, " Blondin " w&s a nickname given to his father and- himself on account of their blond complexion. As an infant prodigy in acrobatie feats, especially those that required unusual nerve, the boy gained an extraordinary, reputation, and after a while was engaged from Paris to join an American company run by the Ravel family. Before this he had added aerial gymnastics and tight rope walking to his repertoire, but it was .not until the winter of 1858;'th°,t lie conceived the notion of crossing Niagara on a rope. He had gone to America, on a tour, and his own account is that, being taken to Niagara Palls, he turned at once to his. manager, Mr Ravel, saying : " What a splendid place to bridge with a tight rope " . The suggestion was treated as that of a madman ; and though Blondin afterwards determined to carry it out, he met a good many difficulties before sue* cessfully performing the feat, At first he . met with diplomatic diffi. culties with the authorities. Those on the American side offered no opposition to his scheme, but the British Consul was apparently obdurate, stating that lie must get special instructions from the Foreign Office in England; but at length he yielded so far as .to agree to take no official no I ,ice of Blondin's attempt. Blondin,. had, however, other obstacles to encounter, for the spot he had selected to attach the rope on the Canadian side Was ou the property of an owner who would not givo his consent until Blondin agreed to give him half the profit!) accruing from his enterprise. Then arose the.question of a, suitable rope one of manilla. Mr Forster, an iron* monger, agreed to supply this for $1,300: but Blondin bad not the money, and no one seeoied inclined torcake him any advance, believing that he was houo other than a lunatic. However, a Mr Hamblin came to the rescue. "I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to this gentleman for his generosity and for his kindly feeling; for when everything was eventually ready for my attempt he came to me and said: "Look here, Blondin! Chuck the thing iip altogether if you feel the least nervom», I'll pay for the rope qu'te willingly, but don't jeopardise your life on that account,'" The distance was 1,100 feet, the height abovj the water being 170 feet onone side and 160 feet on the other. It was estimated that as many as 50,000 people watched the perform* ance. A few days later he crossed again; but blindfolded with a blanket sack, and a week or so after he wheeled a barrow over, each time in the presence of enormous crowds. During the summer of 1860 he repeated and extended these feats, makinjr his lai-t crossing on stilts before the Prince of Wales on September 14. Asked if he had ever had an accident, M! Bloudin had not many such mistakes to look back upon. He had never had a ' real accident,' though according to report he had once been killed and buried.' ' I was once thrown off my balance at the Chryt-tal Palace by the man wbo managed the fireworks through which I had to pass. He upset me; but I caught hold of my rope and saved myself falling 120 feet. I dropped my balancing pole however. Of course there have been hitches sometimes during the performance as when trundling a live lion across the rope at the Liverpool Zoological Gardens in a wheelbarrow. There was a rope attached to the barrow to lestrain its too rapid descent down the" sag "of my rope.' The man who should have kept hold of ' the little rope let it go, and it got. entangled with my tight-rope, and I could not proceed, so I had to return, backwards; it was not pleasant. And once I had to pass knee-deep through the water of the Birmingban Reservoir, which I was crossing, on account of the "sag " being I so deep, consequent on the great length Ito be traversed.' This, it must be conI fessed, is not a long chapter of accidents for a performer who has been working hard since he was four years old. Blondin has received as much as £l5O a day. He is not a big man, and the Emperor Nicholas ; once remarked to him, "You are very little, Monsieur Blondin, to be so great.'