PASSING OF THE GOWB01
rnced-It Stnoliii Smiths a Fiotnriiqoa
Character of th West.
FEW BRONCHO BUSTERS ON THE PLAINS
Modern War of Carina- for
Trnnnftirms the Covrtioy of
Into an Ordinary lllrcil
Man.
Cottle
Old
Tho announcement that the ownership of ' and Is known to all as "John Brown's
tbo Ogalnlla rango In Wyoming has been Body;" "Naucy Till," "The Moon Behind
convertod Into a stock company, that Its J tho Hill." "Sweet Evelina" and "I'm Uncle
lands will bo fenced and that hereafter the Sam, the Yankeo."
cattlo will be fed In winter, Is more slgnlfl- Mr. Bishop Is the only ono left of a group
ennt than It would appear to one not thor-1 of great minstrel song writers. The com
oughly familiar with tho conditions of tho rades of his youth Dan Emmett, the au-
cattlo business In the wot. In fact It may
be sttld to mark the cloco of or.e era and thu
beginning of another In tho history of enw
punchlng, Tho Ogalalla la tho largest of tho open
ranges north of Texas, and from It are j
shipped tens of thousands of cattle to the
Chicago market every year. It comprises
a section of country ns large as an eastern'
state, and Its manager, Illlly Irvine, Is ono
of the cleverest cattlemen In the uorthweU,
and Is knoun personally or by reputation
to everybody west of tho Missouri. The '
fact that It has been found necessary to
chnnfto the system on which this range has
been operatod successfully for many ytnrs '
proves conclusively that tho 'old order la.
passing uway.
How great arc tho changes which this will
involve one may understand on a little re-
flection. First of all It means the readjust-'
ment of the cattle huslnetd on n new and
firmer basis. For years, In fact ever since
tho first bunch of cattlo, abandoned to their
fate lu a Colorado blizzard, were found to
have survlted the winter, the raining of cat
tlo on tlfo western plains has been an occu
pation In which chance has played a promi
nent rart. The Idea of providing feed to
carry ttio herds through winter storms was
never seriously considered. If a protracted
blizzard came on and killed off 10,000 bend
of stock the ranchmen bore the blow with
equanimity, rewarding it ns a, dispensation
of 1'rovldcncu against which It was lmpos- The organ grinder played tho tune over
stble to prpvldc protection. If an extended dozen times and then the neighbors began
drouth dried up tho water holes and parched to complain. Tho organ grinder was or
tbo plains and left the uhltoiilng bones of . 'lortd awny. lJUhop protested. He told
thousands of beeves as tha tcrrlblo record '
of death from thirst, ha charged It to hla
profit anil loss account and telled on better
luck in other seasons to mako the balance
on tbo tight nldt, Ono season In every
three was regularly counted on as a bad
one, but the practically unlimited free range
nnd the high prices of beef made the profits
of favorable years enormous. These were
the days of tho "cattle barons," who never
know within a good muny thousands how
many heads of stock they actually owned.
If a succession of bad seasons wiped out a
man'c entire herd ho cnuld buy a few hun
dred head on credit and start out again
with the practical certainty that In a few
years be would be back In his old position.
ChuiiKcd Condition.
During rocont years, however, condition.'
have been gradually changing, Herds mm
tlpiled until the ranges began to crowd
ono another. Homesteaders nocked In, took
up choice quarter sections and fenced them
off. The rapid Increase lu production
brought down the prlco of beef and cur
Ulled profits to tho point whero a bad
eason meant ruin for a cattle owner. Five
year ago the cattle business was almost
completely doraorajlred and the ownoss of
herds were hard Hp. Then'r Hemo- of them
began to send their cattle down into Ne
braska and Kansas, where corn wan plenti
ful and cheap at the beginning of winter,
nd. to feed them tor a month or two there
beforo sending them to market. The price
of cornfed beef was so much hlghor than
that of cattle direct from the rango that a
good many men have made comfortable for
tunes within the last few years by build
ing feed lots and acting at middlemen bc-
rt
twueu the range owners nud the puckers.
