The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-05
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Especial Correspondents ArEusl
The Bride, the Groom and the Falls.
{ Special Correspondents of

/ Niagara Falls, n. Y. Oct g.
A question that has never beer
adequately answered is why sc
many brides and grooms see fit to
follow the plunge into matrimony
by inspecting the seething waters
of Niagara You can ask this aues-
| ton as often as you like and get a
| different slant on the subject every
time.
One plausible answer offered by
a Niagara Falls native of philo-
sophical bent is that a trip to the
! Falls is the standard American
| pilgrimage Once couple is
married, he explained. they settle
down to a prosaic domesticity and
there is less chance OF setting on
on the purely esthetic mission of
seeing Niagara. So the b. and e.
land at Niagara and do" the Falls
| conscientiously from as many
angles as. their finances and time
permit After that, they board a
train with look of peace on their
faces. They have seen the Falls
and in future conversations they
can hold their own safely with any
one who wants to talk travel.
This explanation perhaps was
based on premises a trifie oid-fash-
Toned The modern couple rarely
takes marriage to imply perman-
ent and total domesticity. Nor is
travel the formidable undertaking
that it was once.
a
honeymoons this way: You know
the Falls has fascination for lots
of people It's pretty well under
stood that when two people look
at the Falls they have to hold each
other tightly to keep from jump
ing in There's no other place that
/ know of that offers an opportun-
ity like that for honeymoon cou-
pies. Why, the Falls was made for
them" and the shop keeper wink
ed gaily and motioned toward
couple that had apparently chung
TO each other SO desperately on the
brink of the Falls that they hadn't,
been able to get apart There they
stood, cheek to cheek, gazing soul
fully at rack of postcards.
Tradition doubtless has had a
good deal to do with the annual
honeymoon stampede toward Mag
ara. And the atmosphere of the
Falls is an obvious reason for the
presence of bridal parties. The en-
tire pathway on either side of the
American Falls for some distance
is an unbroken series of lovers re-
Thorn iS nj ~
with lots of benches and shrubbery
and the roar of the Falls just suit
ably loud enough to keep outsiders
from hearing remarks meant for
two only. Doubtless Niagara cops
are lenient TO spooners.
The Speeches. Spectator.
There is not, on the whole, a
great deal of conversation going on
around the Falls. 1t is interesting
to note that people do not stand
on the brink and burst into rhap-
sodies. For some reason, the
American vocabulary doesn't go far
here. Almost all the language peo-
pie can extract to fit the view is
that it's beautiful or wonderful,
and, occasionally, Amt it grand ,"
with the swift answer from the
other half of the couple, at sure
is"
The Falls has always rendered
people inarticulate Seventy-ive
years ago our grandmothers and
grandfathers, who pronounced it !
Ni-a-gay-ra Falls, with the accent
on the gay, were standing at the !
edge of the same rapids in the fall |
models of 1850-panniers, hoops, !
beaver hats, and verything-using
the already hoary formula: Isn't
it wonderfuI?''
We have been told that the fixed |
rule of Niagara for a honeymoon !
has of late years become less arbi-
trary. other points of interest rival-i
ing the Falls in attractiveneSS.
This may be so, but a casual count |
weuld show that about every other
couple that may be seen wander
ing about near the Falls bears all
the earnlarkS of being just hitched
Their shoes are new, under the Nj
lgara Falls dust And their ex-
pressions of beatifc calm likewise
have the look of being new.
Except for these honeymooners,
who are mostly in a state of sus-
pended animation, the chief amuse-
nents of Americans while drink
ing in the Falls are chewing gum
and taking snapshots. At some
vantage point it may be said with
put too much exaggeration that the
lick of the cameras rivals the roar
IF the Falls.
People who are at first glance
in the size of the spec
.acle sometimes get a clearer idea
Of the vastness Of Niagara when