Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 73.djvu/307

Rh entirely within Canadian territory, as the boundary line will become uncovered, leaving a narrow strip of rock between Goat Island and the great cataract. If the full franchise be used, the American Falls, which are 1,000 feet across, will have their southern half drained, as in figure 7, and will be further broken up into narrow sheets or strings of water.

Any attempt at restoring either the American or the eastern side of the Canadian Falls, by deepening the channels on that side of the river, would increase the velocity of the currents above and cause an extraordinary demand on Lake Erie, the result of which would be the lowering of its level at an enormous cost. The same physical changes would subsequently take place in the Huron outlet as a consequence of the lowering of the Erie level. The artificial deepening of the channel would also increase the scour, not merely of the Niagara River, but also the St. Clair channel, which lies in deposits of sand and clay.

Until such time as the use of the water shall become imperative, the preservation of the International Park and the falls is a very small bit of luxury or extravagance compared with the value and cost of great city parks, or even one of them, such as the Central Park of New York. But there is also a commercial side to this question. The yearly number of visitors to Niagara varies from 600,000 to 1,200,000 and the expenditure in transportation and at the falls is estimated as reaching sometimes $25,000,000 in a single year, giving pleasure and recreation to many people over the whole country. Are these considerations to be set aside for the gain of a few companies, or for political purposes?

A limited amount of power can be used without detriment to the scenic effects. Under the Burton act, the two New York companies are at present restricted to a developed capacity which is about half their franchises. The Ontario Company's franchise has not been restricted, although their present plant is developed to only one third its prospective size (figure 8). The full use of their allowance will affect the falls to an even greater extent than the Chicago canal, and bring into prominence the impending disasters, after the full use of the water at Chicago. The most strenuous endeavors are being made to extend the spoliation of the falls to its utmost limit, and recently the Ontario Company has sought permission to harness even the Whirlpool Rapids, which are fifty-one feet in height and only a little less imposing than the falls themselves. This company desires to obtain from twenty to twenty-five per cent, of the flow of the river, or nearly 400,000 gross horse-power, besides the privilege of disfiguring the gorge by their structures, such as the one already placed below the falls, though this at present is only one third of its prospective size, as shown in figure 8. There are two other great power houses in the Canadian Park. Those