Niagara

ni-ag' a-ra, a river of North America. It flows northward from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. It separates New York on the east from Ontario on the west. It is thirty-six miles in length. It descends 326 feet. The volume of water is almost as great as that of the St. Lawrence, but the current is so swift that the river seems comparatively small.

It leaves Lake Erie at Buffalo, a noble stream half a mile in width. Immediately below the city the river divides into two arms, surrounding Grand Island, a body of land two or three miles wide and several miles in length. Farther down the stream narrows, hurries between small islands, and breaks into rapids, gathering speed for a grand leap. About twenty miles from Lake Erie the water springs over a precipice 165 feet in height and falls into a basin three-fourths of a mile or so in diameter. The current then rushes away down a canyon between steep banks from 200 to 350 feet high. Three miles below the falls the gorge turns almost at a right angle to the eastward. This angle gives rise to a whirlpool. The waters surge and boil as if tossed upward by Titanic forces; they then race along the channel, emerging finally from the gorge and take their way pacidly across a low plain into Lake Ontario.

The river is scenic from beginning to end. The chief point of interest, of course, is the falls. The cataract is divided by Goat Island. The American fall is about 1,060 feet in length. The water is from four to ten feet deep. At times, when the winds drive the waters back toward Lake Erie, the American fall runs almost dry. The Canadian, or Horseshoe Fall, has the shape of a crescent or curve about 3,010 feet in length. Its exact depth is unknown. An old boat, weighted with stone until it sank twenty feet into the water, was sent over without grazing the brink. The Canadian fall is by far the more imposing. The water has such a velocity that it shoots far over the ledge, leaving a passage or huge chamber behind it. The fall of water is estimated at 15,000,000 cubic feet per minute. Goat Island may be reached from the American side by a foot bridge. The Cave of the Winds, a recess behind the apron of falling water, is visited by many tourists. There are stairways on both sides of the river leading down to the basin at the foot of the falls. On the American side there is also a short rack and pinion railway or lift. A little steamer, known as "The Maid of the Mist," makes regular trips in the basin. Tourists are provided with rubber clothing. The little steamer holds its way boldly up to the very foot of the falls. When it has reached the nearest point possible, it battles bravely with the boiling water for a few moments, then darts away downward like a swan to a position of comparative quiet. A narrow gauge railway for tourists starts from the brink on the American side, descends into the gorge, and follows the water's edge down past the whirlpool to a boat landing at the mouth of the gorge near Lake Ontario.

Geologically, the gorge and falls are of exceeding interest. The country surrounding the falls is a level, farming region. Strata of limestone rock lie near the surface, with shale and soft stone beneath. The cataract was formerly near Lake Ontario, several miles below its present position. The gorge has been worn away gradually. The soft material underneath has been undermined by falling water, permitting the limestone strata above to fall in. It is said that the gorge is from 5,000 to 7,000 years old. One guess is as good as another. Since 1842 a scientific attempt has been made to note the effects of erosion. During a period of about sixty years the American side of the falls has worn backward seven or eight inches a year. The Canadian side is wearing faster. It recedes about twenty-six inches a year. During this period, about three-fourths of an acre of rock has fallen on the American side, and about seven acres on the Canadian side. The gorge is now about seven miles in length. At the present rate of erosion, it is only a matter of time, a few thousand, or a few million years, until the gorge will reach and drain Lake Erie.

There are several bridges across the Niagara. There is a fine railroad bridge at Buffalo. Two railway bridges, the steel cantalever bridge of the Michigan Central and the steel arch bridge of the Grand Trunk Railway, cross the gorge a mile and one-half below the falls. A quarter of a mile or so below the falls there is a steel arch traffic bridge which takes the place formerly occupied by a suspension bridge. The main span is 840 feet in length. The roadway is forty-six feet wide and is 192 feet above the water. There is a suspension bridge also at the northern end of the gorge between Lewiston and Queenstown.

The name Niagara is Iroquois, meaning the thunder of the water. Niagara is the most noted cataract in the world. It is visited annually by many thousand sightseers. The state of New York has expended $1,500,000 in purchasing and beautifying the American shore. The Canadian authorities have laid out a public park of nearly 300 acres. Outside of these parks lie the towns of Niagara Falls, New York, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, respectively. There are many hotels and other accommodations for visitors. The total energy of the falls is estimated at 7,500,000 horsepower, equivalent to that developed by the daily consumption of 200,000 tons of coal.

Of late years private companies on both sides of the river have constructed canals and tunnels by means of which a part of the water is used to develop electric power. Electricity is transmitted by wires to the adjacent towns, as well as to Buffalo, where it is used for the purpose of lighting and for manufacturing. There are at the present time electrical power plants having a combined capacity of 500,000 horsepower. The present companies have a gross income of about $10,000,000 a year. It is feared that a desire to make money may result in the withdrawal of so much water as to destroy one of the most sublime spectacles in the world. The amount now withdrawn lowers the water, the users say, two-fifths of one inch. Negotiations have been set on foot between the two governments toward a joint agreement to forbid the further use of the falls for such purposes.

See Waterpower; Blondin; Welland Canal