Show I NIAGARA Edward Stevensons Second Descriptive Letter SIGHTS AT THE BIG TORRENT Awful Voice is The Solemn and Heard in One Eternal I Boar SALT LAKE CITY February 5 1835 To the Editor of THE HERALD Since writing to your paper concerning I concern-ing the Niagara Falls January 15th which was published on the 25th following I follow-ing I have concluded to venture a few more items from personal observation Ii and from history hoping that they t may interest some of your numerous I readers t In the year 1870 Elders N T Porter Ezra T dart Moroni Pratt and myself 11 my-self visited the Niagara Falls via Buffalo New York which is twenty two miles from the falls Securing rooms at the Cataract House overlooking overlook-ing the American Rapids we anxiously engaged a carriage and guide for which we paid 2 snd soon found ourselves on the castiron bridge crossing the I rapids above the falls This is the finest point of view from which to observe the rapids above the falls Here the beholder begins to realize rea-lize the immensity of the farfamed cataract Halting on the bridge to gaze upon the gushing flood of water which seems as if it would sweep away our frail standing and hurl us over the deep precipice a few hundred yards further fur-ther down And why should it be otherwise other-wise when we realize that the great lakes of North AmericaSuperior Michigan Huron and Eriepour the floods of their accumulated waters into Lake Ontario through a channel of about thirtysix miles in length namely the Niagara River and is in part the boundary between Canada and New York Twentytwo miles below its commencement at Lake Erie occur the falls only a few yards below us Goat Island which we shall soon pass over and which is just in our advance divides i di-vides the American Fall from the Horseshoe I Horse-shoe Fall which I have previously described de-scribed It isestimated that 100000000 i I tons of water rushes over these falls every hour fc l The river above the falls is studded with islands of all sizes numbering in 11 all about thirtyseven The width of the stream varies from several hundred yards to three miles At the Falls I it is about threefourths of a mile wide The total descent from Lake Erie to I Ontario is 3M feet which accounts for I 1 its madness foaming and rushing so frantically below and around us This bridgeis 360 feet long having four arches of 90 feet span each 27 feet in width embracing a double carriageway carriage-way of 16K feet and two footpaths of 54 feet each with iron railings and is considered very substantial Visitors may cross as often as they wish for Soc I per day The first bridge was built at the head 1 of Goat Island in 1817 It was carried away in the following spring by ice In 1818 on the present site was constructed another bridge by Messrs Porter extensive ex-tensive proprietors in the neighborhood and was repaired in 1839 and attain in 1819 In the former year one of the i I workmen named Chapin fell from the Ibridgeinto the river fortunately the current carried him to the first of the two islet below and he was rescued I irom his perilous condition The island was named after him Chapin Island In July 1852 another accident occurred near this point Two Germans set eut 1 for a pleasure ride above the falls Next morning one of them named Joseph Aver was seen cling I ing to a log in the midst of the rapids near the bridge between Bah Island and the main land Thousands Thou-sands of people assembled to render the 4 poor man assistance Many attempts were made to escue him from his perilous peril-ous position but without success At last a boat was lowered down the rapids toward the log to which he clung It neared him and now the grand throng of people almost breathless closed and < anxiously watched the next move which must either resultin life or death He attempted to spring towards it but his strength was gone and he fell into the stream In a moment more he was swept over the Falls His body was never found Almost reluctantly we move on to Bath Island connected with Iris or Goat Island by another bridge and beyond be-yond Goat Island are a few scattered I J rocks which are connected with it by means of a third bridge These rocks lie on the very brink of the precipice between the American Falls and the f HorseShoe Fall and on them stands the Terrapin Tower which commands a magnificent view of Niagara This Tower was erected in 1833 by Judge Porter and is 45 feet high it is ascended by circular stairs within and secured on the top by an iron railing One of our party was accused of squeezing squeez-ing the point on the railing mormg it with fear lest tile dashing waters should sweep us tower and all into the foaming caldron which tous looked far deeper than it really is 1GS feet From a distance Terrapin Tower looks like a lone sentinel guarding this srene of magnificent desolation Such a scene is hard to describe as the poet says From age to R ein winters frost or summers sum-mers sultry beam IJy day by night without a pause thy waves witu loud acclaim In ceaseless sounds have still proclaimed t I the great Eternals name ItecrossinR the bridge we were 1 forced to notice the bridge being wet with spray and slippery requiring care in crossing In 1852 a gentleman i fell from this bridge and was carried to 41 the edge of the Fall fortunately he t stuck between two rocks two Americans 1 Ameri-cans threw lines to him which he l i fastened around his body and was thus ih drawn ashore 55 A timber formerly projecting over the y 14 J dread abyss was the usual evening u promenade of the eccentric Francis It t S Abbot In 1852 two enormous pieces of rI the precipice broke off and ell with a i 1 I I crash like thunder P P Pratt in I visiting the Falls in 1836 while on a I 1 Missionary visit to Canada said 0 J Niagara I generations may pass in l t long succession ages may rollaway i 1 roll-away and others still succeed t I I empires may rise and flourish and pass j 1 away and be forgotten but till thy deafening thy solemn and awful voice is heard in one eternal roar The temples of marble may moulder to dust the monuments ot the great may crumble to decay the palaces of kings fall to ruin and their very place become unknown their history forgotten in tke almost countless ages of antiquity and still thy sound is heard in everlasting moan as if mourning over the ruins of bygone years With deepest eloquence thou seemest to speak in awful pride saving Before Abraham was I am II The Biddle stairs attract great attention Mr Biddle president of the United States bank erected them in 1828 They are eighty feet high The total descent from the top of the bank to the bottom is 185 feet visitors avail themselves of the pleasure of using them Between this point and the Central Cen-tral Fall is the spot where Sam Patch made his two famous leaps in 1829 Hundreds of thousand of spectators crowded every point within sight of the place on both shores eager to behold the extraordinary spectacle of a man jumping over the falls Sam walked along the giddy platform made his bow and went down feet first ninety seven feet into the river Not content with this he made a higher jump at Genesee Falls and again at the same place at Niagara a leap of 125 feet That was his last the poor fellow sank to rise no more his body was never found EDWARD STEVEN ON |