Aquatics

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 461, 25 May 1899, Page 5

Aquatics

By

Muritai.

Full particulars of the tragic end of Professor T. P. Donaldson, the famous American swimmer and diver, are to hand. He was engaged to give exhibitions of high-diving during the progress of the Sportsmen’s' Show, an annual display held under the auspices of the New York Sportsmen’s Association, in Madison Square Gardens. Donaldson had gone through his “ turn” successfully for six days, but on March 3 he took a header from a platform placed on the roof gardens, at an altitude of 54ft above a tank containing 7ft of

water, in which the aquatic exhibitions were given daily. The previous attempts had resulted very satisfactorily, but on the last occasion he, as all high divers do some time or other, made a miscalculation, and, descending into the water with his body perpendicular, his head struck the bottom with great force, and he did not re-appear upon the surface as usual. The Knickerbocker A.C. champion swimmer plunged into the tank, discovered Donaldson lying prone at the bottom, brought him to the surface, and with the assistance of others, removed him from the tank. The injured man was laid out on the floor of the hall. The police cleared a breathing space, and a squad of physicians came to the rescue. An injection of strychinne was administered, andafter ten minutes Donaldson showed signs of life. He moved his arms slightly, and half-opened his eyes, but did not appear conscious. He was taken in an ambulance to the New York Hospital, where an examination showed that the left side of his skull was fractured. H« remained in an unconscious condition until early on the morning of March 10, when be expired. An autopsy was made, with the result that death was found to have been caused by a fracture of the skull at the base of the brain. The brain was considerably lacerated.