NIAGARA
IN SUMMER AND WINTER
THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPLETE COLLECTION OF VIEWS OF THIS SUPERB NATURAL WONDER EVER COMPILED
"IT IS GOD'S ORGAN
PLAYING FOREVER IN RICHEST DIAPASON THE HYMN OF THE AGES"
THE NICKLIS CO.
PUBLISHERS NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y.
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HERE IS nothing that the western hemisphere can present in the way of a natural wonder, sublime and surpassing in its beauty, that equals this gem in the diadem of nature, Niagara Falls.
No visitor, from Father Hennepin, the first white man who gazed upon the tumult and thunder of its waters, down to the present, who from bridge or bank or brink of precipice, has looked out over the ghost-like mists, the sparkling rainbows, the sloping splendor of greenish water as it rushes over the precipice, or the stupendous wonder of the Whirlpool Rapids, but has sung its praises, and told the story of its awesomeness and magnificence. The greatest masters of the English Tongue have sung its praises, have painted word-pictures that will live while the cataract itself lasts.
In this work there are presented, by the witchery of the art preservative, views of Niagara in Summer and Winter which depict its beauties more accurately than all the descriptions of the Falls that were ever written.
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A PROFILE OF AMERICAN FALL.—American Fall properly comprises two precipitating floods, for the stream, as it approaches the fearful brink, is divided by Luna Island and goes tumbling with increased velocity over the ledge at Centre Fall, on one side, and American Fall on the other. At the point shown in the picture above, the sheer descent is one hundred and fifty-nine feet, and the width is eleven hundred feet. The amount of water thus precipitated is computed to be two million five hundred thousand gallons per second.
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RAPIDS ABOVE THE FALL, AMERICAN SIDE.—This view represents the full breadth of the river, between the American shore and Goat Island, and the tumultuous character of the rapids on the American side. The bed of the Niagara River at this point is a succession of shelves, from which in many places large rocks project to within a few feet of the surface. As the river contracts and shallows it increases in velocity and becomes a seething cauldron, boiling, tossing, leaping and swirling in mad abandon and irresistible force.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM GOAT ISLAND.—Luna Island, the point of which is shown, cannot be reached by carriage, for it is accessible only by a foot bridge that connects it with Goat Island. It is a dainty little bit of soil and verdure, gradually wasting from the gnawing waters, and in another century it may be eaten away entirely. Goat Island, however, will remain, for it is both large and rugged, and from it a superb view of the American Fall may be obtained.
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VIEW OP AMERICAN FALL.—Niagara Falls at one time presented the spectacle of one solid wall of water emptying the entire river, but centuries of erosion have diverted the flow until now, and for many years beyond the memory of man, the cataract is divided into what are known as Horseshoe Fall and American Fall. It has fallen to the lot of the United States—because of the deeper channel that forms the boundry line between this country and Canada— to acquire a greater share of the Falls, as well also quite three-fourths of the islands in Niagara River.
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NIAGARA FALLS IN SUMMER.—Niagara Falls is between Lakes Erie and Ontario, distant about twenty miles from Buffalo. Niagara River has a total fall of three hundred and thirty feet, in the thirty-six miles of its course as follows: The smaller Rapids above the Falls, fifteen feet; the principal waterfall, one hundred and sixty feet; the large Rapids below, fifty-five feet, and from the Falls to Lewiston, through the gorge, one hundred feet. The summer time clothes the margins of the the Falls with beautiful verdure, and it is then that they are visited by the largest number of tourists, drawn to this wonder spot from all countries of the world.
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UPPER RAPIDS AND HORSESHOE FALL.—The Falls of Niagara may be viewed from a hundred different positions and yet each one will show some point of advantage, for the cataract and Rapids are so immense that they may not be comprehended in an hour's study, nor by a hasty view. The camera has caught in this picture an expanse of perspective that extends far beyond what are known as the Upper Rapids, and on the right shows how the waters are drawn to the crotch to make their plunge in greatest volume.
