The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-10
AN APPALLING SILENCE
When Niagara Falls Ran Dry just
Fifty Years Ago.
New York Sun.

When Niagara Falls Ran Dry Just
Fifty Years Ago.
New York Sun.
., AZ .o 5 O'Clock. on the morning of March
81, 1913, Just fifty years ago." said old
resident of western New York, L awoke
with sense OF something strange oppress-
ing me. 1 was born twenty-five years be-
fore with the roar of Niagara Fails in my
ears, and had lived ever since then within
mile of the laundering cataract. When L
aWoke that morning oppressed by that
strange FEELING 1T was some time before l
discovered that it was caused by the I'M
mistakable and astounding fact that the
rumble and roar of Niagara was gone.
When realized this my first thought
was that l had become deaf during the
night, but the ticking, of a clock that I
heard distinctly in an adjoining room proved
tnat my hearing was all right. The tumult
OF Niagara was stilled, nevertheless, and
the unWonted silence was something appall-
lng. Certain that some unheard of catas-
trophe must be impending, 1 sprang out of
ped, dressed hurriedly and ran from the
rouse. Early it was l found scores of
people had been awakened as 1 had been,
ana were hurrying pell NELL toward the
falls to learn what was the cause of the
and sight was witnessed at the falls
such as had never been seen before, at
within the bounds of probability that such
a sight will ever be Witnessed gain. Where
nad been the river that for untold ages had
rushed 1mpetuouSly on to form that stu
pendous cataract there was but naked bed
OF jagged, black and Shiny rocks. and the
preeipice over which it had hurled its
mighty volume of laundering and raging
waters for all those ages was bare from
shore to shorei Niagara was dry, or SO
n near so. that the water that struggled
over the great wall of rock was as but the
tinkle of a mountain brook where the roar
or that awful cataract had been.
The American channel of the river had
dwindled to the dimensions of a creek that
one might easily step over and the water
that still ran in the British channel resem-
iT1ln md pfNyn nffn nfr Ixxo
August drought. Goat island was as big as
two Goat islands, as the water had Shrunk
panse of ragged, strengthening rocks v hich
no eye, SO far the record was, had ever
seen before The bed of the Canadian
rapids far out into the stream was dry, as
was the space between the lower end of
Goat island and out beyond the tower, that
well-remembered old landmark long since
The rocks thus exposed were black and
forbidding, giving the dry river bed the APP
pearanee OF a tract, of timber through
which fire had swept, leaving only myriad
OF charred stumpS standing. The Three Sis
terS looked fOrlorn in their enhanced dimen-
sions. The great jet of water which had
from time out of mind leaped into the air
from the snarling rapids south of these
islands and is leaping there to-day, was not
enough left of the rapids to snarl
People from the Canada side walked
along the edge of the precipice where only
the day before thousand-ton wall could
not have sustained itself against the rush of
waters, and made their way easily nearly
to Goat island on the American side with
out wetting their feet The water in the
river below the falls had, of course, shrunK
in proportion, being no longer fed from
above, revealing an array of irregular PIN
naeled rocks that gave spectators for the
first time an idea of the hidden perilS many
of them had braved scores OF times as pas
sengers on the little Maid of the Mist. the
famous little vessel that daily forced its
way through those waters, over those
threatening rocks, to the foot of the falls.
0HSOlatp.
strange and av full to contemplate. Ignorant
of the cause of tl1is incredible phenomenon,
the people were filled with alarm and appre
henslon as TO It's meaning. NeVefthelesS
they could not refrain from SWarmlng over
the dry bed of the river ana about the great
bared precipice itself exploring caves. dark
recesses curious formations in the rocks
ana other remarkable features of the cata-
ract and rapids, the existence of which they
had never dreamed Of. and which no mortal
eye had perhaps ever gazed upon before.
A number of ancient gun barrels Were found
among the rocks of the river bed above the
rapids. Thomas c.. Streeter, who had a grist
mill on the Canada side of the river, drove
coat island and a man named Holly drove
with a buggy from the head of Goat island
clear to the spot where the leaping Jet of
water had always writhed and foamed. He
also cut several sticks Of timber near the
head of the Horseshoe falls, had them
,hewed there and hauled them away with
.@rhjs extraordinary condition of affairs at
Niagara continued all day, and there was no
sign of e. cnaIge WHEN the UlSluIDSt pSOptS,
weary of waiting for one, went to bed late
that night When we awoke the next morn
ing he viewer, the old familiar thunder OF
the falls was shaking the earth as before.
and the river and rapids were again the
rushing, seething. whirlng, Irresistible tor
rent as of old. Then we learned what had
made Niagara run dry.
coolest on record. Such ice had never been
known there. / guess, as formed in Lake
Eric that season. The breakup came eac-
lier than usual, though. Toward the end
of March stiff northeasterly wind came
nm ard its force was so great that 1t moved
the great fields of ice, then entirely sepa
rated from the shores. up the lake, piling
The foes in great banks as they moved.
Toward night on March so the wind changed
suddenly to the opposite quarter and be-
came tremendous gale. The lakes sur
face was packed with miniature icebergS,
with such force that great dam was
formed by them at the head of Niagara
river This dam was for the time so inn
Dregnable and complete that the current of
water that finds its way from the lake in
tie rushing channel of that river. to be at
the falls Of Niagara. was held in check, and
only very small portion of its usual vols
ume could find a passage through the great
pack of ice. Consequently II was not long
before the river above the falls was drained
of its supply. and as the ice dam was strong
and stubborn and held its place. by the
time the morning OF the 3lst came the
stream was virtually exhausted. and for
twenty-four hours the thunderous voice OF
Niagara was fusied. Some time during the
night of the 3lst or the early morning of
April / the ice pack gave way under the
great pressure from above, and the long
restrained volume of water rushed down
-fotrx farr~s4