St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-07-23
The Redemption of Niagara
Formal Opening of the Reservation.

r. New York in 1879, Governor Robinson
following "A suggestion given by Lore
Dufterin, then GOVernOrGeDeral o
Canada, recommended the redemption
OF the Falls of Niagara from private
ownership, and he wrote "ln one sense
the snblime exhibition of natural pow
er there witnessed lis the property o
the whole world" The redemption %
Niagara was accomplished last week b,
the transfer To the state, with prOpel
formalities, of the Niagara reservation
which includes all the rOints of Obser
vatiOn from the United States side, anC
tue falls are now, in the sense in which
Governor Robinson meant. become
"the property of the whole world"
Hitherto, as eXcursiOnistS have nc
need to be reminded. every foot oi
! ground from which the falls could be
viewed was the property of private
owners, who collected tolls from all visi
| tors. This was an annoyance and 4
cause Of short visits TO most persons
who went there. and Il hindrance to
many who would otherwise have gone
! No other accessible great natural won
I der iii the world has been visited by so
! few people and for SO short Il time. Non
WAS this all. The scenery of the falls
has been greatly married, and If the In
! jury had not soon been arrested, Ma
ture's setting of the scene would have
been totally destroyed.
! During the three years following
1879. legislation on the subject was
unsuccessful. In 1882, however, the
| niagara Falls association was organ
| lied at the residence of Mr.. Howard
Potter, in New York city, of which a
! large number of distinguished and pub
lic-spirited ladies and gentlemen be
came members. This association again
directed attention to the subject, and
the legislature of 1888 passed an act
':tO authorize the selection, location
and appropriation of certain lands in
the village of Niagara Falls for a state
reservation, and to preserve the seen
cry of the Falls of Niagara" Commits
si0ners We're appointed who located
the reservation by selecting about Is
acres of land in the immediate vicinity
of the falls, embracing Goat island and
the smaller islands, the Sisters, Bath.
Bird, etc, Prospect Park, aud ''such
land" they reported. Gas formed an
essential element in the scene, and af-
forded the chief points of observation"
The strip varies from 100 feet to 200
feet in width from the water.
Owners of the land wanted $4,000
600, but were finally allowed 81 ABB
l29. 30. The last legislature appropri-
ated the money, and the state becomes
owner of this land to hold in trust for
her people forever.
1t has seldom happened that any
measure for the public pleasure has
had the cooperation of so many dis
tinguished people. In addition to the
commissioners, Right Rev. Bishop
DOane made an argument before the
Committee of Ways and Means in its
favor, and petitions were signed by
Oliver Wendell Holmes, John G..
Whittier, Presidents Andrew ID.
White, Mark Hopkins, and Noah POr-
ter, President Arthur, Roscoe Conk
ling, and other distinguished people i'll
half II dozen states.
The pleasure of visit to the falls
was married more by the unsightly sur
roundings than by the annOyances of
access. 1t is impossible, unhappily, to
restore the dense forest which added
so much to the impressiveness of the
scene; but the removal of the mean
buildings, the Obliteration of streets,
and especially the taking away of the
toll gates and fences and other remind
ers of the petty greed of private per
sons, will now enable IL visitor to- con
template the great natural wonder with
keener appreciation than hitherto at
any time since the destruction of the
scenery was begun. 1t is believed too,
that the number of visitors will be
much greater than hitherto, and that
the Falls will become n popular sum
mer resort. But, whether or not such
results follow, the redemption of the
great natural wonder from the misuses
of private ownership was worthy of
celebration, and is cause for congratu
lation.
Notwithstan ding the shower the for
NAL ceremonies of opening the Niagara
Falls park reservation were carried out
last Wednesday afternoon. 1t was es-
timated that there were about 25,OO0
spectators in the park. Hon. ErastuS
Brooks was president of the day, and
in delivering the Grafton said that the
gift of the international park to the
people was Il heritage that all the
world appreciated. He felicitated the
people of the United States and the
New Dominion, and of the world, in
the magnificent spot, and appealed to
them tn keep it pure and undetiled by
the destroying hand of man. There
was IL prayer 10y Bishop Coke, and then
''America'' was played by the orchestra,
composed of the bands of the Sixty
Fifth and the Seventy fourth New York
regiments and the Mexican lnterna
tiunal band. Then Il selected chorus
of four hundred sung the piece. and
the thousands of people who were
viewing the ceremonies joined i'll the
chorus.
! EX-Lieutenant Governor DOrshei-
mer, president of the Niagara State
| Park Commission, made a short pre-
sentation address, which was respond
ed to by Governor Hill of New York,
! whose opening sentence, "Only an i'm
aginary line makes the Canadians and
Americans two peoples" was cheered
v0ciferouSly. This was followed by
''The Star Spangied Banner" by the
orchestra, selected chorus, and the
people generally, and next came aIl
Grafton 10y James G.. Carter Later
came the military display, under the
command of General William f. Rog-
ers. The column was reviewed 10y
/ Governor Hill, and there was dres!
parade and Il salute.
Letters were received from the gov,
ernDr- general of tire New Dominion
ex-governor Tiiden, and others, re
GREETING their inability to he present
The celebration closed with a displa,
at fireworks. The suspension bridg,
aud cantilever bridge were throws
open to the public free during the day
The Park commissioners took imme
diate possession OF the grounds, ant
will at once decide on the method o