Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1911-06-28

These words were written before
the full diversion authorized by the
Burton bill had been effected. To
day conditions are worse than they
we're at the time of this report, and If
the bold attempt to increase the skin
ming of the falls by % per cent. on the
American side, and to double it on the
Canadian side, should be allowed to
slip through without check, it is the
opinion of experts that a considerable
portion of the Horseshoe fall just be-
yond Terrapin point, and well within
the American boundary line. would be
dried UP altogether.
Rocks Barely Covered.
Even today with the possible maxi
mum limit not yet being distracted,
keen observers have noticed that hun
dreds of feet of rock here and there
along the break of Horseshoe fall are
barely covered with water. The
Bridal Veil is considerably lessened in
volume, and those who have visited
the fall most recently have not been
able to avoid commenting on this fact.
Portions of the rapids have also been
affected and have lost a good deal of
their former impressiveness.
Those who have calculated that
diversion of rs per cent. would not
materially change the form of the cat
aract to the eyes have been basing
their figures on the erroneous theory,
SO 1t is asserted, that the falls of Nj
agara are like canal, with an even
depth and a smooth bottom and sides.
Nothing could be fu- ther from the
truth. The wild glory" of the falls
results, not entirely from the er-
roneous amount of water pIunging
over the great natural dam, but from
the uneven character of the bed of the
river, set with boulders, and also from
the jagged edge of the cliff over which
the surplus from four great lakes tum-
bles hundred and sixty feet into the
rugged cauldron below Fortunately,
for the power companies, the amount
of water so far diverted for manufac-
turing purposes has not been notice
able, but the fact remains that every
further diversion, no matter how
slight, will increase the risk of ruin
ing the falls forever.
In connection with their study of
the Niagara situation, the government
engineers discovered that the water
in the great lakes is not a constant
quantity. but that it apparently in
creases and diminishes in recurring
cycles of high and low. Between 1864
and 1874, for example, the water OF
the great lakes was materially lower
than it is today. Between 1874 and
1886 it reached the highest recorded
points. From 1885 on during the next
decade there was a drop, reaching It's
minimum in 1895, and since then there
has been a gradual rise to a summit
point in 1908. 1t looks, therefore, as
if another recession of the waters had
just started, and as this cycle of low
water develops it is well within the
bounds of possibility that parts of the
American rapids will lose much OF
their beauty, and that parts of the
Horseshoe fall may be likewise seri
ously damaged. The fact that the
large power developments have taken
place during the period of the up
ward tendency of the water has made
the results Of the drains upon the falls
less disastrous, for the simple reason
that there was more water passing
over the falls than the average mean.
1t is with a full realization of the
situation outlined above that the
American Civic association has under.
taken a campaign which, if successful,
should result in the lasting preserva.
ton of the falls to the real owners"
the American people.