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Blondin Is No More

Blondin Is No More image
Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
February
Year
1897
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

London, Feb. 23.- Blondín, the rope ■walker, ís dead. M. Charles Blondín, greateFt of tight rope walkers, was a Fren chman, whosi' real name was Jean Francois Grávele. He was bom in HesJin, near Calais, Trance, Feb. 28, 1S24, the son of a gymnast, and be-j gan rope walking tvhen 4 years oíd. At 27 he had a considerable rep ■ ' utation inFrance, . where Ravel saw lilm and induced him to come to America with his troype. Blondia had been performing in this countrv four years before he conceived and carried out the great feat that made him fame and fortune and has never been outdone, that of walking across Niágara Falls on a rope carrying on his back a man as heavy as himself. Longest Walk on a Tight Kope. This was accomplished Aug. 19, 1859, and Blondin's companion in this perilous adventure was Henry M. Colcard, who later became an artist and a resident of Chicago. This walk over the ialls, 400 yards, was the longest ever made on a tight rope. The first journey across was made on the 30th of June, 1859, and he continued the journeys during that and the following year. The rope was about three inches in thickness, made entirely of hemp, and its adjustment in place was. in its way, an engineering feat. The rope cost over L1,000, and remained in position for nearly two years. Special trains were run on the railroads, including the New York Central and the Great West-ern and Grand Trunk of Canada, while enormous stands on either side of the falls were crammed with people. Blondin continued giving exhibitions until 1860, when he crossed over on stilts.before the Prince of Wales, then making a tour through America and Canada. Porformed Gyjnnastic Feats. He walked across enveloped in a sack made of blankets, wheeled a barrow across, turned somersaults, cooked a dinner, and carried a man over on Tiis back. He would perform gymnastic feats while suspended over the river, and often stood on his head on the rope. In carrying Colcard across the falls Blondin ran other risks than those apparent, for unscrupulous men. who had bet large sums he would not succeed, pulled the guy ropes and nearly threw him off his balance several times. Blondin became the rage and in his last two seasons he made $400,000. He traveled around the world, giving 4,000 performances before he settled down to the Ufe of a country gentleman in England, at Sputh Ealing, and he named his resi-dence Niágara House. He was never able to relinqulsh altogether the delights of rope walking, however. He returned to America in 1888 to give exbibitions with the Kiralfys. Performed at 08 Years of Age. In 1892. when 68 years o!d. he gave public exhibitions in England on a rope 180 teet long and eighty feet from the pround, performing nearly all his old feats, walking backward and blindfolded, cooking an omelet, carrying his son on his back, and riding across on a V'icycle. He never used a net and never feil, and never had but one accident. "While performing at Crystal Palace, England. the rope was swung violently through the mistake of his assistant. and he lost his footing. but caught the rope by his feet as he was falling. Blondin crossed Niágara 400 times in all, received numerous medals, and was made a chevalier by Quee_n Isabella of Spain. For many years his terms were J500 a performance and he left a large estáte.

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Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News