The woro progressive cattlemen hove token
a leaf out of the feed lot owner's book and
have lately begun the practice of feeding
their herds tberaselvei. It became neces
sary for cattle raisers to own their own
.t i t. ihnm in n. .1 nrotee.ilon
aKnlnat Intruders. Under these conditions
the business has revived until it Is again
. ..,i.,in onn.ii.in,, h it u v verv
different business from what It was In the
nM iiavs The cattlemen themselves agree i
that tho raising of beef on tho western
plains will never again be conducted in
the old haphazard, reckless way and they
add that they are glad ot it. It was not
pleasant any more that It was profitable
to see cattlo frozen to death by hundreds
and to watch the swollen bodies and pro
truding tongues that told of the terrible
destruction of thirst. Artesian wells, nlfalfa
nnd corn have made existence a deal more
endurable for cattle on the plains and have
dine away with much ot the cruelty that
one. "'s Inseparable from tho business.
But the new conditions under which cattle
raising Is carried on have produced other
changes. One of the most noteworthy of
these is the transformation in the position
and eatate ot the cowboy himself. The sub
stitution of borted-wlre fences and winter
feed-Iota for the open range clrcumacrlbo
mightily the activities ot the free riders ot
the plains. 8lnce the cattle cannot stray
beyond the boundary ot the fenced-in rango
(hero wltl be small danger of stampedes;
the necessity for cutting out cattle from
herds to which they do not btlong; for Us-
soolng strays to inspect their brands and
indeed the need of branding, itself will nil
be dono away with. From being a wild, un
trammeled lord of the plains, a broncho
bustlcg, gun-wleldlng, man-eating paragon,
the cowboy Is rapidly descending to the
commonplace position of a feeder ot cattle,
and will soon enjoy a status not unlike tho
"hired man" ot the eastern states. He Is
losing In ptcturesqueness, although he is
more than likely to gain In usefulness to
himself and to the community at large.
Gone bnt Not Fortiottrn.
Already the old order Is almost obsolote,
The Ilem'ngton cowboy U fast passing away,
The hero of the saddle who spent his days
and nights In mad rldos across the prairie
before frenzied herds, In breaking the spirit
at holl-lnSDired broncho and In fmlnrlnr
v .7 .v. 7 . m
an uuu.uuc&abie thirst for red liquor and
A Last Minstrel is He
It Is fifty years since T. Ilrlgham Bishop
wrote the melody which we now know as
"When Johnny Cornea Marching Home."
Since then his songs have been popular
throughout the length and breadth of the
country, relates tbo New York Sun. Among
the best known of these are: "Kitty Welle,"
which as one of the sweetest of all sad
melodies; "I'rctty As a Picture," "Shoo
Fly," "If Your Foot Is Pretty, Show It,"
"Olory, Glory Hallelujah," the music of
which was borrowed by Julia Ward Howe
for her "Battlo Hymn of tbo Ueoubllc."
thor of "Dixie;" Stephen Foster, who wroto
"The Suwoncn Itlvcr;" Nelson Kneasg,
composer of tho music of "Don Holt;" B.
I'. Christy, tho originator of minstrelsy, nnd
I. S. Gllmorc, the liudcr all are gone. Mr.
Illshop Is stilt vigorous and healthy and
carries his 00 years as lightly as ho car
rlcd his knapsack In the civil war. He has
had a varied career. Ho began life as a
music teacher and was successively min
strel, soldier, cornctlst In Gllmore's band,
publisher and, lastly, banker.
He Is nnd always was an enthusiastic
lover of music. He once gave his last
money to got nn organ grinder to play over
and over again his favorite song, "Annlo
Laurie." It happened In this way. Early
In tho '.")0i when Chicago was a small
town, nishop went there to teach tho guitar
and mandolin. He tried hard, but couldn't
gut a pupil. His money was going out ami
pone was coining In. He was In despair
and down to his last coin, a 50-cent piece.
