Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-14
NEM NIAGARA.
what Is to be After the 15th-Opinion or
"A ve-Hsckmen- Strange stories
About the Falis-NOises and sights
A Guide Not superstitious, but Puzzled

a Guide Not SupeTrtltloue' nut u%HiON
Fyoo, he Mem YORK. Sun.
NIAGARA FALLS, July 7.-"Yes, the
liz is up after July TO-" said a solemn
looking man as be collected 30 cents all
around, and prepared TO shoot the party
down into the interior of the falls. After
that all this property goes to the state.
and a good many people will be thrown
out of employment; but they'll want a
new police force, so the old hands Will get
"a Job. When all these places are thrown
open" he continued, 'itl take two or
three hundred specials busy to keep peo-
pie from tumblng overheard, and accl-
dents Will lust double up. AS 1t is now
everything IL protected by hlty-cent
tariff. so the cranks and folks that are dead
broke can't jump over.
/ What's the use Of the States a-buying
up the park any Way!' asked the man.
"Pe0ple won't think half so much Of the
falls when they can see 1t free. Fact, aud
no mistake. The people have been edu-
Gated up to paying, aud they expect tt
was going TO say they will have it. just
take case in hand. Here's the stairs at
Prospect Park that leads down to the fall.
1t takes you TO as big a show as there is,
but it's free-don't cost a cent. Along
comes party the other day, stops there,
and hands out 81 note for fOur-50 cents
all around-and walks in.
This is free said the man there.
! - Good enough said the tourist III
/ It's free, it amt worth a-seein. We
/ won't 20 in
"You couldn'thlre him to go in; but if
! he'd been allowed TO pay his way as he
wanted TO. he'd a gone in and enjoyed
/ it. As it was, he missed one OF the best
shows in the village.
/ ''The other day" continued the sympa-
/ thizer with the people. Il was standing
at the gate when "A party passed in and
paid 50 cents all around, and when they
/ came out they planked down the same
amount. taking 1t just as natural, with
/ out kick, but the gateman wasn't bog
I aud said so. on said the old gentleman,
/ i understood you had TO pay as much TO
] yet out as YOU did to get in; that's what
/ they did on the Canada side.
"'This IS America said the gateman,
/ and we don't allow such goin's-On here
Then the old gent up and pays him 81
/ for setting him right. H0nesty's the best
+ policy.
people amt going to save so much.
after all. suppose every blessed thing
was free on both sides of the river? 1t
would only be matter Of IS or SO, and
what dye suppose these bridegT0oms and
/ English tourists care for money? They're
/ of Just to get rid OF their surplus capital,
and if they don't leave that $40 here some
one else will get it. Then, again, the
hackmen viii raise in their rates as
soon as things open up. Pye heard 1t
SAID that they stand in with the different
/ places, aud when IT comes to the end OF
the week they get certain per cent. OF
| the money taken in from the people they
, bring. Now, il that snug little income is
going to be cut off, why, they've got to
make 1t up some other way, which Will
be to double up on the prices. It's easy
enough if you only know how
"Ycs, we see some queer sights here"
said an oil-sknned guide, into whose
hands we now passed for the trip around
the foot OF the fall. II amt superstitious,
and don't believe in ghosts or any such
critters. but I'm blessed if 1 can reason
out what I've seen on any other footing.
You know, | s'pOse, how many folks has
gone over the falls ana been ground and
mashed TO pieces right at our feet. I've
been here a good many years, and there's
been a good many bodies slid down that
green slide Just over my head within
reach, and of course | never knew it. But
dye know Eve heard the Queerest sounds
here you ever heard, aud, as was sayin',
if | believed in sucn things | should
reckon | was haunted. Means. walls and
screams Of all sorts and kinds I've heard.
] COlnGlllntS IL Will COliliutnNG WIFI a lOuu
wall, then rise above the rOarin' of the
wind until IL bursts into a regular roar,
and is lost in the crash of the falls. Then
there's curious sights seen here at night.
Sometimes you'd swear there was forms
mOvin' about. | came down one night
with party, and one of the ladies called
out and said, who has gone ahead?
"'NO one' said |.
care YOU surep said she.
1--WE counted heads, and was all there,
vet she stuck TO 1t that some one went in
first, and that shows that il amt my i'm
aginatiOn.
Eyes. it's possible that some one might
play trick on me, but it amt plausible
to think they'd keep it up for year and |
not ind it out. AS | said, it can probably
be explained, only I'd like to know what
it is"
The curious sounds under the fall are
owing to various causes-One, the pecu-
liar tremOrs or vibrations sometimes cul-
inmate In a strangely ghost-like sound
then the falling Of water through certain
cracks often produces musical notes, or
sounds that strike strangely upon the ear,
and are augmented by the wind, often
rising into a veritable shrek that would
startle the man OF the greatest nerve. The
ghOstly appearances are produced by a
variety Of causes also, curious effects OF
light through the failing water and upon
the blowing mist. Then at night lumin-
Gus mist may be seen that the excited
imagination can comfort into weird and
fantastic shapes.
The phenomenon of the falls that strikes
the occasional visitor with the greatest
interest is the gradual wearing away of
the stony wall over which the millions Of
tons of water hourly pitches. The gigan-
tic lodges at the foot of the American
Falls, over which the frail bridge to the
Cave Of the Winds is built, tell an inn
preesiye story OF a slow hut mighty
! crumbling. The fall OF Table Rock was a
notable example Of this ;egration
witnessed by man, while the huge craga
that fill the centre Of the river further
down and make the rapids are other and
older examples that have been worn OF
when the falls were half q mile or more
further down the river.
The people who claim TO have been on
or near Table Rock when il fell are quite
numerous. A friend and relative OF the
writer stood upon il the day before IL fell
and, curiously enough, remarked upon
the large crack that the next day
widened suddenly, almost causing 4
catastrophe. the team that was standing
upon it barely reaching firm land as the
giant Numbered into the abyss below.
Mind This.
A plantation philosopher SAYS: "Pover
- H. la /