Cecil does refer to this, as part of his entry in Trotter.
<< I mean, who’s safety are you risking besides your own? >>
Well, generally there are rules against water pollution – for instance, if various bits of your body and innards are sploshed into the river. Aside from the gross-out factor for the tourists watching.
And, BTW, Cecil’s column is limited in space, so he didn’t try to provide full details on each situation. He wasn’t trying to write a comprehensive textbook, he was just trying to summarize some of the more interestin’ cases.
Sorry, I was reading down his list assuming it was a chronological entry of each incident…
You got me over a barrel… 
- Jinx
Probably before 1935. The Niagara Gorge trolley was abandoned in 1935, and the Buffalo-Nighara Falls High Speed Route, the interurban line that ran between the two cities, was abandoned in 1937. (The right-of-way for both routes is still quite evident.)
Sorry for the aside.
I guessing that suicide is illegal because it’s a “sin.” It’s a sin because, in the early days of the Christian church, people were offing themselves after conversion to get directly into heaven. Augustine got wind of this, and said, “If you try that, you’re going straight to hell.”
Opinions concerning sin are not necessarily those of the poster.
According to today’s Globe & Mail, someone went over the Falls earlier today, completely unprotected, and survived - the first person known to do so. Sounds like an unsuccessful suicide attempt or something.
(Cecil refers to Roger Woodward as going over without any protection, but he also mentions that Roger was wearing a life-jacket. Cecil seems to mean without being in a barrel or other craft.)
I’ve always wondered this: Suppose I’m fishing way upstream of the falls and for whatever reason, I start heading back in the wrong direction. Suppose I start going downstream. Is there a physical barrier to keep me from taking my boat over the falls? Or just warning signs? And how close to the falls is too close?
More on kayaker Jessie Sharp…
On the radio this morning (106.3 out of Nashua NH), they were talking about Sharp - in fact, he was the subject of a trivia question. The announcer made the claim that Sharp decided not to wear a helmet, because he was being filmed and wanted his face to show clearly, and that this contributed to his death. Being radio, no source for this was given.
Rereading Cecil’s column, it states that his body wasn’t found, which (to me) says they couldn’t know if the lack of helmet contributed or not. Anyone have a source that has more on this?
I live a few miles from the Falls, so I can answer a few of these questions, I think. There is a barrier, but a determined boater could get around it. There are warning signs all over the place, and boats are not allowed in the Niagara River from approximately a few hundred yards upstream from the Grand Island Bridge, or four-and-a-half miles upstream from the Falls.
As for how close you can get to the Falls without going over, this year in March an unindentified man, apparently in a suicide attempt, jumped into the river and got stuck five feet from the drop, before being rescued successfully. You can read about it here.. The locals here regarded that as the most amazing Falls story since Roger Woodward, at least until this week’s case.
I can’t believe someone would want to attempt to go over the falls at all, unless the person had mentally reached their breaking point. To me it is more than just some cool falls daredevils want to tame, it is so scary to look at much less the thought of going over it for amusement. Of course the thought of the fame and notority from making it successful draws them to this idea but my thoughts would be more toward if the fall doesn’t kill me how will I get away from the under current at the bottom drowning to death is not how I plan on being remembered by my friends and family. Not to mention the people that would risk their lives to recover my body , to risk other lives than your own is ridiculous if you dont care for yourself that is one thing,but please do something else to yourself that wont endanger someone should they be called to rescue you.
A good recent strip on The Demon Barber of Bristol: http://keaner.net/journal/03-10-23.html
Webcomimentary?
And that’s my drinking water you’re talking about!
[sub]Okay, I generally drink bottled…[/sub]