The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 1, 1901, Page 6

»e ° THE SUNDAY CALL. OME one questions if women are more given ato religious delusions or “fads” than men, and if so, why? An old definition of the word “fad” is “a bundle of straw.” Not a very dangerous thing, unless, indeed, a spark fall upon it from something already ablaze. If the blazing thing bé a woman's opinion, a woman's conviction, well- foupded or unfounded, even a fad becomes a torch that leads or misleads, scintiilates or radiates, dazales, scorches, smirch:s.or warms, so long as the glowing Lhing may . be made to seem something other and of more value than straws. The French language gives 10 our va- rious hobbies and whims, our insipid fid- dlefaddle ideas and fancies, the name “fadaise.”” In Macaulay's life and letters we find the great writer declaring his sympathy with Jeffrey in his contempt “for the fadaise of the bluestocking litera- ture.” Notwithstanding these notes of coutempt from over the sea our own diz- tionary exalts the word to a place of some dignity when it admits that a fad may be more than “‘a trivial matter pursued with irrational ‘zeal,” and calls it *“an im- portant matter imperfectly understood, often urged with more zeal than sense.” Now since the imperfect understanding and the zealous, senseless pusuit do not belong to the fad at all, but to the per- son espousing it, we have sifted out of- the various definitions the fact that a fad, however undefstood = or misunderstood, however unwjsely defended, may be “an inporu.nt thing.” If, then, our ques- tioner had asked, ‘““Are women less keen in d between the important and unimportant than are men?”’ it might be difficult to say. But our ques- tion is, ‘“Are women more given to reli- gious delusions than men?’ and to. this query no careful observer of the various religious movements that have claimed recent attention in our own and other countries can hesitate to answer *Yes.” We have only to let the mind follow along the procession of believers in every +great ’ism and ’ol’ocy and 'osophy under the sun, from those who gave heed to the utterances .hat crept from under the pokebonnet of the early Shaker Ann to those who hung on the werds of wisdom issuing from the yellow turbaned monks af the Orient, to know that the long ranks are largely feminine not in num- bers oniy but in loyalty and in zeal. Sad enough this fact if the fads they espouse e 5B P e e HE recent remarkable feat of Mrs. Anna E. Taylor in going over the Horseshoe Falis of Niagara in a barrel recalls other thrilling ex~ periences ana performances at Ni- agara. The Indian legend connected with Niagara asserts that the Indians who awelt in that vieinity worshiped jthe Great Spirit of the Falls, their worshi, culminating annually in the sacrifice of the fairest maiden the tribe to the Great Spirit of Niag: , laden with fruit and flower®. Since then many lives have been sacrificed, voluntarily or invelun- tarily, in the mighty current, and many deeds of daring attempted and performed there for the sake of notoriety or money. The following instances of this kind are taken from ““The Niagara Book,” by W. D. Howells, Mark Twaln, Professor Na- thaniel 8. Shaler and others, collected in a chapter entitled “Dramatic Incl- dents,” written by Orrin E. Dunlop: During the flual twenty years of the last century, say Mr. Dunlop, the ef- ‘orts to attain notoriety through somo Niagura feat were perhaps more fre- quent that ever belore, but as far back as 1327 Niagara was recognized as an ideal place where great crowds might be assembled by thriliing incidents. About 1ke first feature of this character was the sending of the pirate Michigan over Lhs talls ¢n the afternoon of September S, 1527, This vessel was at the time one of the largest of her c¢lass, but had been condemned by her owners as unpfit to longer sail the lukes. Dressed as a plrate sne was loaded with wild and tame ani- mals, and with a crew In efllgy was towed to the foot of Navy Island and #et adrift, She was caught by the cur- rent and huried through the upper rapids and over the Horseshoe Malls, 1t wag never recorded that any of the animals were recaplured to be sent to the muse- wms in New Yors, Montreal and Lon- O W | IPENT OF W prove anly useless bundles of straw. One straw shows the way of the wind; a bundle may show the drift of united cur- rents of sympathy, sentiment or convic- tion, If these are valueless, then it is only a question of time when the fire— caught, remember, from the woman and not from the fad—becomes a consuming fire. aiuen the whole thing goes up In smoke, tainting the pure air for a little, but swept away soon.or late by that wind whose silent coming and going wo do not always hear, but that “bloweth where it listeth,” and always to make the foul air pure. It would be foolish to deny that ex- treme phases of religious teaching have always found many devoted followers among women. In every abnormal move- ment they not only outnumber men but outrank !.hem in advocacy and outdo them in sacrifice for whatever cause has won their allegiance. But, admitting the fact of woman's greater devotion is not necessarily an admission of her greater weakness and credulity. The very quali- ties which make women victims and de- fenders alike of new and unpopular ideas make them also faithful wives to un- lucky men, devoted mothers to ailing chil- dren and loyal supporters of unfortunate friends. A good woman’'s hunger to give her best to the best she knows keeps her, ever on the alert for something better than she has yet discovered. Her dis- content with much ot her religious teach- ing is not always unworthy; indeed, it is sometimes a divine discontent. IT she fails to enjoy the mild essays too fre- quently offered in the guise of instruction and