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HORSESHOE FALL.—This is a closer view of the Canadian or Horseshoe Fall. While it is called Horseshoe, the curve has little resemblance to a horseshoe; it has more the shape of an inverted letter "A". A magnificent rainbow is almost constantly playing across the face of the Fall, occasionally widening so that the whole sweep of its prismatic beauty covers the Fall like a projecting arch of glory. Looking upward at the massive, frowning cliff with the spray wetting our faces, the roar of the cataract is so great that it prevents communication save by signal and pantomime. The estimated depth of the water where it plunges over the precipice of the Horseshoe Fall is 20 feet.
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ON THE BRINK OF THE CANADIAN FALL.—Here, better than anywhere else, can be seen the angular shape of the Canadian Fall. The process of erosian is clearly visible in the angle near the left of the Fall, where the mighty onrush of the current has eaten away, bit by bit, the flint-like substance of the precipice. It is in this angle that the water, falling with the accumulated force upon a mass of rock half-way down the precipice, dashes itself back again as if in baffled rage at the obstacle. We are now viewing the Canadian Fall from the Canadian side. It is historic ground. A mile farther west, up the Niagara River, but within sound of the mighty roar of the Cataract, was fought, ninety-three years ago, on the 25th day of July, 1814, the battle of Lundy's Lane, between the British and American forces.
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BRIDGE TO GOAT ISLAND.—The Bridge to Goat Island is one of the sights of Niagara. It is a beautiful structure, and takes the place of several previous crude wooden affairs that served as passageways in the past three-quarters of a century. The first bridge was erected in 1817. It was carried away by the ice the following spring. Other bridges were erected in 1818, 1839, 1849 and 1856. The piers were formed first by building a massive abutment of timber on the water's edge, from which were projected enormously long and heavy beams of timber. These were secured by great piles of stone, and their outer ends rendered steady by stilts thrust into the bottom of the river. A platform was then built, loaded with stone and sunk, and on this a pier was built.
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THE THREE SISTER ISLANDS.—The Three Sister Islands are connected to Goat Island by bridges. They have witnessed many awesome sights since Niagara Falls first became known to the world. They are three beautiful little islands lying like emeralds on white velvet just above the Falls. Twenty-eight years ago William McCollough fell into the rapids near the second Sister Island. When about a quarter of the way down to the spot where he was to be hurled to death over the brink the current lodged him against a low ledge of rock, from which he was rescued by Conroy, a guide, who managed to reach the victim with a line.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM PROSPECT POINT.—A particularly expansive and impressive view is obtainable from a spot called Prospect Point, whence the mightiest sweep of the awe-compelling flood is both seen and best realized, for as the eye takes in the wonderful scene of nature in her most tumultuous mood, the ear is filled with an undying roar of the impetuous waters, and mists rise is if to hide its fury.
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TERRAPIN ROCK AND HORSESHOE FALL FROM GOAT ISLAND.—Standing on the extremity of Goat Island, there is presented an unsurpassed and strikingly artistic view of the famous Terrapin Rock and the Horseshoe Fall. The tiny bridge which spans the Rapids just above the Fall has one end resting on Goat Island and the other upon Terrapin Rock. A stone tower formerly stood on Terrapin Rock, which lies on the very brink of the Fall, seemingly as if in momentary danger of being swept into the vortex below. The ceaseless thunder of the waters, the vibration of their volume, and the constant dampness and mist rendered the tower dangerously unsafe, and it was removed about a quarter of a century ago.
