Tidbits Laughs Two adventurers went to see Niagara falls. After a few drinks, one bet the other $500 he couldn’t carry him across the falls on a tightrope. After a very scary trip, his friend managed to stagger safely across, and the wager was duly paid. “That was close!” said the loser. “When you wobbled halfway across, I was sure I’d won!”
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OVER A BARREL (continued): • A Rhode Island bartender named Steven Trotter wrapped two plastic pickle barrels in inner tubes and a tarp and went over the falls in 1985. At the age of 22, he became the youngest person ever to make the trip. He was fined over $5,000 for the stunt, but he more than made up for that with his talk show fees. On the tenth anniversary of the stunt, he returned with a woman named Lori Martin and they became the first co-ed couple to go over together. This time instead of pickle barrels, Trotter used hot water tanks welded together, covered with Kevlar, and equipped with oxygen tanks – a contraption that weighed 900 lbs. and is reputed to have cost some $19,000. The barrel became trapped in a rock crevice at the base of the waterfall. Members of the fire department and the police department were able to reach the barrel and pop the hatch, releasing the two unharmed occupants. The barrel remained lodged in place for 9 days before being removed by a crane. Trotter later returned to reclaim the barrel, but he had to pay the costs of the rescue before they handed it over. • In 1989, Peter DeBernardi and Geoffrey Petkovich, Canadian residents of Niagara Falls, were the first people to go over the falls as a team, face to face in the same ten-foot steel barrel. They had known each other only a couple of months. DeBernardi’s original partner had chickened out and Petkovich took his place. The steel-plated barrel was equipped with oxygen, two-way radio equipment, and two plexiglass windows. It was painted with the slogan, “Don’t put yourself on the edge – Drugs Kill.” The team suffered only minor injuries and refused treatment. Petkovich, who had been drinking, emerged wearing only a necktie and cowboy boots. They were promptly arrested by the Niagara Parks Police and charged with infractions.
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