Preservation of the Falls 



have the indescribable pleasure of seeing, Niagara Falls, is 1914 

 entirely distinct testimony to the popular appreciation of the Dow 

 unique value of the great scene as a national possession. 



To the satisfaction that comes from the consciousness of work 

 well done and well approved may, in this case, be added the 

 satisfaction arising out of the very importance of the trust imposed. 

 The Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, as 

 servants of the people of New York, are trustees not merely for 

 New York and the United States but for all mankind. The 

 realization of the extent of this trusteeship was very forcibly 

 impressed upon the author by an incident which occurred when 

 the Imperial Chinese High Commissioner, the Viceroy, Tuan 

 Fang, visited the Falls several years ago. The distinguished 

 oriental statesman viewed the various scenes about the Falls with 

 apparent interest, but for some time with no more evidence of 

 enthusiasm than courtesy might dictate. When, however, he came 

 to the head of the Second Sister Island which commands a sweep- 

 ing view of the tumultuous rapids above the Horseshoe Fall, his 

 stoical reserve vanished. Flis emotions seemed to overpower him. 

 He shook his own hands, raised himself several times on tiptoe, 

 all the while uttering exclamations of the greatest delight. Asked 

 later to write his name and a sentiment in a visitors' book, he 

 wrote in ancient classical characters, '* This is the most beautiful 

 water landscape under the heavens." 



When we compare this with the similar expression of the dis- 

 tinguished American author, Henry James, who said, " You 

 stand steeped in long looks at the most beautiful object in the 

 world; ' and with the remark of another equally distinguished 

 American author, Charles Dudley Warner, who said, " The 

 walk about Goat Island at Niagara Falls is probably unsurpassed 

 in the world for wonder and beauty," we realize that Niagara 

 appeals to something which exists universally in the human breast 

 and that it speaks in a language equally understood by all peoples. 



Though the past has contributed much, it must not be supposed 



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