Captain Matthew Webb, who succeeded in swimming the English Channel
on August 24th, 1875, an operation in the achievement of which he was immersed for nearly twenty-two hours, was drowned on Tuesday, in a mad attempt to swim through the whirlpool at the foot of Niagara. He was rowed in a boat to a point about three hundred yards above the old suspension bridge, and then dived into the river, at four o'clock. He succeeded in swimming the rapids, though very nearly turned over by the force of the water ; but when he reached the whirlpool, his strength and courage availed him nothing. His plan was to dive beneath the surface eddy, and to avoid the point of greatest suction ; but in all probability, the violence and depth of the whirlpool proved to be some- thing far beyond his utmost imagination. He got through a small part of the whirlpool, but then suddenly threw up his arms, and was seen no more. He was born on January 18th, 1848, and was therefore at his death over thirty-five years of age; and latterly he had not had good health, so that his almost unrivalled strength as a swimmer was not what it had been when he accomplished the great feat of swimming the Channel, eight years ago. We are glad to hear that the statement that the Railway Companies had raised ti1,000 as a bribe to him to attempt this mad feat, is untrue. Such a bribe would have been wicked, and should be made criminal.
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