The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-09-27
Pnssaic Falls.

| At the far-famcd falls Of the Passaic, N
j., novel sight presents itself A short
distance above the chasm is the dam of the
Society for tho Promotion of Useful Manu-
! facturcs, which controls the entire water
power of the Passaic River, au immense
franchise, held bya perpetual charter. The
society itself was organized by Alexander
Hamilton. Between this dam and the
chasm, usually rushing torrent, are now
to be seen nothing but naked trap rock, and
one can cross the river without wctting the
sides of his shoes. AT one end of the dam
little water is allowed to flow over it so as
to supply the steam pumps of the water
company on the opposite side. The pccu-
liar formation of the prccipiccs constitu-
ting the falls can now be viewed. Begin
ming down the river, in the Valley of the
Rocks, where the names of some of the
Revolutionary soldiers cncampcd there un-
der Washington arc still to be seen carved
in the rocks, a chasm probably fifty feet
wide divides the immense strata of trap
rock and extends some five hundred feet
into the solid mass It's sides arc perfectly
perpendicular, and vary f,>m seventy two
to eighty feet in height. At the base the
water has worn away the rock, and it is
only question Of time rs TO when the sides
of the chasm will collapse, and gives tho
falls an entirely new appearance. A bridge
crosses the chasm and thOusan Is of visitors
daily gaze into the black depths with feel
mgS OF awe and anaZcmcnt. At the end
OF the chasn, some three hundred feet
above the bridge, it divides itself INTO two
immense fissurcs, (which penetrate lccp9into
the heart of the rock, and each ends in q
point. The left fisSurc is the longer, lex
tending over two hundred feet, and its
black, shining, perpendicular sides cause
the visitor to turn aside with a shuddcr as
he remembers the tragedy, which was en-
acted in 1853 on the rocks opposite, and
which almost touches the jagged edges of
tho right side Of the fissurc. In that year
the wife Of Rev. Mr.. Taylor of New York,
while admiring the sublmity of nature
from the crag, fell forward into the then
scething mass Of water below, and her hus-
band, in vain attempt to rescue, followed
her
The immense rocks that have crumblcd
from the top and lcdgcs projecting from the
sides make the descent OF the right tissllrc
possible, though extremely difficult. Care
fully stepping from rock to rock, sometimes
moving on hands and feet, Herald repre-
sentative descended this lissurc. At every
downward step the increasing chllincss of
the atmosphere was plainly pcrccptiblc, I'M
Ill, when the eighty feet Of descent had
been accomplished, the temperature would
certainly have warranted an ovcrcout.
Here among the bleak and threatening
rocks, in the very womb Of nature, where
The sunshine never dispcls the prevailing
darkness, and where man can place his foot
perhaps but once in generations, were
several fisherman, who, ncglcctful of the
implied law Of nature which seems TO have
reserved this fissurc, had penetrated to this
place in quest Of sport. The surface of
water, interspcrscd here and there with
jagged rocks, which raise their heads omn-
ously above the surface, is perhaps some
hundred and fifty feet long, and at its great
est breadth some twelve feet wide. Where
the fissurc joins its ncighbor to. create
the chasm, accident has hcapcd rock upon
rock, making the place all that it scems-a
dungeon for the finny tribe. Black bass
were being caught in large numbers, but
the principal aim of all seemed to be to stir
up from It's hiding place the immense turtle
which Is imprisoned there. The animal
has been seen frequently in the watcry
prison during the last few days, and from
all accounts is huge Snapper about five
feet long and three wide.