The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-01-07
An ICE BRIDGE AT NIAGARA FALLS.
Spanning the Entire wIdth Of niagara River
Just BeIow the Cataract,

Just Below the Cotornet'
Ftom N, Bgfpo o,wier.
For some days large amount Of snow
covered Ice from Lake Erie hns boon Dnesng
over the falls. At o'clock on sunday morning
the accumulated mass OF Ice came TO stand
watchers began to hope that there would he u
bridge with smooth surface. But the hugo
dam Of ice suddenly began to heave, grind and
bronx up into fragments with n loud npiso.
At 10 O'Clock there wns second staDdstll. and
II seemed certain that tho bridge had been
formed. but at in the afternoon there was a
tn ird and more severe Disturbance.
Great hummocks. weighing hundreds OF tons,
were pushed into tho air and remained there ns
ders were torn from tho shore and swept into
tho stream and the solitary FIR which was wont
to mark the landing place Of the ferry became a
victim to tho warning clements. though ordi-
narily 1t stands three feet above high water.
Tho slow, awful strength Of the infuriated wa
and aHS1' escape %S from t6elr thralidom "1 BY
or rQH Sam but nDd there s S S1
break the mlle-wide dam in two. they lifted
i up bodily and swept away beneath, Having
rest above II, accepting the yoke which Il could
not break. despite its boosted strength. And
il true. but invinCi6io: and 81 so Il viii reman
until tho beams Of the spring sun deprive II OF
its strength. and once more restore Niagara TO
a mile in length. extending from q limo drawn
perpendlcu to Point Lookout, in tho Amer:
X,
filling the gorge from shore TO shore
The first view OF tho Falls brings the heart up
into the mouth with shock that is almost pain
ful in its audiences and force. Everything ie
so changed. 40 transligured. Ice evorywherel
Ice upon the rocks upon the trees. encroachnR
upon tho cataract itself and deadenng It's roar.
oven stealing away large portion OF It's power
to all seeming. As tho spectator stands upon
this point the wind blows the spray into his
but what cares no for the spray In the enthu-
siasm OF the glorious view In the park the leo
has been as destructive IA II ia beautiful, and
though II has robbed tho trees and buildings in
snowy beauty, II has torn down huge limbs BY
ts overpowerinR weight. Looking over to the
Canadian shore. the observer can see huge lei
Giles OF many tons weight hanging Ike the
ropey locks on the forcheads Of giants In the
story books. But these sights arc nothing
when compared to tho broad sheet Of wrinkled
snOw-ice which lies ut his feet. There II is-tho
conqueror OF Niagara-eparkling in the sun
light calmly and peacefully.
Beside the rotunda which stands at the base
OF the American fall IA mountain Of snowy
spray ice towers up eighty feet high. and is
each day climbing higher and higher toward
the summit Tho dome Of the rotunda bears an
lee crown OF exceeding beauty and along the
roof Of the dressing shed are curious ice for
nations which nothing less than Photographic
camera can Adequately picture. Giant icicles
hang from the cliffs and every once in while
a huge fragment comes tumbing down Tho
ice IL perfectly white and seemingly quite pO-
rous. but excessively hnrd-frozcn. Its appear
anco Is exactly that Of spun glass. 1t is said
that the spray which formed this ice was per-
fccty pure, and that II ton OF It were melted 1t
ment. Tho ice mountain L. still IN compare
two infancy. but III the wind and the mercury
are favorable it will soon DO in condition 10
form cOasting hill for the people as IL did
during the winter Of 1915.
The great ice bridge itself Ii a counterpart In
miniature Of an Alpine glacier. You have the
rough. broken surface the hammocks reaching
ten. fifteen. twenty feet into the air the startling
assures gaping perhaps with depth Of thirty
feet In tho solid ice: and you have the pure
snow ice itself in u million strange and mex
pllcable shapes but there is an association OF
terror In this place which does not belong to the
genuine glacier; and which may come from the
mufied roar Of the waterfall. perchance the
thought OF 200 feet Of water secthng and boil
ing beneath your fcet Many OF our readers
have stood on the bank beside tho whirl-
pool rapids and seen tho wraihful waters
sand contcnding currents ms they battle
TO escape from their prisoning walls Imagine
this agitaied surface suddenly becoming petri-
| He'd. and every broken wave hating lust whore
| II was, and this will give an idea Of the magni-
| tudo Of this structure. Ia thickness 1t il prob
| ably about sixty feet while the surface ~ the
lee is at least half that distance from the sur
| face OF the water There are crevasses twenty
i've or thirty feet IN depth. and YET they show no
| signs of water. As we have said before, the
surface Of the ice bridge tor ice nod for It is
really that Is exceedingly rough. and the work
| Of crossing is very fatiguing. Before long how
ever. road will be constructed from tho Ameri-
can To- the Canadian shore. and 1t will be quite
The lea formation Of tho bridge is curlously
| dtssmilnr on tho different sides of tho river.
| On the American side 1t - composed of snow
~ i"l"lrl iHnlV Louhu.u bouiucr SnhpeS' anu
looking exactly Ike white coral. As you near
the centre OF the river. the Ice Fragments
grow larger. and when you near tho Canadian
shore you find hugo cakes ~ winter Ice ANAL
gamated into n solid mass. The surface Of the
bridge ~ toughest upon the American side. and
II would secm as II the greater pressure WIS
here eXertcd. though the widest disturhar cc
evidently took place at the lower end OF tho
bridge. for the hummocks are very large aud
frequent here.
The first man that crossed was Mr. Tom Con-
roy. the well-known guide. who saved a man
| from the rapids IA year or two ago. As Mr.
Conroy weighs noout two hundred pounds. he
| demonstrated the entire safety Of tho bridge
| Tor purposes Of locomOtion.