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AT THE FOOT OF CENTRE FALL.—Centre Fall issues from between Luna and Goat Island, shown in the photograph. At the shore foot under the Fall is a place called Cave of the Winds, formed by thirty feet of projecting limestone that has resisted the action of the corroding waters while the shaly substratum directly under the ledge has been eaten away. The so-called cave is one hundred feet in height and sixty feet in depth, and can be reached by a perpendicular winding stairway from Goat Island. The cave derives its name from the constant pressure of atmosphere, caused by the reflex of the falling water, which resembles a storm of great violence.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM GOAT ISLAND.—Luna Island, the point of which is shown, cannot be reached by carriage, for it is accessible only by a foot bridge that connects it with Goat Island. It is a dainty little bit of soil and verdure, gradually wasting from the gnawing waters, and in another century it may be eaten away entirely. Goat Island, however, will remain, for it is both large and rugged, and from it a superb view of the American Fall may be obtained.
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THE FALLS BY MOONLIGHT.—Prospect Point, on the left, is one of the sublime beauty spots of Niagara, where the grandest panorama that mortal eye can look upon is spread to view. Picturesque as it appears in the daytime, the sight is infinitely more glorious when the scene is flooded with light from a full moon, for it is then that the waters flash with electric jubilation and dark shadows show the most amazing contrasts.
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A GRAND VIEW OF NIAGARA FALLS FROM THE CANADIAN SIDE
Inclined Railway
American Fall
Cave of the Winds
Goat Island
Canadian Fall
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BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF HORSESHOE FALL.—The Horseshoe or Canadian Fall extends from the Canadian shore to Goat Island, the width being estimated in round numbers at 2,500 feet. The perpendicular height of this Fall, is 158 feet, or 3 feet less than the American Fall, a discrepancy that is caused by the slope of the land. It has been roughly estimated that 1,350,000 cubic feet of water pass over these falls every minute. Near the center of the Fall there is presented a rare picture of Nature's beauty, in the shape of a gigantic plume of spray that dashes into the air for a hundred feet. It is caused by a portion of the Fall striking an immense mass of rock which in some former age was broken from the center of the precipice.
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RUSTIC BRIDGE TO WILLOW ISLAND.-A glimpse of rustic life in which the hand of man is plainly visible in contact with the hand of Nature is presented in this bridge in Willow Island. It spans a placid breath of the mighty river, and yet beneath these quiet, smiling waters, death lurks in the current. So it is all around here ; beneath the quietest surface there is moving always and ever, a current to which if one yields himself will carry him to certain death
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MAIN ENTRANCE TO PARK.—At the foot of Falls Street you enter the Park proper. On the right is the Park Commission Administration Building and through the trees can be seen the Inclined Railway Station. This picture was taken in the late autumn, when the scenery is particularly beautiful.
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LUNA ISLAND BRIDGE.-Another beautiful architectural structure is the bridge to Luna Island, which is adjacent to Goat Island. It was while climbing over the rocks directly udder this island that the only accident that ever occurred at Niagara by the falling of rock happened . Dr. Hungerford, of Troy, N. Y., was instantly killed by a mass of rock falling upon him, sixty years ago. From this island a superb view of the river below the Falls, the inclined railway, and in the distance the bridges, is to be obtained.
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AN ARTIST'S FANCY.—The companion pictures are reproductions of a painting by James Francis Brown, who uses the license of his profession to perpetuate a legend of the Niagara Indians, and to give embodiment to the spirit of the cataract. The ideas are distinctly poetic, as they are gracefully illustrated.
FACT AND FICTION.—Among the legends about Niagara, an interesting one represents the Indians as holding the spirit of the cataract in great awe and of sacrificing a maiden of the tribe annually by sending her over the Falls in a canoe laden with fruits of the earth and the chase, in the belief that such an offering would influence the spirit of the waters to favor the tribe in war and peace.
