A DARING FEAT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 927, 21 September 1910, Page 7

A DARING FEAT.

THROUGH NIAGARA RAPIDS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. ■. (Rec. September 20, 9 p.m.) : - Ottawa,; September 19. - Captain Klaus Larsen, in a motorboat, went from the:foot of Niagara Cataract'through, the whirlpool'rapids, a. distance of four and a half miles, to Lewiston. .. With- the. exception: of the Maid -of the :Mist in .1864, Captain 1 Larsen's craft alone Has, -accomplished the ; feat. Tho' authorities . threatened to prohibit the attempt .on; the ground' of attempted suicide. '■'-. ; 5' - -. - THE FALLS DESCRIBED. ... The Niagara River separates the State of ; New York, U.S., from: the province of Ontario, Canada, and flows 'N. from Lake Erie ~to . Lake Ontario,'a. distance of 3G miles; making a total - descent - of : 333. feet,; In its>upper courseof Utiles' it is. navigablethough impeded ; bymany-' islands, its average depth being 25' feet;, and its fair only 20 feet. : Below the celebrated Falls it ' is again navigable from Lewiston to. Lake- Ontario,, a-distance of eight miles, in which- its.'fall, is?only, two feet,; and : its, depthvaries /from -100 bo ; jISO feet. On the Canadian side the Wel.land. Canal connects tho navigation 'of-' the upper and lower course,', which is interrupted by the Rapids and Falls. At Grand Island; about miles above the Falls, .the river is. nearly three : .: miles broad, but subsequently'it contracts into a narrow, current, and.for about a mile before it:makes the final leap .it descends 52-, feet' m a. series "of foaming rapids. Goat Island, with an area. of 70 acres' and an elevation of ,40 ; feet/, hanging- on.' the very brink,, separates', the. river-.into' two cataracts. On tho Canadian side is the . great ; Horse-Shoe- Fall, (500 yards broad and:. 150 feet high. .The ' American' Fall is 14 -feet higher, .but has only " at breadth of :,some 220; yards. , What makes the Falls, unique' is..the: immense :volume of.- the" river, some: two million tons' ofwater being hurled over the ledge every minute, with a roar that air;for several miles.;-'After!its. magnificent leap the river has a descent of 104 feet in its course to Lewiston flowing through a deep, precipitous gorge,' varying in width from .200; to 400 feet, andaccessible- only .by .. stairways.:' - About three miles below, the Palls is a violent I eddy known as the r "Whirlpool." The Falls are gradually receding, and accord- ' in? to the-.surveys-.(1842-1890). ; .in'v 7000 yeare' time- the. will be ' worn away j back to Lake Erie.. .The age "of tho Falls 1 is estimated at over. 7000 . yeara. •