Mrs. Eddy Mentioned them May 8, 1954 Issue

Blondin, 1824—1897

[Mentioned in Science and Health, p. 199]

More than reckless daring carried Blondin over Niagara. Like his father, who wore the Cross of the Legion of Honor for his service under Napoleon, Blondin was brave.

His interest in rope walking began when a troupe of acrobats pitched their tent near his home at St. Omer in France. Although a mere child, Jean Francois Gravelet longed to imitate them, but he succeeded only when a sailor friend fastened a piece of a boat's cable between two trees and gave the child an old spar to balance himself. Next he practiced crawling out on branches, and as they swayed he would catch hold of the branch above and swing himself up.

When he was five, his parents placed him in the Ecole de Gymnase in Lyons. After six months' training he appeared as Little Wonder. Later, because of his blue eyes and light hair, he took the name of Blondin. In 1851 he came with a French company of equestrian and acrobatic performers to the United States. On the voyage a man was washed overboard. At once Blondin jumped in and rescued him. He was eight years with this company; then he went to Niagara Falls and, in the spring of 1859, announced his intention of crossing them.

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Blondin, 1824—1897

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