Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1909-03-26
NIAGARA FALLS BARE
For One Whole Day the Rocky
Precipice Was Dry.

THIS CURIOUS PHENOMENON OCCUR
RED ON MARCH 81, 1948-TERRIFIED
THE PEOPLE IN THE vICINITY-RE-
TURN OF THE TORRENT AND THE
CAUSE OF THE STOPPAGE.
In the early spring of 1913 occurred
natural phenomenon so strange, so sud-
den and so stupendOus that the older
inhabitants of western New York still
speak of it with awe and wonder. This
phenomenon was nothing else than the
running dry of Niagara Falls. The
story is seldom recounted now, but it
was nine days. wonder for the whole
country when it appeared in the news
papers. For the first time in history
the roar Of the grandest cataract in
America was hushed.
In the early morning of March 81,
1S4S, people living in the vicinity of
the falls were awakened by peculiar
hush, as startling in it's suddenness and
intensity as the most thunderous ex-
plosiOn could have been. Many dress
ed and hastened outdoors, urged by a
conviction that something appalling
had happened or was about to happen.
Some thought the end of the world was
at hand. Others imagined that they
had grown suddenly deaf. Still others
thought that the hush preceding a ter
rife hurricane had fallen upon the air.
All were oppressed with feeling of
profound awe..and dread.
1t was soon discovered, however, that
the cessation of the roar of the falls was
the sole cause of this common panic.
AS the dim light of early morning grew
stronger the people were able to see the
almost bare precipice of the falls, over
which but a short time before thou
sands of tons of water had been pour
ing. Only here and there small st cams,
constantly growing smaller, now trick
led down the face Of the towering wall.
Above the falls, instead of the rushing,
foaming river, only naked channel,
studded with black and jagged rocks,
appeared. The bed of the river was
practically exposed from shore to shore,
except for small streams, like noun
tain brooks, running slowly to the
verge of the precipice. The spectators
could hardly believe their eyes.
Some remarkable feats were perform
ed on that day when Niagara ran dry.
People walked from the Canadian side
of the river along the edge of the fright
full precipice, nearly as far as Goat Is
land on the American side and never
even wet their feet. Some went eX-
ploring in the river bed above the falls |
and discovered number of ancient gun
barrels, lost probably by sportsmen up
the river in long gone days and still af-
ter the rotting away of their stocks
slowly forced down stream by the cur
rent. Caves and curious formations in
the rocks were discovered, the exist
ence of which had never been suspect
ed before.
All that day, March 81, 1S4S, Niagara
falls remained dry, and people who re-
mained up until late at night, expect
ing to see change, went to bed with
out witnessing it. But in the early
morning of April the familiar thun
der of the great cataract was once more
heard, and every one knew that the
mysteriously drained river bed was
again pouring its flood over the falls.
Now for the explanation of this
strange phenomenon. 1t proved to be,
after all, very simple. The winter of
1S47 and 1S4S had been one of extreme
severity. Ice of such thickness had
never been known as formed on Lake
Erie that season. When the break up
came, toward the end of March, a
strong northeast wind was blowing,
which piled the great fields of ice in
foes and then in banks as high as
miniature icebergs. Toward night on
March 80 the wind suddenly changed
to the opposite direction and increased
to terrific gale, which hurled back
the piled up ice and drove it into the
entrance of Niagara river with such
force that huge and almost impene-
trable dam was formed. For a whole
day the source of the river was stopped
up, and the stream was drained of it's
supply. By the morning of the 31st
the river was practically dry, and thus
for twenty-four hours the roar of Mia
CARA falls was stilled. Then in the ear
ly morning of April the ice pack gave
way under the tremendous pressure
from above, and the long restrained
volume of water rushed down and re-
claimed it's own.-EXchange