The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-04-26
5y HUGH ALLEN.
(Staff Correspondence Of The Times0


(Staff Correspondence Of The Tires-)
NIAGARA FALLS. ~ Y. April Is
A battle OF the elements Titantic
war between natures armies which
pigmies watched with awe from sur
rounding hils-was at it's height when
left my train al Niagara Falls depot.
aud with steps hurried by anticipa-
ton took my way over TO the ice-rack.
ed gorge below the greatest cataract
on the western hemisphere.
For three weeks there had been q
24-hour-a-day impetuous charge against
an enemy intrenched in an impregna'
BILE stronghold-th combined waters
OF the great lakes hurled daily and
nightly against the unyielding fortress
of the Ice king. And the waters fought
a losing fight every day, but fought
on, as waters will.
II was necessary 10 use large ship
ments OF dynamite and today the gi-
gantic iceberg is broken sufficiently
SO the waters can pass.
The Niagara river Is the outlet for
four OF the greatest inland bodies or
water In the world. One hundred mil
lion tons OF water hurl themselves
every ONCl Inal AoN-AOON RiNNA-
pice II would seem that no power on
earth could stop that tremendous flow.
But the Ice King planned his battle
with cunning strategy. For his fort
ress he chose the narrow Niagara
gorge. IL miles long and 300 feet wide.
There he bullt his fort
The ice. the water. the wind. the
sun-these were the elements in this
battle.
Man? Not was no place for man.
saw one man who had pitted him
self against the elements. He lay.
half-naked, across two cakes OF ice In
the whirling waters at the foot OF the
falls.
Dead. Of course. And staring.
Even from the banks where stood
could make out his eyes. wide open
and full OF wild horror. Even dead.
he told story OF mans weakness and
futility.
He was strong man, too. as men
go. His shirt ripped from the body
by the whirl OF the waters, showed
muscled shoulders and deep chest.
The waters mad used him lightly
There were no marks on him except
a cash on hls head
EVEN MnlA L lOOhtu. TIC w
tortHous currents. eccentric and reck-
less. caught the ice cakes he lay on,
and threw them like shot against the
ice jam hundred feet away. The
man was sucked under, disappeared
and was not seen again.
No one knew who it was-or cared
much
Another suicide, guess" said one
- L. a IL. rNear-
functory efforts 10 rescue the body.
They're common here. We have EN-
every week"
Truly. this is no place for man.
The state and federal engineers
told the same story. Aroused by the
people. who saw houses and piers
carried away, bridges menaced and a
whole country in danger from the ice
jam, they were trying TO dynamite out
a passage for the water.
We can do something" the engi-
neers said, a. they unloaded two tons
of dynamite. Not much. Maybe
nothing at all. The sun is the only
thing which can break the jam"
And II IL break all at once. -
They shuddered for answer.
Never since the first Jesuit explor-
er fell on his knees before the falls In
holy wonder-perhaps not since the
first savage boatman, needless OF the
sullen warning roar ahead, discovered
too late. and plunged down to horrible
death and obliyion-perhaps not since
the lee age $4,000 years ago. when the
gorge was first carved from the sand
stone cliffs--had the ice blocked the
passage OF the strongest waterpower
in the world.
II didn't look dangerous-this white
river OF ice
II lay like a dead thing. motionless.
gray. Its powdered surface WAS rough
and assured. In some places were
crevasses. extending deep. In others
small mountains rose above the rest
of the surface. But il lay there. inert,
inactive, without movement
But while looked a spot la the
ceLter began to rise. There was a
creaking anu grooming sound that
reached my ears clear up on he blum.
Down in that turgid mass
was writing and fighting The uneasy
spot formed hillock then was stu.
looked up the river gorge a quar-
ter of mile at the only unfroZen
stretch between the falls and Tho lake.
Then understood.
Down that open stretch the water
was rushing to the charge with fur
ious attack II grumbled and roared
as its waters twisted themselves, turn
ed and lodged and stumbled and threw
themselves headlong In the Impetu-
Gus charge. At every beat of my pulse
25000 tons Of water dashed at this
implacable ice barrier OF Niagara. only
to be hurleu back In defeat
Underneath that mass of ice the
real battle continued with even great.
er ferocity. That immense volume OF
water. urged relentle ssly from behind.
must get through. Battling, jamIning,
thrusting, shouldering. taking adj
vantage OF every loose joint, IL
fought in Is desperate endeavor to lift
the barrier ana escape to the sea.
There was no quarter asked or Civ
en- in that furious mysterious battle
under the ice Sometimes the weight
OF Ice scored and the river was tnrown
back. AS II did, II reared itself ire
slstibly upward Something had To
give. Usually the ice would rise. OF
violent breaking out of a weak spot
into a hillocS-iike mound.
II looked quiet on top. But along
the banks were houses and boats and
cement docks crushed like tissue pa