Niagara Falls 



1900 seen. It is every man for himself during the first trip, for it 

 Dunlap couldn't well be otherwise. It is a wild scramble, and there are 



always many spectators on the cliffs to watch the success of the 

 several aspirants for fame. Women, as well as men, endanger 

 their lives at this stage of the ice-bridge, and the names of the 

 leaders in crossing are usually heralded through the press, while 

 they also make an interesting record in the ice-bridge history. 

 Nothing in the world makes such a wonderful demonstration of 

 the power of small things when united, as do these Niagara ice- 

 bridges. At the point where the jams occur, the river is about one 

 thousand two hundred to one thousand five hundred feet across, 

 and the water in the channel has a depth of about one hundred 

 and ninety-four feet. Back of this water there is ever the force of 

 the falling water of the cataract, over which it is estimated that 

 fifteen million cubic feet of water pass every minute. It is this 

 stream, this current, this force of water, that these small particles 

 of ice-bridge span so firmly that thousands of people cross from 

 shore to shore on the mass, and even horses have been known to 

 cross and climb the ice-mound. Horses that have made this trip 

 have been brought down the path on the Canadian side of the 

 river and led across the ice-bridge and up the mound, owing to 

 the fact that there is no path to descend the cliff on the American 

 side of the river. 



During the period of their existence the ice-bridges undergo 

 wonderful changes. In the early stages the changes are fre- 

 quent. Very often the first bridge lasts but a few days, but if 

 the ice-bridge season is on, another bridge quickly takes its 

 place. After a substantial bridge has formed and there comes 

 a heavy floe of ice, the bridge is usually greatly strengthened. 

 The new ice lodges against the upper line of the bridge, fre- 

 quently building it away up to the foot of the Horseshoe or 

 Canadian Fall. The water in the lower river rises, and the 

 loose ice is swept over and on top of the bridge, changing its 

 formation entirely, and building a structure that will last for 

 weeks despite weather-changes. When this condition is reached, 



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