REPORT. To the Honorable The Legislature of the State of New York: The Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara have the honor to submit herewith their annual report for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1909, as required by law. The most interesting features of the history of the State Reservation at Niagara for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1909, were the construction of the new elevator in Prospect Park, authorized by the Legislature in chapter 212 of the Laws of 1908, to take the place of the old inclined railway; the ice jams which occurred in the months of February and April and which attracted the attention of observers and writers from all parts of the country; the ratification by the Senate of the United States of a proposed treaty between Great Britain and the United States referring to the use of the boundary waters between Canada and the United States which unfortunately failed of approval on the part of Great Britain; the extension for a term of two years of the Burton Law enacted in 1906 for the preservation of Niagara Falls and for the control and regulation of the use of the waters of the Niagara river; and the presentation to the Secretary of War on April 5, 1909, of the reports prepared by the committee of landscape architects and others appointed by the secretary in 1907 to study conditions at the Falls with a view of improving the scenic aspect on the American side of the Niagara Gorge, which has since resulted in a recommendation by the Secretary of War relating to the establishment of a national park at Niagara Falls. UNPRECEDENTED ICE CONDITIONS AT NIAGARA. Perhaps never before in the recorded history of the State have such remarkable conditions existed at Niagara as when twice during the past spring the voice of the Falls was silenced and the river filled with ice almost from shore to shore. About the middle of February a strong east wind which blew inabated for several days drove back the waters of Lake Erie and of the rapids above the falls. As a result great floes of ice which had been brought down from Lake Erie piled one above the other until the American Falls became practically icebound and instead of the mighty cataract only small streams of water broke through the ice and fell over the precipice. The bed of the river was dry in many places and only a few feet deep in others, and great rocks which had probably never before been uncovered were exposd to view and added to the wonder and majesty of the scene. Great masses of ice became wedged in the bed of the river, forming a huge ice-wall which extended from Goat Island to the bank on the American side and far out into the Canadian channel. The view from Goat Island was of a long stretch of ice covered with hillocks and hummocks many feet in height. The Canadian Fall was also much affected by the ice, both sides of the Horseshoe being blocked with walls of ice so that only in the center of the cataract could the water force itself through, and that in greatly diminished volume. Thousands of visitors thronged the banks to witness the wonderful and awe-inspiring spectacle of a dry Niagara, and hundreds ventured out upon the rocks or the ice bridge in spite of the warnings of the officers on the Reservation. Superintendent Perry had a force of policemen stationed along the banks striving to keep the people off of the bed of the river and signs were placed in conspicuous places on the Reservation calling the attention of visitors to the danger of attempting to cross the river on the ice. It was feared that the wind might change suddenly, causing the water to flow more freely over the Falls, in which event the ice floes would become dislodged and float down the river. All along the Gorge to Lewiston similar conditions prevailed and the fierce current of the Rapids was for once robbed of half its strength. Perhaps to the people of Niagara Falls, at least, the most impressive aspect of the whole occurrence was the sudden hushing of the deep and ceaseless sound of the rushirg waters which is so constant and familiar as to be almost unnoticed by those who hear it by day and night. The plants of the various power companies along the river were considerably crippled as the result of the diminished quantity of water in the river. |