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DIXON CROSSING THE NIAGARA RIVER ON A TIGHT-ROPE.—Niagara has always held a fascination for those adventurous spirits who seek lasting or temporary fame from some unprecedented act of daring. The first to challenge the perils of Niagara Gorge was the famous tight-rope walker, Blondin. He first crossed the Gorge below the Falls on a rope stretched from cliff to cliff, in 1859. His rope was twelve hundred feet long. A year later he performed the same feat just below the railway Suspension Bridge. He crossed and recrossed, performing many daring feats. Since that time many others have succeeded in crossing the gorge on a rope. In 1876 Maria Spelterina not only equalled Blondin, but crossed on a rope wearing stilts. Dixon was the latest daring areialist to perform the feat represented above.
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UPPER STEEL ARCH BRIDGE.—Herewith is presented a view of the Upper Steel Arch Bridge, with the milling district in the distance. In this case the supporting arch is of double construction. It is a magnificent piece of engineering work, and is used for trolley traffic, passengers, and carriages. This bridge replaced the old Suspension Bridge, which was torn from its fastenings in the hurricane of January 10, 1889. On the floor of this bridge ther4 is not only a carriage way, but double tracks for trolley cars, and wide walks for pedestrians.
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THE LOWER STEEL ARCH BRIDGE.—What is known as the Gorge is crossed at its narrowed point by an arch bridge built in 1897 by the Grand Trunk Railway. The arch is of 550 feet span, and supports two roadways, the topmost for trains, and the lower for wagons. A fine view of the Rapids may be had from this bridge.
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CLOSER VIEW OF THE LOWER STEEL ARCH BRIDGE.—It seems almost incredible that the slender arch stretching from shore to shore could uphold the weight above it. A close inspection reveals the fact that it is a magnificent structure of steel erected upon scientific principles, as to tension, resisting power, and other technicalities, supporting great loads in safety above the stream. This bridge is a sample of the wonderful works of man.
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THE CANTILEVER BRIDGE.—The Cantilever Bridge was the second bridge of its kind to be erected in the United States. It was seven months and a half in building and was completed December 1, 1883. Its total length is 910 feet, and it is supported on steel towers which rise 130 feet from the piers on either side. The bridge is owned and operated by the Michigan Central Railroad. The bridge in the distance is The Lower Steel Arch Bridge.
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WHIRLPOOL RAPIDS ABOVE THE BRIDGE.—Upper Whirlpool Rapids are about three miles below the Falls, at a point where the gorge is so narrow that the vast flow of water is brought suddenly into a constricted space, which, by the rapid current is caused to leap fully thirty feet above the natural river level. The noise of this tossing, swirling, foaming struggle of maddened waters, decending at a grade of one hundred feet to the mile, and a depth of three hundred feet, is truly appalling as well as deafening. The canyon walls are not more than three hundred feet apart, and the rushing flow between them is at a speed of twenty seven miles an hour.
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A TROLLEY LINE TROUGH THE GORGE.—The ruggedness and picturesqueness of nature about Niagara Falls has been seriously modified by the arts of man, the latest invasion being the construction of a trolley line through the gorge, starting at Prospect Park and passing close to Whirlpool Rapids and the river until it reaches Queenston Heights. The ride is one of the sensations, of pleasure and of surprise, which sometimes approaches trepidation, as towering rocks, looming threateningly over the tracks cut through bluffs, produce a feeling of insecurity.
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THE DEVIL'S HOLE.—About three miles from the Falls, on the American Side, there is a chasm 200 feet wide, extending back at right angles about 600 feet from the edge of the River. In this ravine is located the "Devil's Hole." A stream finds its way to the river by this gulch, which bears the forbidding title of Bloody Run. It acquired its name from the fact that on the 14th of September, 1763, during the French and Indian War, a wagon train of British was ambushed near this spot. But one man of the ninety-six in the party escaped, the rest being slaughtered by the Seneca Indians. The little stream ran blood-red that day, and hence its title.
