A traveling rope-walker, advertised under the name of Leoni, fell from the wire cable on which he was performing this afternoon on El Dorado Street, and received fatal injuries. He had stretched the wire across El Dorado Street from the top of the Board of Trade rooms to the roof of the old Stockton Theater at the height of about thirty-five feet. The cable was attached to a block and tackle and everything appeared to be secure. He passed backwards and forwards over the rope in safety this forenoon, and won great applause from the assembled crowd for his grace and dexterity. He announced that he would repeat the performance at half past 1 o'clock this afternoon, and at that hour there was a crowd of about 800 people in the vicinity.
    The daring funambulist was greeted with enthusiastic hand-clapping and applause as he made his appearance on the Board of Trade building. Before he started he made a short speech to the men holding the guy ropes in the street below, "Boys," said he, "don't forget to hold on to the ropes. No matter whether I tumble or not, don't let go of the ropes."
    He then started across, and when he had gone about half way he knelt on the wire and rested his cheek on his hand while his elbow rested on his knee. Then he began to rise, and made a graceful salutation to the admiring crowd. At that moment a rope attached to the block and tackle gave way and the cable fell to the street, hurling the unfortunate man downwards. He turned over once in his descent and struck the hard ground with his head and shoulder. A few groans and shrieks were heard from the crowd, and then a deathlike stillness fell upon the scene for a moment. Then several men rushed forward and picked up the limp form of the rope-walker and carried it into Dr. Hudson's office across the way.
    A pool of blood about the size of a man's hand marked the spot where the athlete fell. Men's faces were blanched and women turned away sickened. Dr. Hudson found that the rope-walker's left clavicle was broken in two places and his skull fractured, but without the broken bone depressing upon the brain. Blood gushed from the nostrils, mouth and ears, and there were other evidences of hemorrhage of the brain. Of course the patient was unconscious, but the physician did all that was possible under the circumstances. In addition to the injuries enumerated above the scalp was torn open and there was a great bruise near the small of the back.
    For an hour or more afterwards a crowd of several hundred persons remained in the vicinity gazing up at the windows of the doctor's office as though fascinated. A bucket containing water and blood was emptied out of one of the windows upon the awnings, and the fluid leaked through the cracks upon a young countryman named Overheiser.
    The tackle rope, the breaking of which caused the accident, hung down to within a few feet of the sidewalk and was critically inspected by the bystanders. It was found to be so rotten that the broken strands could easily be picked to pieces by the fingers. Much surprise was manifested that a man should trust his life to so frail a support.
    At 2:30 o'clock the injured man was taken into a hack by Chief Rogers and Officer Malloy to be placed in the County Hospital. On the way he died. The hack was then driven to Bond's undertaking establishment, where the body now lies, dressed in the blue tights and gold spangles of the rope-walker's profession.
    Leoni was 34 years old. He has been in the show business for twenty-four years and in the rope-walking business ten years. He has a wife, who is believed to be stopping at the International Hotel in San Francisco. The fatal block and tackle he borrowed from a river schooner yesterday.
    "That rope is rotten," said the schooner captain; "I'll give you a new one."
    "Oh, no, this is strong enough," replied the walker. The breaking was caused by the weight of the twelve men who held the guys. Leoni's true name is said to be William Ward.
The Mail, Stockton, California, March 14, 1885, page 1

    A Stockton dispatch of the 14th gives the following details of Leoni's tragic death: "This afternoon a large crowd gathered at the corner of El Dorado and Main streets to witness a rope-walking performance by Leoni, 'king of the air.' A wire had been stretched across the street from the tops of opposite two-story buildings. Leoni appeared at the top of the building on the west side, dressed in bright blue tights, trimmed with gold fringe. After bowing to the crowd he grasped his balancing pole, cautiously stepped onto the cable and advanced slowly across. When a little more than halfway across he kneeled on one knee and one foot, and laying his balancing pole across his knee, placed his elbow on his knee and rested his head on his hand. At that instant one of the tackle ropes parted and let the cable down. Leoni grabbed to catch it where his knee rested, but missed it, and falling to the ground with a crash, struck on the back of his head and neck, breaking his left clavicle in two places and fracturing his skull. The blood rushed from his nostrils, mouth and ears. A physician was immediately summoned, but Leoni died about an hour later, while being taken to the county hospital. He was 34 years of age and had been in the show business about twenty years."
    The San Francisco Chronicle says: "M. Leoni's true name was Maloney. His parents reside in New York, and he leaves a widow in Santa Rosa, this state. His last performance in this city was walking a tight wire from the dome of the pavilion at the ocean beach, and his last engagement in the immediate neighborhood of San Francisco was at the Coliseum, in Oakland, where daily, about five weeks ago, he walked a wire rope stretched across the street. He was about 32 years of age."
Daily British Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, March 19, 1885, page 5

   

    Cashier Fraser of the First National Bank here received today a letter from the cashier of a bank in Pittston, Pennsylvania, inquiring for particulars regarding Leoni, the rope-walker who recently fell in this city and abdicated his "dominion of the circumambient air." The letter says: "There is a worthy family in this town named Craig. One of the sons, James Craig, a scapegrace, left several years ago and was seen in a western city where he passed as Leoni, and was engaged as a tight-rope walker. His brother is a professor in the John Hopkins University of Baltimore, and is married to a daughter of General Alvord, late Paymaster of the United States Army." A newspaper paragraph in reference to Leoni's death had been seen by the family, and a letter was therefore sent to determine his identity.
The Mail, Stockton, California, March 25, 1885, page 3