Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-01-23


Ntararm Pals -asgns Of nm Ear.
" Bsenas.g sp"wa efshe Kzors. :
shoe Lodge A RsupendoUs
change I'm the Cnaarnrx abous
70 sscrnr.
From the Butlale sxpre.s, Jan. TO-
The interesting question Of geoiegica
and commercial Importance rs TO what pc
rioi oil time 10 likely 10 be consumed by th'
Fall. Of Niagara. in wearing their way up
to the bed OF Niagara river, psst Ions"e"
da and Black Rock. until they bcc"tps en-
Buffalo the f4ii4 OF Lake Erie, mr. .L.,,la
raised nrosz OF late ~ core rem '1 H..
s,yns oh.erve6 ia Tie rapids y....s,. =,
"a .aica are tieught 70
| -, f.ti IF the ROCKS toFih'iis ZOO
q" 60, ..,,raot II ihs limestone
| g. n the E.Ver 10" aAi'7, ~ q
leasf, :, curse Of being underm'nsd
suppos ',.,.rrsnsap stream. breaking through
y ~ back rs nearly half a rniie. OF course
.ns consequences, inevitable and liable 70 en-
.ue At any moment, must be an immense
breaking away OF the face Of tae cataract,
changing It's whole form and appearance
ne,hsrs converting the whole perpendicu-
lar fall INTO n shooting rapio Gowa steep
decApe.
some observers at the falls anticipate TINS
grand catastrophe a. an early osy. IN cota-
nrpa,ion OF these opinions, We IND 1t s'a-
ted In the Hamilton t0ntariol Iipfs, tha'
within a few weeks past, DIR. ). y. US,
borne, ., Chippewa, nas noiee n'a' sa
and constant change IN the m,ti2A 81 .he
,auids at the point indicated, ana u 10 u.s.
r.ported that indications are ulSco'c'e. -
,hs nouring o. "a subterraneah r'feAm ''i'o
III. guY below he fills, when tne aossn''
| ~ Tic mist. it Is thought, rouia TeFeai -
vond doubt" The ssme paper IethAi@S
! ,bs.. gentleman f,om the inls, WI u whou'
=. Las conversed. fully believes that the
J,vs az the Great Horse Shoe are numbered.
If !, be the fsct that this grand cassclysm
is soon to occur, geoiogists will only be able
10 account FOR it by the supposition OF n
great fraction or assure il the southwark
dipping bel OF iirnestons over the out
cropping edge Of which the river falls.-
Prof HATS elaborate survey Of the geology
If the Niagara river region. made in 1852
showed that at the present site Of the falls
sheets uf hard limestone rock of the forms.
ton known az the Niagara limestone covei
the surface Of tho country, and form th'
edge Of the cataract to the depth OF be
tween eighty and ninety feet. Under this
extending TO the foot of the falls, are tn
shay layers Of the same formation. Al
these strata slope downward. against III
current Of the river, ut the rate of abou
o feet 70 the mile, and IN the rapids aboy
the fall, the uppermost layers Of the Niags
ra limestone succeed, one stratum above ar
other, ill about % feet more is added I
| 4. -.
disappears beneath the over offiDg edges I
the next series above, which is that Of ii
shaes and msrles Of the Onondaga 50
group. We see, therefore, that both sbo,
and below the hard limestone, there a
soft shale formations, easily to be cut by
rapid current but tho lower Of these sha
beds can only be reached. and the limestoi
undermined, by fracture Of the limestoi
itslf II is very possible that such flssu
exists at the point where the changed III
lion Of the rapids has been observed. al
that through 1t the river has found its va
J to the underlying shales and cut subterr
ne.n passage Should the undermined led
, OF the Horseshoe Pi,e wav, the falls WI
. perhaps, recede ~ cue step O greater d
lance than they have been borne back
. ths wearing OF two or moro centuries.
3 William Lyell estimates the average rec
n sion in recent periods TO have been abou
foot year. II is certain that a conside
bic change in the situation Of tho fslis
= taken place since Father liennepin rud
l. aketched his view in 1878; for in Il
. sketch we have exhibited . third fall, fr
10 the Canadian side toward the east, ncr
= the line Of the main fall, and caused hJ
great rock that turned the divided curr
N in This direction In 1900 this feature
already disappeared, when ksim, ,he SWe
~ ish naturalist, visited the piace.