Higgins lived in Staten Island, New
York, and worked in Manhattan. He
had to take the ferryboat home every
night. One evening, he got down to the
ferry and found there was a wait for
the next boat, So Higgins decided to
stop at a nearby tavern. Before long he
was feeling no pain.
When he got back to the ferry slip, the
ferryboat was just eight feet from the
dock. Higgins, afraid of missing this one
and being late for dinner, took a
running leap and landed right on the
deck of the boat.
“How did you like that jump, buddy?”
said a proud Higgins to a deck hand.
“It was great,” said the sailor. “But why
didn’t you wait? We were just pulling
in!”