Bridge jumper – From 1904 on into the '20s, Murphy Jones, an African-American garbage collector was jumping into the Delaware River from bridges. His friends would pass the hat to fund the daredevil act.
Jones made his first jump from the top of a new bridge in his hometown of Belvidere during Labor Day festivities, earning $15 for his 65-foot plunge. He was about 26 years old. This Labor Day dive was “an annual event for many years,” according to Frank Dale in his book “Bridges Over the Delaware River” (2003).
In 1909 the Harrisburg (Pa.) Daily Independent reported his 1909 dive from the Portland, Pa., railroad bridge. Jones “made a straight and remarkably successful head-first dive of 76 feet into seven feet of water.”
By July of 1915, Frenchtown was part of his circuit. The Star reported that Jones had, for the second time, jumped off the Frenchtown bridge into the river. Just to show how unimpressed he was, the writer added that local boys had scoffed that they could do the same thing.
By May of 1918, the Star's tepid reception to Jones had deepened to mild a annoyance as it reported that he had “repeated his usual feat – dove off the top of the Delaware bridge into river – once in the afternoon and again in the evening. A boat was in readiness to pick him up. He first took up a collection – after acting as his own advance agent with a loud sounding megaphone voice.” An ad in the Star would probably have won him some support.
In August of 1921, the Star's annoyance was taking a malevolent turn: “Murphy Jones recently appeared on the streets of Frenchtown again, for a collection to see him jump off the Delaware bridge. He got the money, and to deliver the goods hopped off the structure. No broken bones or drowning.”
Maybe next time.
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BTW, the photo of the bridge was taken between 1905 and 1931; The Frenchtown bridge was partly swept away in 1903, and it was repaired with iron; then replaced in 1931.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"
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