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THE WHIRLPOOL.—The Whirlpool is a mile below the Rapids. The popular conception of it is that of a maelstrom, a vortex of water swirling in gradually narrowing circles to a depressed centre. Instead the force of the water pouring into this basin raises it in the middle to a distance of three feet above the outer surface. The Whirlpool is the natural result of the mighty body of water rushing into a confined space and seeking an outlet. Bodies, driftwood, everything in fact that goes over the Falls, must eventually find its way to the Whirlpool, where, after circling for days, perhaps, it is either thrown out upon the bank or is carried by the outlet on down to where the River empties into Lake Ontario.
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GORGE OF THE NIAGARA RIVER.—Seven miles of the wildest beauty encompasses the river after it plunges from brink to bottom of the precipice. The Gorge of Niagara River extends from the Falls to Queenston, seven miles below. In the course of its tortuous and tumultuous winding it has an additional fall of 100 feet. The Gorge itself, worn through countless aeons of time as the cataract slowly retreated, is for the most part a perpendicular mass of rock. The chasm is winding, and at one point makes an abrupt turn to the right, and in this angle is found the famous Whirlpool. The Gorge is a perfect mine to the geologist, for here ready at hand is outlined on the eternal page of Nature the formation of the rock, a study of which tells the story of the Falls.
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THE BROCK MONUMENT.—This graceful shaft marks the site of the battle of Queenston Heights, October 13, 1812, where an American force of 2500 Militia and a regiment of Regulars attacked the British, under the command of General Isaac Brock. The Americans were defeated and their Commander, Col. Winfield Scott, was captured, and every commissioned officer was either killed or wounded. On the British side, General Brock lost his life and many an English soldier found his last resting-place near the historic banks of the Niagara River.
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THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE FROM QUEENSTOWN TO LEWISTON.--The Suspension Bridge over the Niagara River, above Lewiston, is 1050 feet long, and stretches 60 feet above the surface of the water. It was opened to the public in July, 1899. It is the only suspension bridge crossing the river, the others being constructed on the arch or cantilever principle. The bridge practically connects Lewiston on the American side and Queenstown, named after Queen Charlotte, on the Canadian side. The first Suspension Bridge at this point was erected in 1850, and was wrecked by a hurricane in 1865.
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PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS.—This time our faces turn northward. Stretching along the river and on the summit of the bluff are to be seen a few of the wonderful manufacturing establishments for which this city is noted. These industries draw their power from the source of Nature itself, the rushing waters of the river above the Falls.
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PANORAMA OF NIAGARA FALLS AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY
In the view before us we obtain a perfect geographical representation of the situation of Niagara Falls in its relation to the surrounding country. On the extreme
right is Buffalo on Lake Erie, and on the left is Toronto, on Lake Ontario, and between these two lakes is the greatest and most impressive natural wonder of America, Niagara Falls and the Gorge of the Niagara River. The Niagara River forms the outlet of Lake Erie, descending about 330 feet in its course of thirty-six miles, and affords a channel to a large part of the fresh water of the globe. Its current is swift for about two miles after leaving Lake Erie, but becomes more gentle as the channel widens and is divided into two parts by Grand Island. Below this island the stream is two-and-a-half miles wide.
About fifteen miles from Lake Erie the river narrows again and the rapids begin, flowing with ever-increasing speed until in the last three-quarters of a mile above the Falls they descend fifty-five feet and flow with immense velocity. On the brink of the Falls, where the river bends at right angles from west to north, the channel is again divided by Goat Island, which occupies about one-fourth of the entire width of the River. To the right of it is the American Fall, 1060 feet wide and 167 feet high, and to the left of it is the Canadian Fall, or Horseshoe Fall, 158 feet high, with a contour of 3010 feet. The volume of water which pours over the Falls is fifteen million cubic feet per minute, of which probably nine-tenths goes over the Canadian Fall. Below the Falls the river contracts to about 1200 feet, and rushes down, foaming and boiling, between lofty walls of rock. Two miles further down it is barely 800 feet wide, and at the Whirlpool the huge volume of water is compressed into a space of 250 feet. Within seven miles these lower rapids descend over 100 feet, but at Lewiston the river once more becomes wider and smoother. The best method of seeing the wonders of Niagara is by means of the superbly appointed cars of the "Great Gorge Route."
