The Great Farini

Shane Peacock
Biographer, Novelist, Playwright, Journalist, Screenwriter
Author of The Great Farini - The High-Wire Life of William Hunt

The Lives of Farini-Hunt - The Duel

“The Invincible Signor Farini” shouted the broadside, “Will not be Outdone”. And so “The Duel” began! Farini with “The length and slackness of his cable”, “the greater height and weight of the man he would carry” and the fact “that he would unload and reload his companion as he walked (across the cable)”! Blondin, for his part, “lowered himself to a short slack rope slung about twenty feet under his cable and on this rope he stood on his head, lay face down and imitated a swimmer” and then he “performed a startling series of a dozen or more lightning fast somersaults”. To finalize his performance "he appeared on the loading platform with little manager on his back and then proceeded to walk the wire!” All this to the delight of the crowds who had gathered! The Duel continued throughout the season, each performer trying to outdo one another! They even tried to convince the Prince of Whales (later King Edward VII) to take a trip on their backs across Niagara on the wire! It was an amazing period and one that would be remembered for a long time! It is interesting to note that although Blondin was the better known of the two performers, Farini prospered financially while Blondin struggled. Farini was showing one of his many talents, he was financially astute! As Shane Peacock summarizes in his Farini Niagara adventure, “He (Farini) had gone to the Falls to compete with the man whom everyone said was a superman. No one, they said, could do the things that the immortal Blondin did. Now, they knew different”.

NOTE: Mr. Peacock has written several books. His latest series is about "The Boy Sherlock Holmes" This is a wonderful look at the legendary Sherlock Holmes, in the beginning! To learn more about Shane and all of his works, please visit his website at www.shanepeacock.ca.

(To Be Continued)