While brooding over his lack nf luck an
organ grinder appeared beneath the window
of his studio and began to play "Annie
I.nurlc." Tho music tcacber'n heart for
got Its sorrow He leaned far out of his
window and asked the organ grinder If he
would encore that tune for nn hour for CO
cents. The mnn said be would. Bishop
threw him the money all ho had.
t objectors that he had engaged the mau
to play for an hour and an hour he would
havo to play. Tho objectors grew so strong
and numerous that Illshop consented to dis
miss tho organ grinder If tho crowd which
had gathered would drop something Into
the musician's hat. All were so eager to
got rid of him that they were very gener
ous In their offerings and ns a result the
astonished man found more than $20 In his
hat. He wont away delighted.
But Bishop's laflt cent was gone. He had
scarcely time to worry over it when a
newspaper man who had witnessed tho af
fair congratulated him, saying be had given
him n story. The pair took a walk to talk
tho article over and stepped Into. a. saloon
to complete It. There In a corner sat a
lollnlst, Dan Emmet, the author of
Dixie," and a pianist, Nelson Kncass, the
, jmposer of "Ben Bolt." There in the
corner the newspaper story was concocted.
Tho article appeared on the following day
nnd It proved a boom for the man who went
broko on "Annlo Laurie." In less than a
week Bishop had to decline to tako more
pupils.
Bishop wrote a great variety of songs.
He could be comic, sentimental, patriotic,
gore,, is almost as completely extinct as the!
dodo. Only the few caged specimens of tho
Wild West show rcmulu to reveal to us the
simon-pure cowboy, as bo was In tho days
when tho great west was wild and woolly.
Today tho woolltness Is entirely worn oft
from western civilization except In a fov
isolated spots, and the wildness Is almost'
A Sie.U IU j.'.jl'r.Ll ml.VNl)
completely confined to pen artists and the
writers of novels.
The twentieth crntury cowboy Is an ex-
tremely roatter-ot-fact young man who re-
gards hla. business In a wholly serious light,
who works hard throughout tho greater part
of the year, who Is by no means fond of
bloodshed and who gets drunk no more fre-
quentljr than somo of his eastern portray-
ctk. At a species he Is thoroughly healthy.
manly and ordorly, and an reasonably happy
as most of us can hope to be. Greater la-
mlllarlty with civilization and less complete
Isolation from hla fellow citizens have made 1
the cowboy of today a more agreeable per
son to lire with than he was of yore. The
desperado has been eliminated while the
man has remained.
There Is no doubt that, In the old days 1
the typical cowboy was worthy of all that
has been written of him. Twenty vrars I
- A ...l.,t ....I.. I
" w-M-ii . " mii'iiv. ui iuk
plaint from the Texas panhandle, to the Bid j
THE OMAHA DAILY EE: rl HUHSDAY,
heroic. "Shoo Fly," ono of his greatest
hits, was wrlttet, during the war. He was
assigned to command a company of colored
soldiers and did not altogether relish the
Job. One day he heard a. colored scldlcr
ask a pnrtner how ne felt. The latter said;
"I'se fcclln' like a mo'nlng etar." The
other said: "Well, I feel like a frog that's
lost Its ma." A colored listener overheard
the remarks and said somewhat disgust
edly: "Ah, shoo fly; don't bother rae."
Bishop caught at the exclamation as If It
were on Inspiration. Then he wrote the
song about the members of the despised
Company G. He taught It to his soldlcrj
and It went llko wildfire. In a short while
bis command was the most popular in the
regiment nnd every night the soldiers
would crowd around his tent to hear his
darkles sing, His audiences grew so largo
that one night when an extra minstrel en
tertainment was given 60,000 soldiers, the
army of the Cumberland, Joined In the
chorus, The eong wr.s pirated and Bishop
profited very llttlo from Its sale.
In those times songs were not published
ns readily ns they are today and were often
nung by tho minstrels for months nnd
sometimes yenra beforo they appeared In
print. Thus It frequently occurred that
songs wcro sold by singers who had learned
them, they posing ns tho authors nnd thus
defrauding the real creators.
