The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-11
CHAUTAUQUA CHATS
 BY KATHERINE HOPKINS CHAPMAN,

of ordinary means that Niagara has be- come a government reservation and been made to handle her own visitors. Gone are the days when naughty Jehus exacted rom six to ten dollars an hour from l every passenger in their rickety vehicles l Under government restrictions and by the use Of electricity one can see every phase 1 or Niagara and use every convenience, in- cluding the steel observation tower, the i incline, the park carriages the boat and | the ear lines, for a mere bagatele, or i to be more explicit, for one dollar and l seventy-hve cents. One ticket can be bought including all these conveniences and the sght-seer is not bothered with l getting ticket or fishing out change at every turn.
 And, now for an incident that will stag ger the credulity of those who went to Niagara on their briday tour years ago, and in whose memories extortion looms l as large as the falls. Our party proved, beyond doubt. that an inhabitant of Ni- 1 asara Falls will chase a customer several i blocks to return a dollar in change that the customer didn't know was due him. l It is true this honest person was in a museum, but as a clerk and not as a curiosity.
 As the Alabama quartette were hur- rying to the station they passed the mu- scum and, among other souvenirs MT. Solomon Ant noticed some effective h. dian heads painted on raw-hlde banner ] but said they were probably expensive and time was limited But the young son. with the enterprise of American youth, ran back and inquired the price, then. catching up with his mothers, said
 | They're only dollar mamal" Here get me one,' said Mrs. Solomon Ant, as she handed him q two dollar bill
 Her young son, thinking it was only ! one dollar ran back to the museum gave i it to the clerk. snatched the souvenir and 1 flew after his mother who was now some i distance ahead. But that clerk pursued the flying kid. who was waiving the In- dian flag wildly in the breeze and forced into his hand the unexpected dollar i As to the falls, themselves, they do not ! come within the scope of mere chat a fact which was evident from the unwont- ed silence in which our party gazed into the cold green depths of the main vol ume of water as it rushed so resstlessly i over the ledge, or watched the clouds of mist rise from below, through which a towering geyser of vapor would shoot l every few moments and over which a double rainbow of marvellous tints hung i the entire day
 l They indulged in few jests even when i they donned those ludicrous gum-coats and helmets on the brave little Maid of | the Mist" as she prepared to poke her impudent nose among the laundering swrlng eddies at Niagaras very feet But, Sis Hopkins took some snapshots l for future merriment.
 l The familiar electric cars which they took for the famous George route, some ] what restored their equanmity and, as ! they passed over to the Canadian side, the youngster gave a whoop at feeling foreign" soil under his feet and a strange flag floating above him. This famous l ride takes you through Victoria park, | past General Brooks monument along the edge of the chasm through which the waters of Niagara work their tortuous way through seven miles of rapids till at last they find rest in Lake Ontario's 1 depths.
 1 At Queenstown. the cars cross the sus- pension bridge to Lewiston on the Ameri- can side where they descend to the level i of the gorge and go back to the falls al- most in touch with the water as it lash ] es through the rapids, and with magni- 1 fcenr view of the opposite cliffs just l traversed.
 Does it sound ungrateful and inconsist- ] ent, after taking advantage of all these conveniences necessitated by large crowds, 1 tO WISH tO ndNe seen lH1S nlarVelOuS com ! bination of natures strength and beauty as she overleaps all obstacles when it was surrounded only by the primeval forces and gazed upon by startled deer or stolid red men who came here to settle their ! tribal difficulties?
 The spell of awe and appreciation lifted entirely when the Alabamians found 1 themselves on the prosaic train speeding i from Niagara's mighty roar to that of 1 Chatauquas lesser lions. As reaction set i fully in they turned the seats together ! and had the gayest supper imaginable. They had bought a basket of fruit that was covered with atrocious red tareton As the feast closed Sis Hopkins piked up this tarleton and, deftly making it into a becky bow, she stuck the red bow into l her red hair, and said:
 Now here is a new puzzle for the Sunday papers. Find the bow. Find the bow. she repeated with sparkling eyes to her drowsy little nephew. But those brown eyes flashed another light, when a young man leaned across the aisle and said:
 1 You wish to find a bow? May I -
 But Sis feigned sleep, Bersey muttered something about yankee impotence and Mrs. Solomon Ant assumed such a stony. chaperony glare that that young man decided to join friend in the smoking car.