A TEN YEAR'S RETROSPECT.

On March 25, 1908, the terms of the incumbent Commissioners will expire after a service of ten years on the part of three, and fourteen on the part of one of them. The work reported piecemeal from year to year during the period conveys an inadequate idea of what the State, through this Commission, has been doing here for the benefit not only of the people of the State, but also of the people of the world.

So much has been accomplished, however, in the restoration of natural conditions at Niagara and the making of improvements much needed for the public safety and enjoyment, that a retrospect of the past decade seems to be not inappropriate at this time. Such a review, it is hoped, will not only give the Legislature a connected idea of the physical changes effected, but will also indicate the well established lines of policy along which the Commission has acted.

THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.

The Administration Building in Prospect Park is the executive headquarters of the Reservation. Prior to 1901, the offices of the Commission had been for sixteen years in the old brick building on Green Island which had formerly served as the office of the Niagara Falls Paper Co. The location of that building was inconvenient and its size was inadequate to the needs of the administration. The present commodious but unobtrusive stone building near the Riverway was thrown open to the public on July 4, 1901. In addition to the offices of the administration. it contains spacious rooms for the accommodation of visitors.

REMOVAL OF BUILDINGS IN PROSPECT PARK.

The most important single class of improvements in Prospect Park measured by the effect upon the landscape, has been the removal of the unsightly structures which cluttered it up, obstructed the views, and made the very name of Prospect Park in a large degree a misnomer. Their removal, therefore, became a pre-requisite to other improvements. By the elimination of the

frame cottage and sheds at Gorge View, the row of wooden outhouses on the top of the cliff near by, the debris of the dancing hall destroyed by fire, the wooden residence, gate houses, refreshment booths, toll houses and summer houses, the sight has been relieved of many offences, new and beautiful vistas opened up, and the grove-like character of the park largely restored.

SURFACE AND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS IN PROSPECT PARK.

As the buildings were removed, not only were the artificial Excavations left by them filled and graded, but some natural and unwholesome depressions in the surftce were also leveled up. Notwithstanding the general elevation of Prospect Park, the topography of the northwestern portion was such that much of it was relatively low and wet, a condition as unsightly and inconvenient as it was unsanitary. This has been drained, filled, graded and sodded making a notable change in the appearance of the locality.

It may be remarked in passing that here, as elsewhere in the Reservation, many of the most notable improvements are not obvious to the casual visitor, who is unfamiliar with prior conditions, for the reason that in every instance an effort has been made to produce natural effects; and conditions which often appear always to have existed are, on the contrary, the product of the skill employed to remedy former artificial conditions.

The system of paths and drives in Prospect Park has also been materially altered, by the discontinuance of portions of old passageways and the building of new ones more eligibly located in their stead. These changes have greatly increased the accessibility of the Park.

GORGE VIEW.

At the northern extremity of the Reservation, adjoining the Suspension bridge, which, on account of the fine view of the Gorge below the Falls which it commands, is called Gorge View, the property line was formerly marked by a wire fence. This fence has been removed and in its place rustic stones have been placed at irregular intervals to mark the boundary. The surface