Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-11-29

many years can hardly appreciate its
beauties; with it's perpendicular
rocky cliffs hundred feet high, the
romantic ravines opening in from
the south, its rocks rOvered with
moss, It's wild flowers, creeping
vines and ferns, together with its
narrow roadway, with the river fol-
lowing along on the north, it will
always have charms for the lover of
" ture.
"a. Ssing the dam and driving the
lenA> As Main street, then north to
the TWO ns.idges. the tourist reaches
the new I'cs>N built largely through
the efforts On A~sCommercial Club,
the entire lengt* which gives one
view of the lowei> :, the narrow
valley to which / willH sfer later, and
a panoramic view of Decorah to the
south, all of which furnishes an at
tractive portion of the drive. On
this road is our Ice Cave, known the
world over for it's wonderful and un-
usual formations, and l might say
here that there may be possibilities
in the commercial use of this cave,
but this subject | will leave for
others to dwell on. All can say Is,
this cave has made Decorah known
to the world. Let us therefore, not
do anything to destroy its identity.
After short rest among the oaks
which overshadow this driveway,
you pass on to Dunning's Spring,
where, in order to see the beauty
of this spring, one should climb TO
its source, and there, in the cool of
the over hanging cliffs, drink OF its
crystal waters.
From this spring the driveway
takes you to Luther College, the
grand old college which has just
reached its half century mark, and
where thousands of students have
passed its portals, carrying the
name of Luther College and Decorah
TO all Parts of the country. And af-
ter drive over its campus the most
of which overlooks another part of
the Oneota valley, you can readily
understand with such beautiful
location, why Luther College could
produce so many noted men.
To find another drive that would
excel this, one would have to go far
beyond the borders Of Iowa. ard this
is only one of several beautiful
drives out from Decorah. Another
equally as attractive would be to
drive through Freeport to where the
back water of the new dam Is reach
ed, take boat and follow the river
to the dam which is now being built,
then a short walk through shady
path to the upper part of Lake
Oneota, where another boat trip
should be made of four miles in
length to the grove of The Pines,
near which the present dam has
been constructed. The drive and ride
by water will embrace a distance OF
some "a miles. Where else could
you find more beautiful scenery and
a more lovely valley than these trips
will afford? And q small expense
will make such possible win we
not earnestly carry out the plans
promulgated?
What more can we do to assist
nature in making Decorah more at
tractiye?
Permit me to look ahead few
years, ana in Imagination, paint a
Picture OF what moderate eXpendi
ture of money combined with artis-
tic taste can do. In the valley start
ing where the brook from Dunnings
Spring enters the river, an emDank-
ment has been erected about 20 feet
from the rivers north bank. Fol-
lowing the bank to the river down
near the Bernatz lower dam, on
which strip there has been planted
many forest trees TO protect the
embankment from the encroachment
of the river and shade the same,
then through the valley thus pro-
tected, canals and lagoons have been
made by dredging, beautiful islands
have been formed. rustic bridges
made which afford passage from
island to island. where shrubs and
flowers are sending their fragrance
on the breezy air, shady walks and
fountains OF cooling waters piped
from the spring, give comfort and
gladness to the visitors. On the
lagoons, small boats are being used
and In the water game fish like rain
how trout are being propagated,
while in the tree tops the songs of
forest birds are caroling their lays
and welcoming every one to this
lovely spot. All of which was made
possible by conveying the water
from Dunning's Spring through n
six inch pipe, forming q beautiful
cascade where it entered the lake