Philadelphia Baseball History

Niagara Falls.  Tourist from across the globe have been attracted to the majestic beauty of the falls for more than two centuries. But the deceptive beauty of the Falls is also a call to danger.  Attention seekers have courted that danger, daring to plunge over the Falls in homemade barrels.  Others have dared a tightrope walk over the soaring heights.   Since 1850, about 5,000 bodies have been found at the foot of the Falls.  An estimated 20 to 30 people use the Falls each year to commit suicide. The Falls have even been used in an attempt to cover up a gruesome murder.  The tranquility of the tourist attraction was shattered on July 9, 1903.  That day, William LaBlond, operator of the popular tour boat, the Maid of the Mist, found a mangled, bloated body in the Niagara Gorge, a natural pool just upstream from the Falls.  The man’s leg had born shorn off, likely due to the boat’s propellers. The only clothing left on the body was his tie and hi...

William J. Kovatch, Jr.             On July 9, 1903, the naked, mangled body of a man with his leg shorn off was fished out of the Niagara Gorge, downstream from Niagara Falls.   The body was identified as Ed Delahanty, outfielder for the Washington Senators and former offensive powerhouse for the Philadelphia Phillies.   Delahanty had last been seen on July 2, when a train conductor, John Cole, fed up with Delahanty’s drunken misconduct, threw him off of the train before crossing the International Railway Bridge.   A New York Times obituary reported that Delahanty had an open razor and was terrorizing passengers in a sleeper compartment.   Delahanty had been drinking too excess, and became confused and irate when he tried to enter a sleeper compartment that was already occupied.   Cole failed to follow proper procedures and simply left Delahanty at the Bridgeburg station, instead of leaving Delahanty...