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THE MILLING DISTRICT.--In this view is presented a few of the waterfalls not made by nature, but created by the hand of man. Any one of these ribbon-like streaks of foam on the face of the rocky cliff anywhere else in the country would attract attention. They are dwarfed now by the majesty of the greater Falls. These streams are the result of draining the waters of Niagara River into gigantic sluice-ways and tunnels which drive immense masses of machinery to generate electricity and supply heat and power to the industries upon the upper crest of the Gorge.
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NIAGARA FALLS IN WINTER.—Niagara Falls is beautiful in its granduer during summer, but it is awesomely wonderful when winter forms vast ice-bridges below the tremendous Fall, and piles up, with paroxysm of impetuosity, marvelous ice formations that take on a thousand fantastic shapes, to astonish and charm the beholder.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM THE STEEL ARCH BRIDGE—WINTER.—The American Fall presents many unique features. In winter there are but three dominant colors in the landscape; the white of the snow and ice, the green of the thunderous waters and the brown of rock and precipice. In the above picture the foreground shows the ice jammed in shapeless masses and beyond, the rushing waters too irresistible for even the Ice King to hold.
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AN ICE MOUNTAIN AT THE FOOT OF AMERICAN FALL.—It was an exceptionally cold winter that produced the remarkable ice formation photographed above. The base of the mountain is cakes of ice that, having become detached above, come tumbling over the brink and gradually accumulate as the spray freezes as it falls upon them. Thereafter, the weather continuing severe, the mountain increases rapidly until it reaches more than half the height of the cataract, providing vantage points for visitors to observe more closely the grandest thing in nature.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM GOAT ISLAND—WINTER.—In the foreground and in the upper distance is presented all that there is of life and motion in this picture of what may be termed the Ice King's wrath. The tumbling torrent races past; the dashing spray turns to ice on either side; even the brink of the precipice is a jagged mass of crystal. It was in the torrent in the foreground that the mysterious Francis Abbott, the Hermit of the Falls, lost his life. He lived for two years on one of the islands in Niagara River above the Falls. No one knew whence he came. The waters fascinated him and in the end, one bright day in June, sixty-two years ago, they lured him to his death. A week afterward the torn and mangled body of the hermit was found at the mouth of the river and buried within sound of the Falls that he loved so well.
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TERRAPIN ROCK IN WINTER.—Let the reader of these lines, if he can, conjure up in imagination anything more wierdly beautiful than this view of Terrapin Rock in winter. The distant Falls are swathed in mist. The faraway Canadian bluffs are masses of silvery whiteness. The nearer foreground is a tangled mass of snow and ice and denuded foliage. Yet beneath this iron clasp of winter the torrent of Niagara rolls on unchecked, knowing no master, stayed by no barrier.
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CANADIAN FALL IN WINTER.—And now across the Ice Bridge the tourist takes his way to the Canadian side standing in the shelter of the overhanging precipice decorated with icicle and organ-pipe in clearest crystal, he look-j across at the majestic plunge of the Canadian Fall as it rushes over the ice bordered brink into the unknown depth, beneath. It is a repetition of the story in black and white; the culmination of artistic beauty; the work of a world builder.
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ICE FORMATION.—The ice formation presented in the above is reproduced here because of its unusual character. It is rare, even in the history of Niagara, that such a formation can be found. In the above the visitor in imagination can wander through the aisles and transepts of a great cathedral whose music is the anthem of the waters and whose organ peal the unending thunder of the cataract.
