35 A Barrel of Fun 1901

Six people and a cat have tried it. Three people lived to talk about it. Three died. Annie Taylor was a schoolteacher when she tried it. On October 24, 1901, Annie had her 63rd birthday. She was not getting ready to leave teaching like most people who retire at that time in their lives. Annie was trying to become famous that day to make a lot of money. She was about to become another Niagara Falls daredevil.

Niagara Falls sits between Ontario, Canada, and New York, USA. It is beautiful and powerful. The water rushes over the falls and drops 57 metres to the rocks below. The water flows very fast. In the spring, the water can flow at 6,400 cubic metres per second. Niagara Falls has always been a popular place for tourists to visit. Many people go there right after they marry. People like to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist boat. These boats go close enough to the falls for everyone to get wet from the waterfall spray. In 1901, Niagara Falls was also a favourite place for daredevils to try their luck.

All daredevils seem crazy to those who have quiet lives. Perhaps the craziest of all the Niagara Falls daredevils was Jean Francois Gravelet. He called himself the Great Blondin and his job was being a daredevil. When he was 31 years old, he walked across a rope that was tightly tied 60 metres above Niagara Falls. He called it a tightrope act. The Great Blondin walked from the US side to the Canadian side. He even did a back flip half way across. Jean did his tightrope act at Niagara Falls many more times. He walked with a cover over his eyes. He rode a bicycle. One time, he even stopped in the middle to cook an egg. The Great Blondin was so famous that other tightrope walkers had to do something very special to be more interesting than him.

Signor Farini walked across the tightrope carrying a washing machine for his daredevil act. In the middle, he used a rope and a pail to pull up water from Niagara Falls. He washed some handkerchiefs in his machine and put them out to dry.

Not every daredevil tried to walk over Niagara Falls. At the bottom of the falls, people tried swimming. Captain Matthew Webb was the first person to swim across the English Channel. He was a strong swimmer and he thought he could swim across the Niagara River from the Canadian side to the American side. To do that he had to swim through the Whirlpool Rapids near the bottom of Niagara Falls. Captain Webb said those rapids were“one of the angriest bits of water in the world”. He was right. He jumped into the water and swam into the rapids. The water in the Whirlpool Rapids was so strong that it crushed his body. He was found dead, four days later, washed up on shore.

ANNIE TAYLOR WAS A DAREDEVIL WHO WENT OVER NIAGARA FALLS IN A BARREL

Next, came boating daredevils. The first to try to go through the rapids in a boat was Captain Joel Robinson. He was not really a daredevil. He was a very good and brave boat captain. When the Maid of the Mist boat was sold, someone had to take it to Queenston, Canada to the new owner. It had to travel through the rapids to get there. Captain Robinson said he could do it and he did. Another boater, Robert Flack, was not as lucky as Captain Robinson though. When Robert tried to go through the rapids in a boat it turned over. Robert drowned in the rapids, under his boat.

Two people went through the rapids in a barrel and lived. A barrel is a round, wood item that is used to store a lot of liquid like beer. Perhaps seeing other people go through the rapids in a barrel is what gave Annie Taylor the idea to use one to go over the falls.

Annie knew she would probably die. She didn't mind, though. She had already thought about killing herself. Annie had married at the age of 17. Her husband was killed in the war and soon her only child got sick and died too. Annie lived the rest of her life alone. By the time she was 63 years old, Annie had spent her life moving around teaching in the USA and Mexico. She had no money and she had been poor her whole life. Annie was near the age when she would have to retire. She knew she would not have enough money to stay alive when she could not teach any longer. Annie needed to find a way to make money.

Annie thought of going over the falls inside a barrel to become famous. She had a special barrel made. It had a lot of pillows and a bed mattress inside. It was made of wood and iron. Annie had ropes put inside to hold her in place. Annie used her cat to test it first. She put her cat inside and sent it over the falls. The cat lived and the barrel did not break, so Annie was ready to try.

At 4:00 pm that October 241901 afternoon, Annie got inside the 1.4 metres tall × 1 metre wide barrel. She waved to the cameras. The top was put on the barrel and closed tight. A boat took Annie in her barrel about two kilometres up the river and away she went. Annie's barrel was heading towards the falls.

The barrel was pushed one way, then another by the strong water. It took 20 minutes to get to the falls. Annie prayed to God every second of the way. Then the barrel went over the edge of the falls and next came the drop. Annie in her barrel took just a few seconds to fall the 57 metres to the bottom of the falls. When the barrel landed, Annie said it hit so hard she was sure she had hit rocks.

Seventeen minutes later, the barrel came close to the Canadian side of the falls and was pulled out of the water. When the top was cut off, Annie got out. She was not hurt. Annie was the first person to go over Niagara Falls and live. Annie said, “No one ought ever do that again.”

People did not listen to Annie though. Five more tried it in a barrel before it became illegal to do any daredevil acts at Niagara Falls. Roger Woodward, a seven-year-old boy, went over the falls in only a life jacket after a boating accident sent him into the water. He is one of only four people who have ever lived when they have gone over the falls because of an accident.

Annie Taylor got famous, but she did not get rich. For a number of years after, Annie travelled and made some money by telling her story. She sold some things like signed photos. Annie made some good money. Then, her manager ran away with her money and her barrel one day. Annie spent the rest of her money trying to find him. She never did. Annie died a poor woman at the age of 83 years.