"Sv.eot Evelina" was thus at largo for
years. Then Bishop sold It to E. P.
Christy for $5. It made $50,000. "8wcet
Evelina," which was simply a tuneful love
song, became an army favorite during tho
war nnd It was tho only tune that tho con
federate cavalry leader, Colonel J. E. II.
Stuart, would over permit to be played In
his presence. He had two troopers who had
been minstrels before the breaking
out of the war. They were expert banjo
Ists and furnished the spectaclo of two min
strels on horseback at thu head of a march
ing column, singing and twanging their
Instruments to the tune of "Sweet
Evelina, dear Evelina, my love for thu
thee shall never, never dlo."
Illshop found the poem "Kitty Wells" In
an old newspaper. It was written by
Chnrles Slnde. Bishop set the poem to
music and eang It throughout tho country
He then leurned that It was published with
another melody and ceased using his ver
sion. Ten years later he learned that S. T.
Gordon hail published his version. He wrolo
for an explanation and was told that hla
was tho melody tho public wanted. Gor
don unhesitatingly paid all royalties.
Tho poem of "Leaf by Leaf the Roses
Fall" wns also found In an old newspaper.
Caroline Dana Howe wroto tho verses. It
was sot to music by several composers.
Frod Buckley of Buckley's Serenaders was
ono, and ho sang his own setting in all
his entertainments. But when he hoard
Bishop's music ho straightway discarded
his own and helped considerably to make
tho latter' music popular. Mr. Bishop tolls
tills little story of how the song found Its
way into print:
" 'Leaf by Leaf was afloat for seven
years," ho says. "One day while In Cin
cinnati I called on John Church. He was
an old friend. I had known him very well
when ho was a clerk for Dltson & Co. In
Do3ton. I was chatting with him In tho
ofllco when a clerk came In and said that
a lady was asking for 'Leaf by Leaf,' but
she said tho one on sale was not tho right
one. The words were there, but the music
wns not. The clerk said there had been
many similar complaints. Church askod
ran It I know anything about the song. I
Lands of Montana. He lived out of doors
and out of sight of human habitation lor
eleven-twelfths of the year. All of his
waking and somo of his sleeping hours
wcro spent In tho enddlo. His only com
panions were the herds ho tended and his
fellow cowpunchers. Ho wns a law unto
himself because no other law was there.
Ho spent his money on silver-mounted
saddles, gorgeous headgear and nt rare In-
tervals on vlllutnous liquor and "fixod"
faro layouts because theso were his only
necessities and his only possible luxutlfB.
It Is cot surprising under these clrcum-
stances that tho strongest possible tribal
feeling was developed in the cattlemen,
It Is not surprising that they wore their
Runs In convenient positions and beeamo
accustomed to hanging cuttle "rustlers" as
a matter of course. Jails wore not nunic
CALF BRANDING.
ous In the old days In the plains country
and the six-shooter was the only police-
man. It Is not surprising either that on
their infrequent visits to thosi frontier
settlements which were entitled to a place
on tho map by virtue of the possession of
numerous saloons and a graveyard apiece
they yielded to an uncontrollable desire to
paint the town. As tbo Inevitable result
nt hltvini- halri Hnivn Ihm faiv vilua tnr I
- -v.
long a time It became necessary to blow off
ramous Sonjrs of
T. Briffham Bishop.
told him that on my travels I had been
singing a melody to tho words. Ho naked
me to go to the front of the store, see the
woman and sing the melody to her. 1 had
barely started when she said: 'Yes, that Is
It and you're the gentleman I heard sing
It at Mayor Bishop's.' K. U. Bishop was
mayor of Cincinnati about that time.
Church published the song and It had a
tremendous sale. Tho melody was written
In 1857, while I was In Portland, Me.
"I was generally credited with having
written tho words. Some years later, while
on a visit to Portland, 1 was taken to task
for claiming tho authorsnlti of the verses.
I then learned that Mrs. Dana Howe was
tho real author and that she was n resident
of tho city. I Immediately placed her name
upon the title page."
