Death on the High Wire

Four generations of the German Wallenda family had been performing on high wires over a period of 88 years, without a fatal injury. Night after night, they went on working 50 ft. or more in the air, never with nets beneath, death always below them. For all their poles, chairs, bicycles and gymnastic skills, what kept the act booked was the universal tension engendered in every watcher by the knowledge that the Flying Wallendas might fall.

Last week in Detroit, the Wallendas formed a six-man pyramid topped by a young lady in a chair. At the pyramid's base was young (23) Dieter Schepp, nephew of the troupe's leader, Karl Wallenda. He had escaped from East Germany only last year, was in his first week as a member of the troupe. Trying to improve his grip on the heavy balancing pole, he tossed it into the air. He grabbed it again. Then he shouted, "I can't hold it," and lost his balance.

The pyramid toppled. Three men crashed to the ground and lay sickeningly still. The other three men caught the girl and clung to the wire, holding her by her wrists until an improvised net was spread out below. Of the three who fell, two were killed, including Dieter Schepp. The third, Mario Wallenda, had a fractured skull and was not expected to live.

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