The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-01-07
GOLD IN NIAGARA WHIRLPOOL

IeQer NlSSen OF chicago InlNhS IHNIc
is Gold Sand on the Bottom.
Peder Nissen, Of Chicago, has an in
teresting theory that the bottom of the
famous Niagara whirlpool is covered
with gold sand. He writes to the Buff
fal0 Express as follows: A little over
year ago / floated around In the whirl-
pool one day from twelve o'clock at
noon till half-past seven in the evening.
l bobbed my lead against the bottom
more than a hundred times, but OBJ
tanned no more than thirty-tWo good
soundings. Besides. b, these sOundings,
however, / discovered the remarkable
fact that the bottom of the pool was
covered with sand. There was some
thing so strange about this that could
not leave off thinking about it. The in
depreciation Of 1t did not come to me
till more than six months later. In or
der to be sure that you follow me, l
want to tell you a few facts with which
you may already be familiar There
was one time in the geologic history of
America when the northeastern part of
this country was entirely covered with
ice. This is sometimes called the Lab
rador ice sheet, from the fact that it
covered the Labrador peninsula and
came from that direction. It's southern
border crossed the Ohio river near Gin
cinnati. 1t extended through Ohio, hi
diana and Illinois and west Of the great
lakes.
The ice continued to thaw at the
southern and western extremites, while
the frost and snow kept adding to 1t in
the north. This made it move like a
mighty glacier across the rocks of Cam
ada, Its immense weight and force
ground and secured these rocks and
carried the debris southwark, where it
was deposited from place to place,
wherever circumstances permitted.
Before this ice age there was a Nigga
IA river, but when on account of the
warmer climate in this region. the ice
receded northward, and the Niagara
again began to flow its old bed from
the whirlpool to Saint David's had been
entirely filled up, SO that the river
found an eosier outlet toward lewiston
These facts are we'll known. Every
student of Niagara is familiar with
them. It is equally we'll known that
there is a belt of gold bearing rock that
extends all through the Labrador pc
ninsula and north and northwest of the
lakes. 1t has an area of over two hun
bred thousand square miles. In this
rock there are the gold mines at Has
tings, directly north of the falls. In
this rock are also gold mines through
out Labrador, Quebec and Ontario. 1t
is the very same rock in which the
Alaska gold is found. 1t is the debris
Of this rock that was carried down by
the ice and deposited In which gold is
found in the Chaudiere country, south
Of the st. Lawrence. 1t is in the de-
bris Of this rock carried down in the
same way in which, according to one
we'll known geologist, '"rhere is gold
everywhere in the United States, from
Canada to Florida" 1t is this same de-
bris that has filled up the st. David's
channel, of which the whirlpool was u
part.
When the river began to tlow anew,
it was directed against this deposit,
like the giant nOzZles used for gold
mining In the west Out there they col
lect the gold sand between the rails at
the bottom Of the flune. while the wa
toy, sand and gravel flow on. The very
same conditions obtain In the whirlpool.
The water has flowed on for ages and
washed out millions upon millions of
cubic feet Of sand and gravel. Take
these facts in conjunction with my dis
c0very that there is sand on the bottom
Of the whirlpool. Would it. then. be
unreasonable to think that this is gold
sand? II must certainly be the heav-
lest that is left. Is there any other
sand as heavy as grains Of gold? You
may say that if there had been gold in
St David's channel, people would have
been mining it long ago. Let me tell
you. Under Philadelphia there is gold
in the ground to the extend Of about
three cents to the cubic foot. yet 10 one
would ever think Of mining It, If there
had been half as much to the foot in
the material that has been washed out
Of the whirlpool. there Is enough gold
dust left to buy out J. Pierp0nt Morgan.
CA So . IRA,
L. U,nlI II