"If Your Foot Is Pretty, Show It" was
written while Bishop was In St. Louis.
The song was Introduced at the Olympic
theater. New York by Mrs. John Wood, It
was the first time she had ever sun; a
song of this class. She made a great hit
with it and It was principally through her
efforts that It became a great favorite.
Tho melody known as "When Johnny
Comes Marching Home" was first set to
"Johnny, Fill Up the Bowl" while Bishop
was In Providence, II. I., In If 50. It was
at large until 1S63, when P. S. Ollmoro
wrote the new words, "When Johnny Comes
Marching Home" to It. Bishop and Oll
moro took the song to Tolman & Co, of
Boston. It was accepted, Mr Hcaty, now
of tho firm ot Lyon & Healy, Chicago, was
then a bookkeeper tor tho house. He
thought that tho melody had run Itself
out In ItR association with "Johnny, Fill
Up the Bowl" and suggested to Blthnp and
Qllmoro that the name Louis Lambert bo
placed upon tho tltlu page. The song bo
came one of our national airs.
Speaking about "John Brown's Body," Mr.
Bishop said: "Tho melody, so far ns I can
find out, was original with mo and the line
which suggested the same was npoken upon
my return from St. Iuls In 18f,8. I met
a brothcr-ln-lnw of mine. Mr Johnton, who
had experienced religion nnd ho took me to
task, remarking that my songs were all
written for the devil. Then he said: 'I
am bound to bo a soldier In the army of the
Lord; glory, glory, Hallelujah!' Without
stopping to think I snng tills lino to a
melody which seemed to escape from my
mouth, repeating tho snme, and tho chorua
followed, the verse and chorus simply being
two lines. It was done as n Joke beforo a
friend who was was always tcaslug my
brother-in-law. This Is tho origin ot tho
song.
"Tho song, or hymn, was sung by Mr.
Johnson a few evenings afterward at a
revival meeting. Everybody took to It.
I used It on several occasions, adapting It
to circumstances and conditions and when
at Martlnsburg, Va., after John Brown's
execution at Harper's Ferry, I wrote the
original lines of 'John Brown's Body Lies
n-Moutderlng In tho Grave.' I also wrote
n veree for 'Ellsworth's Body and, with the
exception ot the Jolt Davis verso, all orig
inated with me.
"The song was published in 1881 by John
Church of Cincinnati. I thought little of
tho song or I would have published It long
before. 1 believed It would never amount
to anything. But IU success was magical.
Then Julia Ward Howe took tho music and
used It for her grand .poem, 'The Battle
Hymn of the Republic' And now who
doosn't know the melody?"
A list of Bishop's songs would be very
long. Nearly fifty years' ago he' began to
write and he Is still at It. His successes
have heen many and" et;Vttltiu. kinds.
steam. It was only natural that the con
ditions ot the cattlo business developed an
original code of ethlcsand morals and
that It evolved a distinct type of the human
Individual. '
It would Do Interesting work for the
psychologist to trace also the Influence of
tho cow upon tho cowboy. Tbo vast herds
that roamed the plains In the old days were
subordinate only to the . superior intelli
gence of their human attendants and not
always subject to that. 'From association
with them the rider of the plains imbibed
their spirit. They made him bravo, reck
less and solf-rellant. Ho presented the
strongest possible contrast, for example, to
the sheep herder, with whom be waged an
Intermittent, fierce and bloody war for the
possession of the free range.
The sheep tender, like the cowboy, lived'
alone, far away from .companionship und
human associations, but be lived under
very different conditions. His flocks moved
slowly and required little exercise of skill
or vigilance to keep them together He
covered less ground In a month than tho.
cowboy frequently did In a day. Ills diet
was an unvaried round ot mutton, biscuits
nnd tea and In time he became llko his
shoep sheepish. Tho cowpunchers even as
serted that they could scent him at a dis
tance by his woolly odor. It Is not surpris
ing then that he proved no match for the
active, beef-eotlng nnd resourceful cowboy,
or that ho was almost Invariably worsted
In their frequent encounters. It waa only
by mute persistence and tho force of test
multiplying number that tho sheep were
able to hold onto any part of the free
range.