admonitien, she may not openty re- ‘bel at her portion of spiritval foed: she may even blame herself for her lack of assimilation. yet she knows perfectly well she is or is net strengthened by the diet prepared for her soul. But however con- scious she may be of her unsatisfied hun- ger,’ the good woman is rarely iconeclas- tic; she is usually glad if the religzious instruction proves ‘the bread of life to other souls. For herself, if she is honest- hearted and truly hungers and thirsts af- ter rightecusness, she is surely golng to take a nibble and a sip at whatever seems to promise fullress for the empti- ness of her aching heart and brain. Es- pecially is she going to taste for hel:selt the bread and the cup which some other woman tells Fer che has found sufficient for her own need. Among women there don, as was the intention. Coaches left Buffalo on the afternocn of the 7th ot September to accommodate the crowds, and all the Niagara hotels were full of guests. Among the crowd drawn to the falis by this Incident was Sam Patch, a man who had won fame at Pawtucket Falls and other Eastern points as a high jumper. He erected a platform at the water's edge of the debris slope, just north of the Biddle Stairs, and from this platform leaped Into the river, the height of the jump being about ninety feet. Patch was considered a wonder, but shortly after his Niagara experience he Igst his life in a leap from the Genesfe Falls In Rochester. One of the most daring feats ever per- formed at Niagara Falls was that of Joel 20binson and his two associates, Macln- tyre and Jones, on June 6, 1361, when they voyaged through the whiripool rapids in the steamer Mald of the Mist. The boat was libeled and mortgaged to such an ex. tent that the waters of the Nlagara were too warm for her and Robinson agreed to deliver her at a Canadian lake port, On the afternoon of the day mentioned, to the surprise of all who saw the boat, in- stead of heading over her usual course up the river, her bow was directed right in- to the rapids, with the waves of which she was soon battling, It was the first trip of the kind ever made, but under a full head of steam she made the trip in safety, the stack being swept away In the scething waters, Robinson was born in Springfield, Mass. He died in 1863, If any man deserves the title of “Hero of the Whirlpool Rapids™” It I1s Carlleles D. Graham, a Philadelphia cooper, who, despite Webb'# death, traveled to Nlagara, determined to show the world that he had confidence that he equld go through the rapids and live as well as belng willing to risk his life In a barrel of his own E2 ICKIN/ON NATIONAL are many students with falr endowment of logic, with well trained thinking pow- ers—women who study, investigate, rea- son, accept, reject, and both froW® solid grounds; but by far the larger numbers are satisfied with the logic of experience, and they are possibly too ready to begin with faith in somebody else's experlence while groping toward their own. Not every woman will admit that she has eaten and has not been filled; we know it when she does not think it worth wilile to gather up the fragments. Not every woman will admit that something may be wrong with her own spiritual power of assimilation, but every woman will listen when another tells her of a new light that has scattered her shad- ows, a new strength that has answered her longings—even though this means a new system of theology, a new theory of pl\'t(lon or a new conception of God. This natural dual desire in woman, first, to give herself, her love, her allegiance, her service, and, second, to find some- thing great enough and good enough to claim all she has to bestow, accounts, not for all, but for much of her reckless following after new teachers of what seem to her new truths. She accepts on fatth the experience, mental and bodily, of others. For her there is no argument like ‘Whereas I was blind, now 1 To this faith, unmindful that it is on the wrong basis, aeccrding to Scripture, she adds virtue; that is, ghe practices obe- diently what she has been taught, lets her soul be lHghted by the terch of asso- ciation, is drawn by the ccrd of common sympathy. She strives to add to her vir- tue know!ledge, but sees no reason to walt for it before adopting new ideas or shap- ing her life by new ideals. That both ideas and ideals often have no founda- tion of facts is not detected in the en- thusiasm that sweeps the soul into a new world. And so it is that from the ranks of God's noblest women, not all, but many converts to the néw movements are wen., To enthusiasm absurdities have a fascination and the more impossible things ‘look to the calm eye of reason the more enticing are they to the glowing eye of a fanaticism that mistakes itself for the upiifted eye of faith. To such en- thusiasm scientific method is as distaste- ful as it is incomprehensible. It gathers a few data that, bulwarked by a hundred @oumci OF’ USCEPTIBILITY WD LGSR MA l?)