Progressive Batavian, September 10-1869 Batavia, Genesee County, New York State A THRILLING INCIDENT AT NIAGARA. In the very centre of the seething, whirling cauldron of waters known as the American Rapids, lying equi-distant between the American shore and the Islands, and Bath Island Bridge and the brink of the Falls, a rock projects two or three feet above the water. The eye rests upon it merely as upon a speck in the midst of this angry flood; with every dash of the torrent pouring down from the plateau above it is half submerged, and sometimes wholly hidden from sight. At the time of this casualty a log, three or four feet in length, had been jammed in or under this rock and protruded from it. The spot was one that was in the daily sight of hundreds, and in the early hours of that memorable summer morning the first man who had occasion to cross the bridge was startled to see a human form standing erect, in the midst of the raging, swirling flood, on this little point of rock, wildly waving his arms. He must have shouted, too, but his cries were drowned in the uproar of the rapids. It was Joseph Avery, the sole survivor of the unfortunate boat's crew. It was conjectured that the boat must have sped down to this point, unharmed by rocks or rapids, and that, striking here, Avery was thrown or sprang out, finding just room enough for a perilous foothold, while the other two, with the boat, were swept on over the cataract. The alarm quickly spread. It is not difficult to draw a crowd at Niagara--for the excitement seekers of the world are there--and in half an hour the bridge and adjacent shores were thronged with horrified, yet curious spectators. With them came some dozens of boatmen, laborers and others, who comprehended at once there was a chance for rescue, and immediately began to devise a plan. In the meantime, the man had been recognized by some one, and while the preparations were being made a large board was rudely lettered with the words, in German, "We will save you!" and held up so that he could read it. He tossed his arms up and down several times, in token that he comprehended its meaning; and then the crowd awaited the result of the preparations, and watched the object of them with almost breathless interest. It was truly frightful to see him there amid that howling waste, almost in the jaws of the mighty cataract, and apparently cut off from all human aid. But as the day wore on, and the poor fellow became used to the situation, he seemed to bear it with much composure. Sometimes, to change his position, he sat down upon the rock, and sometimes made gestures to the crowd, the meaning of which could not often be understood. His face, seen through a glass, looked eager, almost beyond the expression of human faces, but it was hopeful, too. As noon approached the first attempt was made for his rescue. A large raft had been constructed of heavy plank, bound together crosswise, and this was to be lowered down from the bridge, with strong ropes, to the castaway, when it was thought that he could be drawn up without great difficulty. The venture was a failure from the start. The rapids seized and whirled it away before the men at the ropes could check it; the ropes became entangled, the raft was carried far below the rock, and at last went helplessly over the Falls. It was a bitter, bitter disappointment--as well to the sympathizing, expectant throng as to the imperiled man. But nothing daunted, the stout hearts and ready hands immediately set about the making of another raft,while others were occupied in conveying food and drink to poor Avery.--This was easily done in tin cases, attached to stout cords, which were floated down to him. The castaway ate his solitary meal there upon that inaccessible point of rock with keen relish, and then stood up and bowed his thanks. Again and again the cheering words, "We will save you,"were exhibited, and he was encouraged by other short sentences in his native language, which were in the same way painted in hugs letters and held up to him. The afternoon slowly wore on--the long, hot, listless summer afternoon there at Niagara, usually devoted to idling over iced drinks in the shade of the hotel porches or parlors, but now cheerfully given up to the assistance of, or sympathy for, a fellow being.--There were hundreds in that crowd who, prompted by the spirit of American chivalry which is never wanting among us, would have cheerfully plunged in to his rescue, could the act have been any other than useless fool-hardiness; and there were wealthy men there, who went through the crowd under the deepest sense of emotion, offering large rewards to whoever would rescue him. The telegraph had, by this time, carried the news far and wide; the afternoon papers in New York on this day contained it, and the afternoon trains from Buffalo and Rochester came freighted with hundred more to view the peril of the poor German for themselves. The building of the second raft progressed; but, although everything was done to hasten it, darkness found it unfinished, and the crowd unwillingly dispersed for the night. The Omniscient alone can tell how that poor, forlorn soul passed the dark, dreary hours that intervened between morning--sleepless from necessity--weary, lonely, with the waters raging like unchanged beasts all around him, and the great abyss of terror yawning almost at his feet. Some sweet hope must have sustained him in that trying time, or the morning would have found him dead there upon the rock of his dreadful exile. Daylight came, and with it the eager crowds hastened back to their points of sight. The incoming trains all day brought more and more spectators, and before noon the bridge was literally crowded with them, leaving but a small space in the centre for workmen with the raft; and on either side the bank was lined--nay, packed--with spectators. There were thousands upon thousands present, all eager, curious and yet sympathetic. Avery appeared as on the day before, still hopeful, eating and drinking what was sent down to him, motioning with his hands and arms, and watching all that was done on the bridge and the shore. The crisis of the excitement arrived when, about the middle of the second day, the second raft was launched from the bridge upon the hurrying flood. Strong and willing hands held the ropes, and it was cautiously lowered until it almost touched the spot where the castaway stood. With a bound he placed himself erect on the raft; and then arose such a shout of rejoicing from the lips of that multitude that it was heard even above the roaring of the waters. It was a short-lived joy. The ropes were manned by all the hands that could find place, and the raft struggled up a little way in the teeth of the rapids, and then a furious volume of water broke over and upon it, washing it from end to end, and hurling Avery bodily into the rapids! One faint, desperate hope remained to him: as the irresistible current hurried him down he might, by stout swimming, make the shore of Captain's Island, some rods below, and to the west of him. It was a furious, terrible struggle for life; and while the multitude held their breath and looked on it seemed at first as though the man might still save himself. He almost reached the shore of the little island but he never gained it. Some said that the bush upon which he laid his hand broke in his grasp, others tho't that his strength left him when a few more strokes would have saved him. He yielded himself to the fury of the rapids, and an instant later his body was hurled over the fatal abyss, amid the shudders and groans of the heartsick spectators. Those who were nearest the spot where he went over were certain that his dying shriek, full of horror of despair, articulated the name Mary. -J. Franklin Fifts, in 'Packard's Monthly.' submitted by Linda Schmidt Web-Page Editor for Bethany BETHANY: Its Past and Present ~ Bethany Town Page http://www.arkwebshost.com/family/bluebird/TownOfBethany.shtml