establish a contractual relation. The latter gave it as his opinion that such action by the Commission would not establish such contractual relation, the relations between the Company and the State being established by law and beyond the Commissioner's power, either to contract or to impair.

Fortified by the opinion of the Attorney-General, the Commissioners proceeded to complete arrangements for a suitable electric installation. In 1903, three electrolisis-proof main conduits had been laid in cement with suitable manholes, extending from Port Day, the easterly end of the Reservation to the Administration Building in Prospect Park. In 1905, pursuant to arrangements with the Niagara Falls Power Company, that company laid in the conduits electric cables of sufficient capacity not only to supply power to the inclined railway but also to supply at least 100 200-candle-power lights for the illumination of the Reservation, and agreed to execute a bill of sale to the State for the nominal sum of one dollar.

In 1907, suitable converters were installed, and ninety-five clusters of six 32-candle-power lights erected in Prospect Park and along the riverway, all wires being concealed in underground conduits. At the writing of this report, the system is undergoing a thirty-day test, prior to acceptance, with apparently satisfactory, results.

It is not wise to extend this system to Goat Island on account of the impossibility of policing the island at night, and visitors accordingly are excluded from the island during the hours of darkness; but the lights in Prospect Park have made that portion of the Reservation entirely safe and available for visitors after sundown and greatly increased the opportunity for public enjoyment of the Reservation.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

In 1905 an independent system of telephones was installed upon the Reservation, connecting the Administration Building with the Inclined Railway, Green Island, the Cave of the Winds, Horseshoe Fall, and Three Sister Islands, aiding materially in policing the Reservation.

WATER SYSTEM.

An adequate system of water pipes for the grounds and buildings has been installed, with drinking fountains and hydrants in various parts of the Reservation.

RIVERWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

Several important improvements have been made in the marginal street extending along the eastern side of the Reservation from the International Bridge to Port Day, a distance of about a mile and a quarter, and called Riverway. This scenic driveway, commanding a superb view of the river, lies within the limits of the Reservation and is subject to its control.

The most notable improvement in some respects is the electric car line running through Riverway from Falls street to the International Bridge, which the Commissioners considered desirable for the convenience and protection of visitors. Its operation between the points mentioned is under the absolute control of the Superintendent of the Reservation, and it is believed to afford a unique method of meeting the problem of electric roads in public parks.

The track was built and paid for by the Niagara Falls and Suspension Bridge Railroad (now the International Railway) under the supervision of this Commission and is leased to that company under a revocable license, at a rental of $1,000 a year. The railway company is being reimbursed by the State at the rate of its annual rental and the tracks belong to the State. On September 16, 1907, there was $1,158 due to the railway. After that sum is reimbursed, the railway will pay to the State $1,000 a year during the continuance of its lease. The license expressly provides that it in no way limits the Commissioner's rights to license other companies to use the same track.

Passing to the southward, almost every feature of Riverway has been improved during the last decade. Unsightly frame structures have been removed; the roadway graded and surfaced; sidewalks laid; new paths opened, the remaining area graded, sodded, and planted with shrubs and trees; the shore filled in at places, enlarging the land area and restoring approximately the original shore line; the artificial retaining wall below Fourth