It was the great Blondin who stands king of the tight-rope walkers of Niagara, leaving behind him a reputation as the greatest tight-rope walker of the century. Charles Emile Gravelet was born at Hesdin, near Calais, on the twenty-eighth of February, 1824, and died in Ealing, near London, February 22, 1897. His father, whose nickname, "Blondin," from the colour of his hair, descended to his son, was a soldier of the First Empire who had seen service under Napoleon at Austerlitz, Wagram, and Moscow, but died when his son was in his ninth year. The pluck and strength that young Blondin had was displayed as early as his fourth year; when only a few years older he was trained by the principal of _l'École de Gymnase_ at Lyons in many gymnastic feats, and after six months there, was brought out as "The Little Wonder." He excelled especially at tight-rope dancing, jumping, and somersault-throwing. One of his notable jumps was over a double rank of soldiers with bayonets fixed. The agent of an American Company--the Ravels--aware of his success in the French provinces finally gave him a two years' engagement for the United States, which afterwards was extended to eight years. He came to America in 1855; and it was not long after, when looking across the Niagara Falls, that he remarked to Mr. Ravel: "What a splendid place for a tight-rope performance." [Illustration: Goat Island Bridge. Showing Niagara's Famous Cataract and International Hotels.] The idea was impressive and as a result, after laborious preparations, Blondin was ready to cross a wire, June 30, 1859. Despite the unanimous howl of derision at the idea, people could not resist the temptation to see the rash performer throw his life away; and the crowd that gathered was the largest ever seen at the Falls. It is interesting, from more than one standpoint, to quote the New York _Herald_ of July 1, 1859, on the exploit: Monsieur Blondin has just successfully accomplished the feat of walking across the Niagara on a tight-rope, in the presence of a crowd variously estimated at from five thousand to ten thousand persons. He first crossed from the American side, stopping midway to refresh himself with water raised in a bottle with a rope from the deck of the steamer _Maid of the Mist_. The time occupied in the first crossing was seventeen minutes and a half. The return from the British to the American side was accomplished in twelve minutes. According to other sources, the crowd was estimated at fifty thousand. Blondin did considerably more than merely pass over, for he carried a pole weighing forty pounds, and did some extraordinary feats of balancing and came ashore amid the huzzas of the crowd, with the whole country ringing with the news of the daring exploit.