The Biddle Staircase was named for Mr. Nicholas Biddle, of Philadelphia, who contributed a sum of money toward its construction. It was erected in 1829. The shaft is eighty feet high and firmly fastened to the rock. The stairs are spiral, winding round it from top to bottom. Near the foot of these stairs, at the water's edge, Samuel Patch, who wished to demonstrate to the world that "some things could be done as well as others," set up a ladder one hundred feet high, from which he made two leaps into the water below. Going thence to Rochester, he took another leap near the Genesee Falls, which proved to be his last. The depth of water on the Horseshoe Fall is a subject of speculation with every visitor. It was correctly determined in 1827. In the autumn of that year, the ship _Michigan_, having been condemned as unseaworthy, was purchased by a few persons, and sent over the Falls. Her hull was eighteen feet deep. It filled going down the rapids, and went over the Horseshoe Fall with some water above the deck, indicating that there must have been at least twenty feet of water above the rock. This voyage of the _Michigan_ was an event of the day. A glowing hand-bill, charged with bold type and sensational tropes, announced that "The Pirate _Michigan_, with a cargo of furious animals," would "pass the great rapids and the Falls of Niagara," on the "eighth of September, 1827." She would sail "through the white-tossing and deep-rolling rapids of Niagara, and down its grand precipice into the basin below." Entertainment was promised "for all who may visit the Falls on the present occasion, which will, for its novelty and the remarkable spectacle it will present, be unequaled in the annals of _infernal_ navigation." Considering that the Falls could be reached only by road conveyances, the gathering of people was very large. The voyage was successfully made, and the "cargo of live animals" duly deposited in the "basin below," except a bear which left the ship near the center of the rapids and swam ashore, but was recaptured. Two enterprising individuals made arrangements to supply the people assembled on the island with refreshments. They had an ample spread of tables and an abundant supply of provisions. As there was much delay in getting the vessel down the river, the people got impatient and hungry. They took their places at the tables. When their appetites were nearly satisfied, notice was given that the ship was coming, whereupon they departed hurriedly, forgetting to leave the equivalent half-dollar for the benefit of the purveyors. In after years, one of the proprietors of this unexpected "free lunch"--the late General Whitney--established here one of the best hotels in the country, and left his heirs an ample fortune.