Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-04-12
NIAGARA IN WINTER.
BY HELEN EvERrsoN SMITH.

No person has ever succeeded In sc
describing the Falls of Niagara tha
one who has never seen them can form
an adequate idea of either their beauty
their force or their immensity. NJ
pictures, whether painted by the hanC
of man, or that magic artist, the Sun
! convey any conception of Niagara!
size and grandeur.
Perhaps one reason for this is tina
the thunder of the waters IS lost to US
Were Niagara silent, perhaps picture:
or words might bring 1t before us But
silent Niagara would be pitifu
travesty of itself Like an organ witt
broken pipes, its soul would have fed
The mighty, ,unending haste. the height
and extent of the vast body of water,
would still be impressive: but without
the roar of its thunder, and the trembll
of the smitten earth beneath our feet,
Niagara would have los more than
half its power to charm, exalt and sol.
emniZe the beholder.
If at any time it is possible for pic.
lures to convey a fraction of the
grandeur of this world wonder, it must
he IN winter like the past, when the
silent CHAINS of frost seem to have, in a
measure, fettered its colossal might.
During the past two months many
thousands Of visitors have sought Mag
ara to venture out upon the celebrated
Ice Bridge, formed across the river be-
low the Falls by the gorging there OF
the immense masses of ice brought down
by the river and over. the Falls from
Lake Erie. Upon this Ice Bridge
Tough and broken, but utfrm-fascinated
watchers stand for hours, unconscious
of cold or bodily discomfort, gazing at
the steady downpour of millions upon
millions of tons of water, never any
more, never any less; lighted by the
sun into thousand brilliant tints of
hope and Joy; or shadowed by
clouds into a mass of sullen, gigantic
discomfort; the restless, roaring dis
content of Nature with the bondage
under which she has groaned and
travelled for uncounted ages before
puny mankind came to tease and vex
her with their petty schemes and frivo
lous nothingDess.
known as the Hermit of the Falls "
He came here-as any one OF us might
come-a chance visitor to tarry awhile
and then go on his way. But the spell
of the place fell upon him. he could
not leave it. All life, with its endless
charm of mystery, ,henceforth, for him,
lay here and here only. Building his
lonely hut on one of the small islands
in the river, he watched the Falls noon
and night, summer and winter, for
years, until at last the water he loved
so well took compassion on him and
united him with itself.
1t is said that during his residence
here, there was one winter of terrible,
frozen beauty, when the Hermit
seemed exalted above his usual condi-
ton of swe-stricken melancholy, and
became as one inspired with a solemn
delight. Whether by daylight or moon
light, he seemed unable to remain long
away from the gorgeous palace erected
by the frozen spray. The great sus-
pension bridge had not then been
built, SO he could not have seen the
view which is here presented to our
readers, of the bridge entrance trans
formed by the frozen spray; but, if
anything, the sight he enjoyed of ranks
OF stately evergreens, sentineling the
banks under their glittering frost
armor, must have been even more be-
wilderingly beautiful than this.
Everyone who has lived in the couL
try-and OIL what loss it is not to
have passed. there at least ones early
yearsl-will remember the falls of wet
snow that occasionally come in
very still and comparatively moderate
spring weather; when not merely
the house-tops, fences and .-.evergre,
trees, but every tiny twig of every tree
and bush, every wandering vine, even
every festhered stalk of last year s
golden rod, left belsted in the corner
of the snake fence, or spear of bearded
grass, or dried tuft of moss upon the
low stone wall, becomes a mould and
resting place from the cold whiteness;
making an enchanted realm of fanciful
creation-pure and wonderful And
then that other marvel of the early spring
an Ice storm-when the gentle rain
freezes as it falls and clIngs to every
thing 1t touches; and when the rain
ceases and the sun comes forth, beholdi
we are in palace of Jewels, flashing all
around us an unearthly splendor.
The frozen spray of Niagara combines
these effects. Freezing as it rises, the
spray takes all the shapes of the deli
cate frost crystals we see sometimes
on trost-decorated window-panes and
then piles up in masses upon every OBJ
ject within its reach; as light as sea-
foam, yet as firm as rock; as pure as
snow, yet flashing like the gates of the
New Jerusalem.
If Niagara is at all seasons a wonder
of the world, in a winter like the past,
it becomes a marvel, as of heaven
itself.