Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-02-20

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NIAGARA.
The Encct OF the Raging Cataract Upon
Newly Married People.
New York Timos..
The rescue of Niagara from the
hands Of showmen and hnckmen and
Its preservation from saw mills and
cotton factories has been advocated
with much zeal and cloquence on
aesthetic grounds. That Niagara
should be preserved In the interests of
morality does not seem 10 have yet oc-
Cured to any one, though TO the
thoughtful student OF what is called
social science tho connection between
an uncontaminated Niagara and the
purity and happiness of the commu-
nifty IL as clear as daylight.
From time immemorial Niagara has
been the place Of refuge for newly mar.
ricd people. At the time when Wcs-
tern Now York was bowling wilder
ness the Indian bridegroom was accus-
toned to take his newly welded squaw
to Niagara because the facilities for
drowning her In case she should prove
unsatisfactory were SO abundant. (Of|
reason why 10 should not he told rs an
illustration Of the noble character of
the heroic red man, As soon M n iaga-
ra was made easily accessiblethc white
supplanters OF the Indians adopted
among other aboriginal customs that
OF requiring young married people to
visit Niagara This was not done by
any formal legislative enactment. but
the force OF public female opinion.
Every bride felt that she must be taken
to Niagara, because other brides had
made the journey, and, OF course, no
bridegroom felt able TO resist the pres
sure thus put upon him.
For many years Niagara was prncti.
cally free. No man vcntured 20 put
fences around the different objects of
interest at Niagara and then To exhibit
them for money, NJ II the majestic cat
aract was only u variety OF fat women
! and the rapids and the whirlpool were
Circassian girls and living skeletons.
The hackman, too, was comparatively
unknown, and had not seen even
vision OF the magnificent scale ofprices
which his successors would adopt. All
was peaceful, beautiful and reasonably
cheap. fhe roar of the water enabled
people to converse with certainty OF
not being overheard, even when thirty
or forty pairs of happy people stood
close beside them. The newly welded
conversed with natives ut Niagara, and
knew nothing of the museum OF In
dian relies, Niagara purified and en-
nnblcd them without Mt the same time
rendering the bridegroom bankrupt.
Those were the days when connubial
happiness was the rule rather than the
exception, and divorce was something
which people scarcely knew the
tDuaAiHw
How dihurcn' IL the effect OF the
modern Niagara upon the newly mar
] retl snui. IL IL eth thought to be
4u tft sary for brides 10 lie
! MA M ara rs Il IL that they
sb0uld 10 ~ wsMlAing rings blIt
illgara M i,mger a-nlslS Two hearts to
le.f ,bO ~, tyabio cireulatory test
/ OF hcat,- the contrary,
marriages wi,nu,s. rumher have been
swept TO ruin by the cataract Unl,tr
the bridegroom Ia millionaire lie
| finds on the second day Of his visit to
| Niagara that his money has vanished
lie has, of course; tried To be economi-
cal, and abstaihed rs much as possible
from driving In hacks or from paying
for admission 10 burning Springsn
and "Only Genuine Views of the
Whirlpool but nevertheless he finds
he has paid out about 81 400 20 hack
| drivers and $3.50 to showmen, while
| his hotel bill still remains to he paid.
The result OF This financial trouble II
cither that the bride feels indig-
nant at the parsimony of the
| husband, who has not shown
4
or she IL hurt Nc the troubled and pre-
occupied manner which characterizes
him while trying to discover how he
eau raise money enough to pny his ho-
| tel bill and get away from Niagara.
No marriage can be- happy which be-
gins In this unfortunate way. II the
wife thinks her husband misery, or IL
she sees that he IL not happy Ia tho
early days Of the honeymoon, her dis
satisfaction VIII soon find expression In
| words, and tho husband, who has been
banlrupted by Niagara, finds his
| honeymoon forever associated with
the most unpleasant episode Of his
life. II IL estimated that during the
year 1882, 73 per cent. of tho newly
married people who visited Niagara
quarrclcd under the malign influence
Of the cataract and its surroundings,
and of these there IL every reason 10
believe that ut least 80 per cent will
apply for divorces.
The presence of saw mills and fac
tories at Niagara has the effect Of
rudely dispclling the poetic fancies OF
the newly married and eliminating
romance and sentiment for the honey
moon. This, however, does not
seriously affect the morals OF the COM
munity, whereas whatever leads 10
connubial nnhappincss and subsequent
divorce strikes ut the very foundation
Of public morality. Until Niagara Ii
rescued from the harpics that lnfcst II
the clergy may preach In vain against
divorce. The only way 10 bring back
TO our people the simple domestic hap.
piness which characterized married
life In this state fifty years ago Is 10
make Niagara IA free park, into which
no ha ckmen will be admitted and
where showInen cannot possibly ex-
tort money from visitors. II II IA mat
ter Of secondary consequence whether
the beauty and majesty OF Niagara are
preserved. II II ny u measure In In
interests of morality that the Niagara
park scheme should be carried out.
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