Otto Eppers (1893-1955) was an American cartoonist and illustrator active from the 1920s to the 1950s. Although he was primarily known for his artistic activity, working in the fields of illustration, comics and graphic humour, he became famous for a curious event in 1910. At the age of 17, he jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, which attracted media attention and cemented his name in the popular culture of the time.
He became the first jumper to survive the fall and emerge unscathed. He was charged with attempted suicide, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
The New York Times, on page 18 of its 30 June 1910 edition, recounted the event, noting that the jumper had the "face of a ferret":
Young man dives off Brooklyn Bridge, eludes police, dives into East River, escapes unharmed
Police had a lot of work to do yesterday with bridge jumpers. A ferret-faced youth, who said he was 17, managed to elude their surveillance and jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, but a middle-aged workman was arrested just as he was about to climb over the parapet of the new Manhattan Bridge.
Various media outlets continued to tell the story of Eppers' leap, even after much time had passed.
The Yale Expositor (Yale, St. Clair County, Michigan) 22 July 1910. Chronicle of America: American Historical Newspapers. Library of Congress.
Eppers also worked for Chesler Publications, I.W. and Marvel Comics. However, it was in the amateur radio world where he was most active, gaining recognition from the community, where he was very active operating with the callsigns W8EA and W2EA.
He drew various QSL and comic strips. Many of Manhattan's Radio Row shops used Otto's work to promote their products. One of Otto's original designs for a peculiar QSL card made of wood stands out.
This curious QSL, made on a sheet of wood, was sent in 1938 to Geo Carr, W8NNY, of Shamokin, Pennsylvania.
Otto Eppers died in a New York hospital bed on 22 December 1955, aged 62.
The best account of Eppers' jump I have found is this one by Thomas Clark entitled"The Story of the Amateur Radio QSL Cartoonist" published on the website of the ARRL (The National Association for Amateur Radio) which I reproduce in translated and adapted form.
This young daredevil is credited with the first recorded jump from New York's Brooklyn Bridge.
On 29 June 1910, 17-year-old Otto was living on Dean Street in downtown Brooklyn. He was the son of a lithographer and had been uncharitably described as "a ragged, short, lanky youth" or, worse, as "ferret-faced".
For fame and money
As a teenager he dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. He had talent and liked to draw cartoons. But he felt that talent alone would not get him even a modest job in his chosen field. He would need money for classes and public fame to boost his career. And he would do it in a big way.
No one knows where he got the idea to jump off a New York bridge. What seems clear is that his family was unaware of his plans.
Otto believed that such a publicity stunt could be turned into hard cash. So with a Brooklyn dressmaker, Harry Dressler, he agreed on a harebrained scheme. If Otto managed to jump off one of the bridges and survive, Harry would pay him $250 and provide him with two new suits of his choice.
It was a long shot. Over the years, dozens of suicide attempts had been made from New York's bridges, particularly the Brooklyn Bridge. The vast majority were successful, if that is the correct use of the term. While a handful of unfortunate jumpers had survived the experience of the brutal fall, they were often severely maimed or suffered serious internal injuries.
However, at around one o'clock in the afternoon on 29 June 1910, Otto left his house with three accomplices and they got into a car. The destination was the Manhattan Bridge, the "little cousin" of the Brooklyn Bridge.
But things did not go according to plan. The NYPD had been alerted the day before of an attempted jump. Officers on bicycles were positioned along the roadway to thwart any attempt.
Otto and his companions quickly became aware of the police presence and decided to continue to Manhattan Island and cross back over the Brooklyn Bridge.
When the car reached the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge, Otto ordered the driver to stop the vehicle so he could strip off his coat, trousers and boots. But the stopped car attracted the attention of Patrolman Scheffmeyer, stationed in the Brooklynbound lanes. Otto slipped through the trellis of the superstructure as Scheffmeyer gave chase.
The river flowed more than forty metres below Otto, the equivalent of the height of a 14-storey building. The draftsman, still dressed, raised his hands above his head and plunged from the steel structure.
His intention was to launch himself in a long and wide arc. But he didn't. "Somehow I started spinning, and then I couldn't stop," he later told reporters. Spectators milling around on the riverbank said he made three or four turns before entering the water in a sitting position.
"I wasn't a bit scared until I jumped in, but I don't remember anything after the blow until I came to the surface". He remained submerged for about 15 seconds after the impact with the water.
When he finally surfaced, he was quite dazed and began to swim slowly to the tug Florence, some 50 metres away. "I could have swum to shore," he later boasted, but he also admitted: "I wasn't feeling very agile.
The tugboat crew pulled him out of the water and his first words were:"Gee (Gee), I've got a good bump. Then he said,"Hey, who's got a cigarette? Otto's clothes were in tatters. In his coat pocket was a sketch of his dive, proudly signed: "That bridge jumper, O. Eppers".
The tugboat headed for the Brooklyn waterfront, where police arrested the cartoonist. The charge: attempted suicide.
He was taken to St Gregory's Hospital where he was examined by Dr Dietrich who found that Otto had some bruising on his back, but was otherwise uninjured. He was brought before Judge Appelton for the preliminary hearing. When Appelton heard the charge he smiled and Otto could not contain a laugh. When asked why he had performed such a reckless stunt he replied:
"It didn't do me any harm. I wanted to become a high-level professional diver and I want a reputation".
He continued: "I wasn't nervous at all, except when I saw so many policemen around. The clothes didn't bother me at all, but I felt like I was in the air for half an hour, and believe me, I went down to the bottom.
Without addressing anyone in particular, Judge Appelton, as if it were a scene worthy of a cartoon, said:"Well, he looks very much alive, doesn't he? The charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Otto walked free from court, but received a stern rebuke from his mother and sister.
The first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge
When the Brooklyn Bridge opened in May 1883, it was immediately popular for its beauty and accessibility, but soon after it became famous for its jumpers, many of them suicidal.
The first person to jump from the bridge for "exhibition" purposes on record was Robert Emmet Odlum, a 34-year-old expert swimmer and diver who was also a swimming instructor.
On the evening of 19 May 1885, after going to church, he gathered his audience, a tugboat full of spectators on the East River, as well as a rescue swimmer waiting below to help him into the boat after falling overboard.
At around half past five, with the bridge crowded with pedestrians strolling along the footbridges, Odlum climbed over the railing and dived.
"To lessen the impact, he kept one arm above his head and the other pressed against his side," wrote G.S. Prentzas in The Brooklyn Bridge.
Odlum initially survived. His motionless body rose to the surface and a man from the tug swam to the surface to pick him up and bring him on board.(Source).
He entered the water at over 100 km/h feet first, never better said (the accepted diving position at the time), and broke every bone in his body, from his heel to his skull, and the impact caused multiple internal injuries. He was pulled out of the river unconscious and died half an hour later (Source).
