New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-07-18
cArAaAcr HOUSE,, Jul

snazement Amid the silence and solitude Of the
odncva wilderness, Niagara must have been M
Iced sublime. do not say It Is not so now, but
many Of the accessories with which Civilization
h,s environed il are only calculated to belitte and
,,lgarize Il. To have fingered day in these
.bades before the first coachman began 70 annoy
listers with opportunities to see this or that trum-
eery-belore the first shred Of the great current
lad been set to turning wheels-beiore the first
backyard had tainted the atmosphere with his
vile cigar-bciore the first ninny had cut his mi
tals here-might almost reconcile one 10 have
lived and died anterior 10 the craftsmanship OF
Polk the martial achievements Of Pillow, or the
criticism of Shakespeare Hudson. But one genera
ton cannot have the best Of everything so let MS,
ia grateful humility, take what is proilered as.
Yet there ought to be some seasonable provision
made against the farther perversion OF this peer
ess Fail. Cotton factories and Touring mills are
excellent things in their place ! would not have
them surrendered to any sentimental folly; but
there is great abundance Of water power else
where, and their construction here is crying evil
still worse, is the dissonance created by the null
uplication Of groggeries, catch-penny shows and
Dokeries of all sorts in the immediate presence OF
ibe great wonder, as is now witnessed on the Brit
sh side. The harmony and effect OF the Fall is
sadly msrred by them. If somebody owns the
and and must proiane 1t by money grabbing, let
hm Just extirpate all the nuisances and substitute
regular charge for admission to the spectacle as
ihough it were a giraffe or hippopotamus. Restore
be original and beftting widness Of the scenery,
mbroken but by a carriage road to the ferry and
10. for
mere impressive than it now is The difference
oetween the present views from Table Rock aud
rs sdiuncis aud those afforded twenty years ago
painfully remarkable.
But all the changes are not for the worse. The
little steamboat Maid OF the Mist which Plies
between the Cataract and the Whirlpool below, is
great acquisition. Starting mile and hall be
ow the Fall she labors slowly up over the dark
green depths of the great river, with line OF foam
stretching down its center and towering cliff
shuttins in the view on either side, passes directly
by the foot OF the American and then of the Horse
Shoe Fall. landing first OIL the British then on the
American shore, and returning to her berth near
the Suspension Bridge. The thick mist aud
arenching spray interfere with the nearest view
Of the Cataract but the approach to It is grandy
impressive, and doubt whether there is similar
steamboat route in the world Whoever conceived
the idea Of The Maid of the MIST is genius and
spublic beneiactor.
The Suspension Bridge is also good idea. |
iesred 1t was so placed as in some way to inter
iere with or distract attention from the Cataract,
bat am happily disappointed 1t is located at the
owest point whence the Fall can be fairly seen,
and is of course utterly invisible from the Fall or
anywhere near it. When completed, it will be
more conspicuous than now, but still not visible
from the Cataract at all TO interfere with it.
The view of the Fall from the Bridge is not of
maCh account but it is only thence that the eye
airy measures the hight OF the Fall itself. Look
ne at it casually think the majority would esti-
nate the perpendicular descent rather under
hundred feet than over it, True, you detect the
mistake by walking up down Of the inter-
niaabe staircases that lead to the basin below,
bat many waive this, and to all the breadth
snd volume of the rushing food tend to di-
minish the hight whence il is precipitated.
But in getting on the Bridge, with but a board
laid on two or three wires under your feet, and
a slender network of cords and wires either
side of your narrow path, you look down the giant
chasm to the alternate green and white current
moving so maesticaly beneath, and realize that
the height of the Fall has not been exaggerated.
Far beneath you ON either bank the hemlocks are
dwindled to aldcrs and as your irail footing
trembes to an approaching step, or sways TO the
passing breeze, you know that but the iron thread
between you aud the undiscovered country
II hundred men were on the Bridge aud it should
part its fastening at either end give way, there
Is not q chance that single one Of them would
ever breathe again. OF course, all is safe but it
would be difficult to walk otherwise than softly at
your first crossing. (It seemed so to me at least)
Yet you see men seated across two ropes over
head, weaving aud fastening this dainty fabric
Ia apparent unconcern, with two hundred and forty
feet Of pure air beneath them and no choice Of
place to ahght at the bottom l am glad they
coud work more calmly than could look on
BY the way, we had an extempore hurricane
this afternoon, which put the Bridge entirely out
Of countenance. 1t blew apart Of the wires out Of
their grooves, letting one side OF the completed
ooipath down, and canting the other up SO as to
render the Bridge impossible unless it be to wire
walkers. The other iootpath, OF which but a
snail part had been laid down, was handled even
more roughly. Five workmen were on the Bridge
Al the time, but none of them were lost, though
cannot see how they held on. The whole fabric
was blown about like feather, and how those
who sat on the ropes above cJntrved TO stay there
Is to me mystery. Suffice it that they did, aud
that the tensoity of the structure having been Sc
Verey tested the whole will be speedily restored
70 order, and very likely will be passsbe by the
public, before this reaches New York.-The gale,
though violent, was brief and succeeded by
shower.
trust have not spoken irreyerently OF the
Great Cataract. True, this visit has not deepened
my Impressions Of its magnitude and sublimity,
ior the best view OF it is that from Table Rock,
which TOOK many years since, at a season 1.-THE
later Autumn) when the sternness Of Nature was
more IN keeping with its giant ruggcdness than
the iesiy luxuriance and solening verdure Of July.
Next TO the surface Of Table Rock, the best view
scbtained from its foot in immediate contact with
stately column which seems to advance upon the
upward gazer and threaten the next moment to
IL. m IL.