While the old-time glamor of cowboy ex
istence lives only In ralnbow-hued litera
ture, there remains a wide field of useful
ness for the cowboy of today. The work
nf carefully studying breeding conditions,
nf testing different varieties of feed aud of
I riding to matket In tho caboose of a callle
'raln rems tame In comparison with wild
night rides to avert stampedes, exciting
roundups and terror-spreading charges up
and down the streets ot unoffending towns
with a six-shooter In either band, but a
utilitarian age places by far the greater
value upon the former work. In the de
parture of the passing cowboy literature
mourns the loss of a highly Interesting
character, but In the coming of his sue-
.. 1 . .
.cctsor tne catue Dusinevs is gaining Ira
measurably. E. W. MAYO.
.
JU-LX 11, 1H01.
Which Girls?
The Bee wants to know which girls
in tho territory in whirh it circulates aro iiiost tk'servinjr
of the vacation trips offered to the girls who work for
a livelihood. We would lilcu every reader to vote the
coupons which appear on page two each day. Auy
young lady who earns her own living may enter the con
tefit. The Bee will pay all of the expenses
of the trips and furnish -additional transportation, so it
will not be necessary to go alone. Head over the rules
carefully.
Twelve Splendid Vacation Trips
From Omah.i to Chicago nn the Mil
waukee. Chicago to Buffalo via the
Nickel Plate. Ten days sit the Marl
borough and the Paii-Amerlcun Ex
position. Ilnturn via Chicago with a
day nt the Grand Pnclflo hotel.
From Omnhu to Hot Springs, 8. I).,
over the Fremont, Klkhurn & Missouri
Valley railroad. Two works at the
Motel Kvnns at Hot tiprlngs, with
prlvllencs ot the plunge and bathH,
From Omaha to Minneapolis on the
Northwestern. From Minneapolis to
Luke Mlntietonkn over the Orent
Northern, with two wucks at the Hotel
Bt. t.ouU.
From Omaha to Chicago on the Chi
cago, HurlliiRton & Qulticv Two days
at the Orand Pacific. Chicago to Lnko
Geneva, Wis., on the Ninth western.
Two weeks at the Qarreson house.
Heturp via tho same routes.
From Omaha to Chicago via the
Northwestern with a day's stop nt the
Grand Pacific hotel, From Chicago to
Waukesha, Wis., with two weuks at
the Fountain Spring hou;ie.
RULES OF THE CONTEST:
Tho trips will be awarded ns follows: Kour trips to tlia four j-ouujr lnrilcn living In Omnhn rocnlvlns tho
most rotes; ono trip to the yountf lady lu South Omaha receiving tlm mont votes; ono trip to the youtijr
lady In Council Illufts receiving the nio.it votrn; throo trips to tho rouK lndlcw living In Xolnnskn outnido of
Omaha nnd South Omalm receiving the most votr; two trips to tho young Indies living In Iown outHide of
Council Bluffs receiving the most votes; and one trip to tho young lady In South Dakota receiving tint most
TOtCB.
The young lady receiving the highest number of votes will have tlm first choice of the trlpH, tho next
highest second choice, and no on.
No votes will be counted for nny young lady who docH not cam her own living.
All votes must be mudu on coupons cut from page 2 of The line.
Prepayments of subscriptions may bo made cither direct to The llec Publishing Company, or to nn author
ized agent of The Bee.
No votes sent In by agents will bo counted unices accompanied by the cash, In accordance with Instruc
tions sent them.
No votes will be counted for employes of The Omaha Bee.
The vote from day to day will be published tn all editions of The Bee. Tho conte&t will close at 5 p. m.
July 22, 1001.
Votes will be counted when mndo on u coupon cut from The Omnha Boo and deposited at The Bee Business
Office or mailed addressed
"Vacation Contest Department,"
Omaha Bee, Omaha Neb.
