Larry Donovan (bridge jumper)

Donovan was born to Irish immigrants at 55 Frankfort St, New York; he had two younger sisters, Mary and Tassie. He was given a "fair" education but when his father, member of the National Guard (twelfth regiment), He stood 5'8" and was described as "a handsome young fellow, about the medium height, loosely and somewhat clumsily built ... He has a frank and prepossessing face, clear eyes, and very thick dark eyebrows." Another article described him as "possessed of a well-knit, powerful frame, and his resolute character and fearless spirit are indexed in his countenance". == Bridge jumps in US ==

Schuylkill River and High Bridge Donovan's first recorded leap was in 1884 from an unspecified bridge over the Schuylkill River. Brooklyn Bridge After the Brooklyn Bridge was completed on May 31, 1883, there was speculation about who would be the first to successfully leap from it. In May 1886, swimming instructor Robert Emmet Odlum died in an attempt to prove the harmlessness of falling long distances through the air. A month later, Steve Brodie was said to have successfully dropped from the bottom of the bridge and survived with injuries, but doubts about whether he actually made the jump surfaced years later and the matter remains unsettled. In any case, Donovan carefully prepared his August 28 attempt to become the first person to jump off the top of the bridge. He underwent medical examinations to ensure his health, and was promised $500 (equal to $ today) by his employer, the Police Gazette, who also provided a wagon as transport for the early morning attempt. weighted with five pounds of zinc each. He tightly bandaged his legs, The leap was replicated by accident a year later when a painter slipped and fell 120 feet into the river, without injury. Having earned $200 telling a newspaper that he would join a circus and do a high jumping act. Three days later he attempted to jump from the bridge anyway, but was caught by police. Niagara Falls In early November 1886, he set his sights on Niagara Falls, apparently without immediate financial incentive, but with the hope of future returns. He visited Niagara Falls to find a site to jump from, rejecting the "old bridge" at Falls View, a wood and steel suspension bridge just below the rapids, before settling on the new Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge. This double-decker rail and carriage bridge was completed earlier that year, completely replacing an earlier suspension bridge on the same site, with minimal traffic disruption, only to be itself replaced ten years later. That bridge had only seen one previous jump, by a Bellini in 1873, who performed a sort of bungee jump. He planned another attempt on Genesee Falls, in the summer of 1887, and to "swim the Niagara Rapids farther than William J Kendall|[William] Kendall did". This pride apparently did not last long; in December, after having "returned to [New York], without much money", He then reportedly issued a challenge to fight champion boxer John L. Sullivan in a four-round bout. Chestnut Street Bridge This was soon followed by a leap from the Chestnut Street Bridge (88 feet) in Philadelphia into the Schuylkill River. He made the leap at 7 AM on February 18, 1887, inviting a "score of reporters and prominent sporting men" to watch him jump, wearing shoes with lead-lined soles. He was "badly winded, and a little stream of blood gushed from his mouth", but was otherwise uninjured. He had been intending to attempt to set a record of 500 miles in a "walking match" later in the month, and apparently still had his sights on the Genesee Falls. Soon after, he declared his intention to jump from the Niagara Horseshoe Falls on May 8, and to swim the Niagara Falls Rapids. Nothing seems to have come of these plans. In March, he was appointed lieutenant in the volunteer life saving corps. Brooklyn Bridge return After a quiet couple of months, Donovan returned to New York in early April, with the intention of diving headfirst from the Brooklyn Bridge, Police at both ends of the bridge thus began searching every vehicle crossing, and discovered Donovan at 1:40 PM. Steve Brodie, visiting Donovan with cigars and tobacco, urged both he and Defreitas to avoid jumping illegally and to follow his example instead. He had lined up a contract to make a leap of 120 feet in Ohio, for a fee of $250, with another bridge jump to follow in St Louis for the same fee. Around this time he was exhibiting himself in a dime museum (despite earlier protestations), and travelling in a variety company organised by himself, which was not a success. == England ==

London Later that month, having "exhausted the highest American [bridges]", he travelled to England, with plans to leap from Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge, a height of 250 feet, and hopes to "make a name [for himself] on both sides of the Atlantic". at the East London Athletic Club, of London Bridge a week later. On that occasion, he refused to take money from the crowd of 500 spectators on the basis that it was a "Jubilee jump", referring to the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession a year earlier. Calling himself "Champion Aerial Jumper of the World", A few days later he was arrested while trying to jump from Westminster Bridge, on a charge of disorderly conduct due to the crowds that gathered as he struggled against two men determined to stop him making the jump. He was released with a caution, the judge remarking "You may jump over bridges if you don't cause disorder or disturbance in the streets. ... There are times in the morning when you may exhibit yourself, in the early morning; but in the daytime it is perfectly impossible for you to be allowed to do so." On June 16 he laid out a challenge in the press: However, his feats generally "found but little favour, and were only looked upon as a species of foolhardiness," He later declared "it was my great ambition to be introduced to [the Queen] after I jumped off Clifton Bridge in honour of her Jubilee". The following evening, at 7 PM, the same toll collector recognised him and alerted police, who argued that allowing him to make the leap would be akin to standing idly by as someone threw themselves in front of a tram-car. They then arrested him on a charge of attempted suicide. Although accompanied by friends willing to pay a bail, Unable to raise both a £200 bail and two "sureties" of £100, On September 21, a newspaper reported that he "was very unhappy", and on a £400 bond, expiring October 6, not to jump off anything. He had begun preparations to go over Horseshoe Falls with "an apparatus", and regretted "having been too proud to be a freak in a dime museum", and that he had not taken up boxing instead. After attempting, unsuccessfully, to join Buffalo Bill's show, he began working as the manager of a sporting house, He was dressed as Ally Sloper, the first comic strip character to have a regularly published comic named after it – Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. Presumably paid for the performance, he was accompanied by an attendant handing out pamphlets. then at the Royal Aquarium, introducing local boxing celebrities Charles "Toff" Wall and Tom Smith. He also performed with a "travelling showman" but it is unclear exactly when or what that entailed. having interviewed him, friends, witnesses, the police, and hospital staff, but remained uncommitted either way. Late on the night in question, he was brought to Bristol Hospital, claiming to have made a successful leap of nearly 200 feet from the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Certain staff at the hospital were said to have doubted the claim, on account of his dry undergarments, although in other accounts they are described as "thoroughly drenched" and claimed to have had no fewer than three officers guarding the bridge (as many as seven in one report The claim was evidently believed by a local auctioneer named "Mr Kay", who on March 13 presented him with a "massive silver cup, as a mark of appreciation of his pluck". This was perhaps his only financial reward from the jump, having no bets laid, but hoping "that he might get something out of it". He then offered to jump from "Clifton Bridge" for £25. Around this time he is reported to have spent a month in Paris. The drunken "spree" continued through to the late evening of Monday, August 6, 1888, Conflicting news reports said the river was at "high water", at the time. However, historical tide records show that high tide reached Hungerford Bridge (100 minutes from the Sheerness observation point) around 3:20 AM, so the water level was indeed close to maximum. He was buried on August 15, 1888, in Brockley Cemetery, London, the service paid for by his former employer, the Police Gazette. His mother told The Sun, "I told him that jumping off bridges was a poor way of earning a living." Media coverage of his life sometimes praised his exploits, and at other times scorned them. A stern editorial in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle after his death wrote: == References ==