/ NORA Y PRE LUSTDNS [V OME ™~ by a hundred more, might prove the ope- ration of some undiscovered spiritual law, Of themselves, data and phenomena are proofs of nothing, are merety hints and suggestions of sible truths—straws indicate the way of the wind. Yet on such foundations as this whole system are reared that claim not only to regencrate and revivify mankind, but to reveal and interpret the innermost thoughts of God. But while deprecating this method, or lack of method, let us not be supposed to think that it pertains to women alone. There are temperamental charac- teristics common to both men and women. We only claim that the ranks of new religionists of every sort are largely filled by those who are asking in all seriousness for the fish and the bread, but whose eagerness makes them swal- low things as sinuous and deceitful as ser- pents ‘and as barren of nutriment as stones, Speaking of this question, some one claims for women a more profoundly re- ligious nature tnan belongs to the othere sex. A We fail to find evidence of this, but on the other hand abundant proof that the religious instinct or impulse in men, once having found its rest and center in God, stays by him and accepts what it gets in the way of nurture through the estab- lished charnels of his church. A good old Christian, perplexed by the Higher Criticism, said, “I'll keep my old Bible just as it is: it ig good enough for me.” And Christlan men generally find the re- ligious ministrations to which they are accustomed good enough for them. They have settled the religious business onca for all, They know they can rely upon the divine fulfillment of the promises of God. They go- on, perhaps without ecstasy, but at least with Christian prin- ciple. Thelr lives are full-of vital trans- actions and achievements. They have lit- tle time and no use for fads of any sort, and for religlous fads no time or use at all. Just as religion is seryed out through established channels it Is “‘good enough® for them. No vague longing, no hunger of heart, no watching like souls awake in the early twilight for the coming of . fuller day. 2 Is it best that wav? Who knows? There's something lost and something gatned. We do not judge. We only knowv that because womven cannot always find the “old things™ good enough for them others, would have a genuine value. It aney plunge quite tco often into somo- obscrves a few phenomena that, supported OST WONDERFUL FEATS OF DARING saw construction. Graham made his first trip on the afternocn of Sunday, July 11, 1886, going way to Lewiston, the trip cc- cupying about thirty-five minutes. Gra- ham rode in a barrel weighted at the bot- tom. 7The height of the barrel was such that he could stand nearly upright in it, and the top was of a larger dlameter than the bottom. On Thursday, August 10, 1886, Graham made a second trip, go- ing as far as the whirlpool. In this trip his head protruded through the top of the barrel throughout the entire trip. Hy made a third trip June 15, 1887, and on August 26, 1889, he made a fourth trip, vsing a barre! of much smallker size and going way through to Lewiston. Graham will be remembered as never having dis- appointed a gathering. His nerve néver fafled him. . Copying somewhat the ldea that Gra- ham nad developed so successfully George Hasletr and flliam Potts of Buffaio made a trip through the rapids in a bar- rel sald to be of their own construction on Sunday, August 8, 188, The barrel they used more closely resembled the fa- mll{u: type of barrel, having no unusual features of form. Two weeks after Haslett and Potts had made a trip there appeared at Niagara a Boston policeman named W. J. Kendall, The date was August 22, 1886. Unan- nounced, Kendall went through the rapids to the whirlpool Proteu(rd by only n cork life preserver. All previous trips had been announced but Kendall slipped thmufh with only a few spectators, accldentally on the eliffs or bridges, to bear witness, For this reason some have felt that the trip was never made, but men of integ- rity are known who witnessed the per- formance, In the same barrel that was used by Jlaslett and Potts Miss Sadie Allen and George Haslett made o trip through the rapids on November 28, w& Miss Allen was the only woman who had ever made the journey through the Nlagara gorge. Next, on August 28, 1887, Charles Alex- ander Percy of Nlagara Falls made a sue- ceasful trip through the raplds to the whiripool In a boat of his own construc- thing Intinitely worse. . tion. This jed Robert Willlam Flack of Syracuse to travel to Niagara to ¢emon- strate the merits of a boat he had built, Percy and Flack signed articles of -agree- ment fer a race through tne rapids, but Flack was first to show If his craft was feaworthy. On the afternoon of July 4, 1585, Flack made this trip and he went down to death. Flack's boat wa w clinker pattern. .In the trip through the rapids it can.lzed three times, but Flack remained in the bont because he was.held there by a harness rigging about his body. It was a frightful spectacle, this trip of Flack's, and was witnessed by thousands of people. The last time the boat capsized was on the final blg wave at the entrance to the whirlpool, High In the air the boat tossed. It stood on end for an instant and then it toppled over on r Flack. From the point where the at capsized it floated about the pool up- slde down for an hour or more until cap- turcd on the Canadian side. Flack was found hanging dead by the straps he had placed there to ald him to save his life. On July 9, 1900, Peter Nissen, also known as “Bowser,”" appeared at the falls and announced his intention of golng through the raplds. Nissen was a bookkeeper and the boat In which he made the trip was bullt after his own ideas. In length the boat was 20 feet. It had a beam of 6 feet and a depth of 4 feet. It was decked all over, with the exception of a small cocks pit in the center. There were two alr compartments in the front and In the rear and one on each slde of the cockpit. To the keel of the boat proper hung an ircmi keel welghing 120 pounds, It was after 4 o'clock when Nissen and his boat came out of an eddy In tow of a rowboat, After belng set adrift he got caught In an eddy Just above the raplds and had to be started again, It was approaching 6 o'clock before he was In the rapids. His craft rode the waves magnllicently, It was a glorious sight, qulte In contrast with the spectacle presented by Flack and his light craft, ever once did Nissen's boat capsize, for all It was wave-washed frequently, After reaching the whiripool Nissen and his boat floated about until captured, when Nisgen landed, Nissen wus from Chicage. #