The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1885-08-01
Special for the CARpoN ADVOCATE.
AMERICAN LANDMARKS.
NrscNRRFAL1s. ONr., july IS, 's

AMERICAN LANDMARKS.
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT, July IS, 80.
My grandfather was celebrated story
teller. His remarkable memory which
enabled him to relate the voyages and |
adventures Of lifetime, naturally gave
much interest to his tales, but more !
than this was his manner of telling I
them. Whether he drifted back to
some midnight scene ontthe quiet shores
of the Mediterranean, or told of the
perilous coast Of Labrador, he took his
listeners with him: they seemed TO be
transported to the very time and scene
Of his narrative, and what to him was a
reality in memory was through fancy as
genuine to his hearers. But perhaps |
ought not 10 speak of his memory as re-
markable, for on one occasion, on the
day of the making of his will it served
him most treacherously, ! speak of
this particularly because it has always
been problem to me that how at such
time when above ali others he should
have had perfect command of his facul-
ties, he could so strangely lose sight of
me, 1, the pet and companion of his
lonely age, by some mysterious agency
becoming coufounded with an uncertain
cousin OF mine, he receiving the little
village property and the gold, l being
left with the rich legacy of the old mans
tales, and the inheritance of restless
rowing nature, Yet / have never
thought Of him otherwise than kindly,
and even now could but have the as
surance that had also inherited from
him that rare ability to lead my readers
through the scenes of my prospective
wanderings, as he guided my boyish
fancy back over his eventful life, |
should have two-fold reasons for bless
ing the memory of dear, dead old grand
sire.
But the boomngo of cannon, the strains
of martial music, and the sight of the
one hundred thousand people that are
surging through the park on the Ameri-
can side of the river awakons me to the
fact that my business to-day is with
matters of far greater moment to the
world th1n the recital Of my grandfath-
ers history.
Nature intended Niagara Falls for one
Of the grandest masterpieces of her
handiwork, but during the past few
years man with his untiring ardor fol
Improvement and self-agrandizement
has been constantly lettering and mar
ing much of her beauty, But to-day
through the generosity and philanthro-
ply of the people of New York State,
tall has been reclaimed and Niagara i:
forever free. The park and adjacent
grounds from which the best views may
be obtained, have to-day been thrown
open to the public and the occasion il
being celebrated with the grandest cerc
monies.
The wonders of Niagara cannot b,
) described. Since the time that LaSallt
and Father Louis Hennepin stood b.
the "Thunder of Waters" in 1879 it ha
never ceased to be the Mecca of tourist
and the theme of writers, but no pei
has ever succeeded in drawing NOR
} than misty outline of its stupendiou
beauties, and an attempt at describin
the incxpressible feelings Of awe an
wonder which invariably comes over tn
beholder Thomas Moore, the Iris
, poet, who visited the Falls in 1904 wrote
"When we arrived at length at the in
Il in the neighborhood of the Falls, it wa
too late to think Of visiting them tha
> evening; and l lay awake almost tn
I whole night with the sound of the ca
1 aract in my ears. The day following
consider as a sort of era in my life; an
10 the first glimpse l caught Of that wol
70 derful cataract gave me feeling whic
g nothing in this world can ever awake
again" In another place he says:
should find it difficult to say on whic
g occasion l felt most deeply affectet
II when looking on the Falls Of Niagar
Ie or when standing by moonlight amor
re the ruins OF the Coliseum" SO it
n ever with he who for the first tin
II stands in the presence Of this unrival'
+, and everlasting wonder of nature, co
g seguently instead of presming to a
IL complish a task in which all write
- have failed, I shall only attempt
C. point out to my readers few Of 4
" half-torgotten places Of historic interC
IA which may be found all along the riy
between Lake Erie and Ontario.
About one and half miles west fro
n the Falls, on the Canadian side, is loci
in ed the town OF Drummondville, whe
at on July 25, 1904, between sunset a
ty midnight was fought the famous bat
ye of Lundy's Lane. The old lane, viii
he Is now well kept shady street, lea
d' the traveller up the summit of the ]
TO- where was planted tho battery of
IN, British. On one side of the STIR
on stands high, ricketY old tower, and
the opposite side the old church, viii
after the battle was used as a hospit
ma 4 grove of aged oaks is still standi
ms near the old church, and under
hs shadow of the massive boughs is Sc
ne the spot where on the day following
BPS battle the bodies of three hundred a
Oh fifty American soldiers were burn
M and incredible as it may seem the gr
o. has never grown upon the spot sin
ley From the old tower a beautiful vi
may be had OF the surrounding count
and as stand here overlooking a SC,
.h'' of such grandeur and historic intert
ten it is not difficult for the fancy TO reT
eht duce the bloody drama Of that MIG
'rs' 1t was not vet sunset when Gen,
an Scott at the head Of the American for
lrS, marched mn from the river o witch