Of all Bristol’s daredevils, Charlie Stephens, the fearless barber of West Street, Bedminster was the greatest.
Borrowed from Byegone Bedminster: Of all Bristol’s daredevils, Charlie Stephens, the fearless barber of West Street, Bedminster was the greatest. Charlie was determined to pull off the greatest stunt of all. He was going to ride the Niagara Falls in a barrel. 40-year-old: American, Kirk Jones, became the first person to survive without protection or survival gear of any kind by jumping over the Niagara Falls, and a 167 foot plunge below. He apparently climbed over a safety barricade, slid down rocks, stepped into the river and then disappeared from view for about four minutes. Horrified onlookers say that he went down head first. At the bottom of the falls he swam to the shore with seemingly no more injuries than a little bruising. Police said that he would be charged with illegally performing a stunt and could face Ones of up to £7,000. The Niagara river rushes over the falls a great tourist attraction at 150,000 gallons per second and smashes down into a dangerous, rock-strewn gorge....