Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-11-06

Niagara, and others that may have
more picturesque surroundings, but no
where else on the earth is there any
hing at all comparable with Niagara
in the immensity of the volume of fall
ing water 1t is estimated that no less
than 100000 tons of water per minute
are. hurled down the cataract of Mag
ara. asp
In this connection it may not be out
Of place to mention that the day pre-
vious to our visit Mrs. Taylor went
over the Falls in specially constructed
barrel, and was taken out alive from the
river below. She enjoys the unique dis.
tinction of being the only human being
who ever went over the Falls without
being killed.
The river from the foot of the Falls
to Lewiston, distance of about seven
miles, is down in gorge from 200 to 300
feet deep, and at places not more than
forty rods wide. Down in that narrow
chasm is the mighty, raging torrent
called the Whirlpool Rapids. The wa
ter by the time it has reached this place
has been so torn and beaten that it has
lost its nice blue color, aud is now a
milky white. The gorge at the Whirl-
pool Rapids looks more like canyon
half full of heaving, tumbllng banks of
snow than.anything else can think of.
A double track electric railway has
been constructed on each side of the
river between the Falls and Lewiston.
On the Canadian side it runs close to
the edge and on top of the frowning wall
of the gorge. This part of the line pass
es over Queenstown Heights, where the
desperate BATTLE was fought between
American and British forces during
the war of 1912, and where Sir Isaac
Brock, the British general, was killed.
The Canadian government has erected
q splendid monument to his memory
near the spot where he fell. 1t is q more
shaft than the Iowa Soldiers
Monument at Des Moines. Ontario
would probably be apart of the United
States today were it not for the ag-
gressiveness of General Brock during
the early part of the war of 1872.
at Lewiston the railroad crosses to
the American side on a suspension
bridge, and the tracks the greater part
of the way back to the Falls are down
in the gorge near the waters edge, a de-
cidedly weird and uncsnny place for a
railway. The walls of the gorge are
nearly perpendicular, and at the top
they are in many places not more than
SO rods apart
-Four bridges span the gorge of the
Niagara, and over them thousands of
people pass and repass each day be-
tween the United States and Canada.
The writer has crossed on all four of
these bridges, has seen hundreds of 9th
ers doing likewise, has seen the custom
houses on each side, and custom officers,
but has never seen anyone's baggage
examined, nor any attempt to collect
duties from anyone.
A good view of New York City and
the surrounding country can be obtain
ed from the observatory of the Pulitzer
Building, which is upwards of 3OOsfeet
above the street level From there one can
see the homes of 100000 of people, and
thousand of millions of dollars worth of
property. 1t is indeed an imposing
sight, and as we looked down upon the
forts at The Narrows, we could not
help wondering whether the defenses of
the city afforded reasonable protection
for this great collection of treasure.
In some respects New York is far
ahead of Chicago, and in other respects
Chicago compares very favorably. New
York is far the cleanest city. 1t has
abated its smoke nuisance, so that OBJ
jects can be readily seen at distance
of IL or Is miles. And its streets are
remarkably clean and free from litter
of every kind. Central Park, with its
nearly 800 acres of land, its Museum
of Art, its Obelisk, which once looked
down upon Moses and Pharaoh, and its
many other rare attractions, is indeed a
delightful place. But the parks of
Chicago compare well with Central
Park. And the Field Museum, in the
building in Jackson Park, which was
used for the Art Gallery at the Worlds
Fair, excels anything of its kind tc be
found in New York. Then, again,
Chicago is better lighted at night than
New York. In that respect the differ
ence between the two cities is very no.
ticeable. But Sunday is better observed
in New York than it is in Chicago. In
New York the business places, and in
some districts the restaurants, are clos.
ed on Sunday. And up in the vicinity
of the churches, between doth and 5Ist
streets, great throngs Of people can be
seen going to and from their several
places of worship. The writer attended
church at The Cathedral, which is ad-
mittedly the most expensive and grand
est ecclesiastical edilice in the New
World, and there heard singing the
equal of which he never heard before.
A sololst, with voice as clear as the
tone of silver bell, and as full and true
as rivers flow, filled the immense
structure with charming melody.
New York is we'll built city, far
more compact than Chicago, but l
hardly know what to say about the
streets in the older portions of the place.
Down in the vicinity of Wall street
they are narrow, more likes lanes or al
leys than streets, and some of them
crook and wind around between high
walls of brick and glass and store.
Chicago has nothing at all compar-
able with 9Th Avenue, the home of SO
many of Americas multi-millionaires.
This famous avenue is 21a miles long
and rupc north md south roo, H. 49,,