New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-28

| day. March l6, the fact that ne ndu ~ Sym
is rather sooner than anticipated, but 1t ih'',nu'e
| ,ba, nv name Daniel" is not quite napt what
| with Turkey Africa Spain. Cuba. the Greater New
York and Raines bills. Venezuela. Presiden.ia, si'r
felt of stirring news. Continue to stand FOR tne
right and don't break down through overio ,boss
| I think are trying to do noble work to bless tnese
United States, and may GOD o,e1s ana sCIISSE
Middetown. Conn. March 20. 1896.
DESTRUCTION OF THE FALLS FEARED.
A PLEA FOR THE sToPPAGE OF FURTHER DRAINS
on THE NIAGARA RIVER AND THE
GREAT LAKES
| To the Editor OF The Tribune ,.,.
| Sir The idea OF the destruction OF Nlagari ans
ought 10 startle not only the people Oh 'he 81 "
| New-York but also those Of all the Ih'teu "'"'e
and the Legislature Of that State ana the 'one'e,'
| of the United States cannot 100 500" hui Wv
edlv ADOPT such measures as are necessary 70 aver
| Tho ,nnanding danger which that idea indicates
| For forty wears the writer has been Thoroughly
| acquainted with the Niagara River ana has oae
| fully noted the changes and fluctuations Il" '' o
| and waters. Its features are as iamia' ~ III" "
those Of an intimate friend. II Is Twelve years s'no
| for imperative domoetic reasons ne c"''"eu "''
| residence from the Falls to Ithaca .
| on rsvisitng the Falls last June after d"
~, too vears during which time the Niagara Power
| Company had commenced its draft upon the river
| and the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power company
| enlarged neaI
an increased quantity Of water and VIII draw sun
more when the enlargement of its canal Is hnished
| and the Chicago Sewage Canal had tapped the w+S'
| end Of Lake Michigan. he wac much suipr'seu vi
behoding the great change In the appearance ol ''e
Iocoluv and especially the shrnkage OF the river
the great dimlnutlon OF the quantity OF water now
| ing over the Falls He had never before seen the
water 50 low except in the great syncope OF March
% 1sis az noticed in the Tribune few days since
The changes were so marked that the writer en-
| poved skliful engineer to resurvey ana map inc
| whirlpool and vicinity and to re-exainihe cef'a'"
| levels that he had established years before Al '"e
| meeting OF the American Scientific Association at
| Springfield Mass last August, he read paper
giving the results Of his latest Investigations "o'e
| OF these facts he will now state
Some distance above the rapids on the America"
side there was a email bay. adjoining the highway.
TN. had been dedicated to the public for general
| watering place into which the hack and omnibus
drivers were accustomed to drive their vehcies lot
washing on using the level found that where the
| water had been IN m average two Feet deep t'e
| weeds Of the adjoining land were now growing anu
most Of the bottom was dry II will never again be
| permanently covered with water Inc point a
| which tho smooth water on the bar above the head
Of Goat Island begins to break into rippes over the
| shallow bottom is than forty rods higher UP
| stream than usual
| t'ormer visitors TO tho Falls will remember n
beautiful large Jet Of water thrown up about hfty
ro sou,h ~ the outer Sister Island whore the rush
| ing current broke over huge rock which had
| never been exposed 10 View except In the great
| syncore Of 1875. That Jet has disappeared ana the
rock stands Ave feet out Of the water Inc shrlhh-
ago OF the water around the Three sister siihus -
| 81, extensive that the channel between Goat Island
| and the first Sister Island. which ordinarily
,tou, eighteen inches deep. L. dry and person can
| wade from Goat Island below the Three sister
| Islands to the outer one.
| The wall and docking constructed TO protect the
,t.h ofI figf n
| edge Of the water is high and dry with no
| u,,.o- within nr,een feet OF T.. Avery's Rock. so
called. near the middle o, the American Rapids and
at'u, thirty rods below the Goat Island bridge over
| which the water broke 20 the depth OF two TO four
| ,,ch.q f. TWO feet out Of water ana weeds are
| growing IN It's top.
| p.lo,v tho American Fall at the foot Of the In
cned railway there rocks that usually had from
| one 20 two feei - water over them. but are now
| Two feet ont q water At the Whirlpool the sNors
line Is more than rods below It's ordinary Limit
on the Canadian side the evidences OF water
shrlnkase were equally striking especially on Table
| pock and the channels around Streets Islands.
uh,ch seemed almost pitisul In their sluggish weak
| ness.
I'm, II ls unnecessary cite other facts. The
| suprcme fact 20 b. considered Is thit the GRATIS
| ,,v mad. upon the Niagara River and the Great
| - hoa lowered their level four feet. the bare
81 Gaming Rock" In the Canadian rapids being i's
| stone written record. This was the state OF the
case I'm the summer OF 1895 The conditions may be
| varied somewhat 10y delugng rains over tho lake
| region. or by severe gales down Lake Erie The
| effect however, will be only temporary.
| The actual and proposed drafts from Niagara
| River and the Great Lakes are the following:
| I Nov under way Chicago Sewage Canal, which
I-nuaI states engineers estimate will lower the lake
eysl FIX inchfs lover r't more thar t~ice AZ much
| II The Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manu-
ac,uT d,sn C %, sides and 100 feet
| wide drawing more water than the summer no" Oh
| IIf NIAGARA Water Power Company tunneD aver
age width Of ouiake. 100 lee ayeragr aep n,
halF a. much as the average yearly How OF the Oho
~ Lockport Water supply ooinpa w. Serf n,I
| charter: to draw as much IA Niagara fo"er COM
V Niagara County Irrigation and Water supply
| Company asking the right to draw an unlimited
VI The Niagara, IockPSSrt and ontario Power
VII Lewiston Water Supply Company dove Ci'y)'
aSXxiIIIY Niagara power and Development Company,
to draw unlimited quantity from La Sahe' -FOUR
IN civ OF Cleveland ship canal TO Cincinnati
| Y The proposition that the United states shall
construct ship canal from Lake Erie TO the mud
o %r bin now before the Legislature at Albany
extending the water rs"'S Vi 'e "e"
TunneD Company .
Then. during the season Of navigation. the Erie
Canal draws water to nj channel seven feet deep
and seventy feet wide
! on the Canada side the Wclland Canal draws
nearly ten times as much. And the Canadians have
4, ysw other projects that will. II completed, make
heavy drafts upon the river. And IT must De borne
e. ,j,J th,, only one-nfth Of the water that leaves
I,ke Erie lows Mt the Falls in the American chan
mel, the surface OF the water on the Ianana shore
being five feet lower than on the American
N"i one OF the foregoing schemes. except the three
thai are nearly completed should be allowed to
n TuE