Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-06-08
ICE AT NIAGARA.

A wonderful Display, Unique In Its Chhs.
acter and Extent.
Rarely indeed is nature in mood of Law.
fish display like that to which she has aban.
doned herself at Niagara. The scene about
the great cataract Is sublime, and it il
unique. Other aspects of nature In othel
quarters of our wonderful earth may pre-
sent pictures of beauty and grandeur. Blu,
their very perlnanence, whether in noun
tain or forest or sea, robs them of certain
fascination which we feel in looking upon
this heeting splendor with which winter
has clothed Niagara If every recurrence
of the season of frost brought the same con.
ditions, we might not be so moved by them
But not once in decade is there vouch
safed to us SO grand spectacle-a glimpse
SO suggestive of the age of ice.
The American fall is 1854 feet high, and
piled up before it, so that the sound of its
thunder is muffled, is huge barrier of ice
Between the inclined railway and the edge
of the fall round hill of ice rises quite l0t
feet in height, white and CLASSY. Farther
along and nearly opposite Luna island rises
another mound of solid ice and snow quite
1875 feet in height and of immense thick.
ness. Between these are other hills and
hummocks only less majestic Near the
foot of the Horseshoe on the Goat island
side is dome of ice some 200 feet long and
wide, hundreds of icicles hanging from its
under side.
These are but the prominent features OF
the ice formations. AS one eners Prospect
park or walks through Goat island toward
the brink of the fall the trees present the
appearance of trees anywhere in winter,
but once get to Prospect point and look
back, or to the walk that leads over the
Horseshoe rocks from Goat island and
look up, and every tree stands out pure
white The ice takes on the texture OF
the special tree to whichit clings. If it
is an elm or chestnut, the ice shows the
creases of the elm's or chestnut's bark; il
1t be u maple or beech or ash, the ice
is smooth and polished. Everything stands
out glistening, and where the spray has
formed on spruce and pine it has grad
ually taken the shape of the evergreen
fe4theTy fronds, and the tree looks like q
strange exotic, the production of botanist
delighting in fantastic growths.
Perhaps the most complete view of all
that combines to make Niagara splendid in
winter may be had from the stairs lead rg
from Goat island to Luna island. Looking
over the railing one can catch glimpse OF
the great assures OF wells of ice into which
the river pours its divided torrents, with
the wind and spray beating against the
SCARED inner walls of the barrier, while
jets and clouds of mist shoot upward and
are borne away by the wind to rain down
and freeze again on the crust of the ice
mountains beyond. At distance beyond
the American fall is Prospect point, with
no black moving specks of humanity. Be
hind these rises the white robed wood
shading off to brown in the distance
Back of the glistening trees is the sky, as
purely blue as ever it bent over Venice or
Florence, while between, rising from the
misty cavern at the fall's foot and arching
upward across the river, across the distant
clump of ice clad trees, against the deep
blue of the sky and fading away just under
the gibbous moon, is u bow Of tie richest
prismatic hues, now deepening now be.
coming faint, as the spray is blown this
way and that. Such is the scene, not al
ways with the moon feature of II, at Nj
agara in the clear afternoons, when the at
mosphere softens and subdues all the hues
Buffalo Courier.