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A WINTER SCENE IN PROSPECT PARK.—Niagara has its largest patronage during the summer, for the convenience and comforts of travel are greatest at that season, hut the Falls and their surroundings are equally attractive when they are under the spell of severe frigidity. The Park is especially wonderful to see, when it is coated with heavy ice. The most beautiful and fantastic formations of nature sculpturing and crowning are to be seen during winter time. A spray rises continually from the Falls, that settles on the adjacent trees, where winter speedily chills it into crystal forms as various in shape as they are exquisite in appearance.
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THE ICE PALACE AT NIAGARA FALLS.—Ice palaces are not uncommon in northern latitudes, but nowhere else have they been built to show with such exquisite effects as at Niagara Falls. The one herewith illustrated, was erected on what is known as the State Reservation, and had dimensions of 160 x 120 feet. Its artistic design was marked, and being thoroughly wired for electric illumination, its beauty, especially at night, was almost unexampled.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM CAVE OF THE WINDS—WINTER—In this view of the American Fall from the Cave of the Winds, Nature appears to have exhausted herself in the rich carving of unchecked fancy. Everything from a massive dome to the slenderest needle-like etching of a stalactite is presented. There are alpine slopes, Alaskan glaciers, and Siberian wastes of desolation presented in this and the succeeding pictures. If the visitor to Niagara desires to have all the sublimity in his nature aroused by the weird and the wonderful, he need only stand in the Cave of the Winds and view the beauties that Nature has flung about him with lavish hand.
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AMERICAN FALL FROM BELOW—WINTER.—Niagara Falls in winter is as great an attraction as Niagara Falls in summer. In the above picture at the base of the Falls are piled up great masses of ice and snow which take the shapes of turrets and castles, of domes, spires and minarets. The formations are caused by the constant falling and freezing of the mists, that never for one instant of time are absent from the Falls.
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PROSPECT POINT IN WINTER.—Here again we stand upon the brink of the American Fall in winter at Prospect Park. The Falls take on a new beauty; it is unique because nothing like this is known in all the range of cataract and fall and torrent anywhere in the known world. Other great cataracts like that of Caroni River, in South America, or the Falls of the Zambesi, in distant Africa, are located in tropic climes beyond the clutch of the Ice King's eager fingers. Others, such perhaps as the great Falls of Labrador, may present sights as unusual as Niagara in winter, but less than a dozen pairs of Caucasian eyes have looked upon the tremendous volume of these rolling waters imprisoned in the heart of the distant North.
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PORTAL OF THE NIAGARA FALLS POWER CO. TUNNEL.—The water which the Niagara Falls Power Co. diverts from the river above is carried through a tunnel two hundred feet below the surface of the ground and is emptied into the river below the Falls with such force that it creates a current which extends half way across the river.
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THE NIAGARA FALLS POWER CO.—No trip to Niagara Falls is complete without a visit to one of the power houses. Ground was first broken for this plant on October 4, 1890, and power first delivered on August 26, 1895. Power Houses Nos. 1 and 2 are located one mile above the Falls on the American side of the river, they have a developed capacity of 110,000 h. p. This Company is allied with the Canadian Niagara Power Co., whose plant is located a short distance above the Horseshoe Fall on the Canadian side. It has a developed capacity of 50,000 h. p. with 60,000 h. p., additional capacity, under construction.
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INTERIOR OF POWERHOUSE. —The maximum output of the three Power Houses up-to-date is 90,000 h. p., of which 38,000 h. p. is delivered in Buffalo, the Tonawandas, Lockport, Olcott and Fort Erie, and 52,000 is used locally. The total output of the three plants for 1905 was 432,075,554 killowatt-hours— approximately 10 per cent of the aggregate output of all the central electric light and power stations in the United States. To produce this output by steam, it would require the daily consumption of 1,900 tons of coal.
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THE NIAGARA FRONTIER FISH AND GAME CLUB.—This club-house was erected in 1898, by a club composed of Niagara Falls business men and is situated on Niagara Falls Power Co's. property at the mouth of Gill Creek, about two miles above the Falls.
