Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-19
WHIRLPOOL FILLED WITH GOLD
Tons of the Yellow Metal Believed to
Rest on the Floor of NiaEara's
Awful Pool.

II has remained for Peter Nissen Of
Chicago to thrill the hearts OF the residents
OF the Niagara locality with an opinion
that there is gold in paying quantities at
the bottom OF the Niagara whirlpool, that
river pocket that is so full Of mystery. Mr..
Nissen 10 the man who twice boldly navi-
gated the whirlpool rapids in a boat OF his
own construction and on his second visit
to the whirlpool is alleged to have taken
soundings in order to penetrate the mys-
terry OF it's depth, formation, etc. For over
six hours Nissen floated helplessly about
the pool, taking soundings when opportu-
nifty offered, and now, in an interview, he
says the full Importance of his discoveries
OF that %eventful day did not come to him
for six months. Here is what he says:
"A little over a year ago / hoated around
In the whirlpool one day from ~ o'clock
noon to 1880 o'clock in the evening. 1
bobbed my lead against the bottom more
than 100 times, but obtained no more than
thirty-two good soundings. Besides these
soundings / discovered the remarkable fact
that the bottom of the pool is covered with
sand. There was something so strange
about this that I could not leave off
thinking about 1t. The Interpretation Of it
did not come to me till more than six
$3.50 Al SANNA lhdl gOu ina lOl-
low my thought / want to tell you a few
facts with which you may already be ia
miliar. There was a time in the geologic
history Of America when the northeastern
part OF this country was entirely covered
with Ice. This is sometimes called the
Labrador Ice sheet, from the fact that 1t
covered the Labrador peninsula and came
from that direction. Its southern border
crossed the Ohio river near Cincinnati. 1t
extended through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
and west Of the Great Lakes.
THE ice continued to thaw at the south
ern and western extremities, while the
frost and snow kept adding to 1t in the
north. This made 1t more like a mighty
glacier across the rocks of Canada. It's
immense weight and force ground and
secured these rocks and carried the debris
southwark, where 1t was deposited from
place to place wherever circumstances per-
mitted. Before this ice age there was a
Niagara river but when, on account of the
warmer climate in this region. the ice re-
ceded northward and the Niagara again
began to flow, its old bed from the whirl-
pool to st. Dayid's had been entirely filled
up, so that the river found nm easier cut
let toward Lewiston.
These facts are woll known. Every
- VI II LhullllhI Il luSI1.
1t is equally we'll, known that there is a
belt OF gold-bearing rock that extends all
through the Labrador peninsula and north
west of the lakes. 1t has an area of over
200, 900 square miles. In his rock there
are the gold mines at Hastings directly
north of the falls. In this rock are also
gold mines throughout Labrador, Quebec
and Ontario. 1t lie the very same rock in
which Alaska gold is found. It is the de-
bris 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. It is In the debris Of
this rock, carried Town in the same way,
in which, according to one we'll known
seologist, there is gold everywhere in the
United States from Canada to Florida It
is this same debris that has filled up the
pool Of Niagara was a part.
When the river began to flow anew It
was directed against this deposit, like the
giant noZzles used for gold mining in the
west. Out there they collect the gold sand
between the rails at the bottom Of the
hume while the water, sand and gravel
flow on. The very same condition exists in
the whirlpool. The water has flowed for
ages and washed out millions upon mil
lions of cubic feet of sand and gravel. Take
these facts in conjunction with my dis
covery that there is sand on the bottom Of
the whirlpool, would 1t then be unreason-
able to think that this is gold-bearing
sand?"