WHEN NIAGARA WILL RUNDR1
Gtolofiiti Fat th Event Beyond tha Villon
f Thus Now Liviaf.
CONSTANT CHANGES AT THE GREAT FALLS
Draining the Great Lake bj- Way ot
the MUalmlpiil lllvor Proposed
Dam at the Foot of
Lake Brie.
Before Niagara Falls, which are now
cutting their way backward along the bed
or tbo river to Lake Erie at tho rate ot
about four feet a year, reach the head ot
(Jraud Island less than Ave miles away,
there will be no Niagara. The whole sys
tem of the Oroat Lakes is changing, says
the New York Sun. The waters of Lako
Michigan at Chicago are slowly rising, and
Lako Erie Is growing shallow.
Eventually, unless a dam Is built to pre
vent It, as has been proposed, Lake Michi
gan will overflow to tbo Illinois river, as
It did centuries ago In tbo last pre-glaclal
period; the basin ot Lake Erie will be
tributary to Lake Huron, the current will
be reversed In the Detroit nnd the St. I
Clair channels and the whole lake system 1
will drain southward Into the Mississippi.
Then Niagara will vanish. From a ma
jestic cataract the Falls will dwindle to
a fow threads of water falling over a preci
pice, ns may bo seen In the summer sea
son in the upper falls of the Qeneseo at
Rochester. All that they will carry will
bo the drainage of tho Immediate neighbor
hood. 1
There Isn't any occasion for alarm for
the present, however, for all this will take
place In from two to three thousaud years
from now nnd many things may happen
before then. Also, as It Is extremely un
likely that the elixir of life will bo dis
covered In this generation, nobody now
alive need worry much about It. Hut that
la what the great lake system b tondlng
to, as Is sot forth In an Interesting "Guide
to tho Geology nnd Paleontology of
Nlagarn Falls nnd Vicinity" by Prof.
Amadcus Vf. Orabau, S, D., of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, arranged and pub
lished In most compltto form by John M.
Clarke, tho state patrnntoloKlst, as n bul
letin of tho New York State museum.
A Fntnri- r.vent.
It will ho from E00 to 600 years before the
tendency of the lakes to a new dralnase bed
Is plainly manifested, according to the au
thorities cited by Prnf. Orabau. Tho rlstnR
of the waters of Lake Michigan nt present
Is at the rate of nlno or ten Inches a cen
tury. The first water to overflow will he
that at somo high stage of the lake and the
discharge may at first be Intermittent. For
a mean lake stago such a discharge will
begin In about 1.000 years, but after 1,000
years thero will be no Interruption.
In about 2,000 years the Illinois river and
the Niagara will carry equal shares of tho
surplus water of tho Great Lakes, and In
3. SCO yejirs, for certain, there will bo no
Niagara.
That Is If man, In the shapo of tho United
States government, does not Interfere. The
shoaling nf Lake Erlo at Cleveland and at
other points on the Ohio shore has already
given cause for alarm and the stoppage of
this natural movement In the general drain
age pystem of the lakes, which la attrib
uted to the gradual tilling of the land In
the northwest, has bren seriously consld-t
erert,
The plsn proposed to stop the tendency
Is to erect an Immense dam In tho Niagara '
river nbove PulTalo, with tho object of
cheeking and eventually decreasing the out-;
flow, It is argued that this would not
greatly decrease the power of Niagara, now
UurllriBton. Three days .it the Ilrown
ralnec hotel, n dayM excursion to
Georgetown through Clear Crack Can
yon. Irom Denver to Colorado
Uprlngv on the Denver ltlo Orundo
to the Garden of the aods, u trip up
J'lko'j Peak. lth headnmrters for
ten days ot the Alta Vista hotel at
Colorado Spring.
Iom OmuhH to Lake Qkoboli on the
Milwaukee. Two weeks at The Inn
nt Inke OkohoJI. Iteturn via the Mil
waukee. .J,ro.,fl Omaha to Kansas City over
the Missouri Pacific with thr'e days
at Kansas City at tho Coutes house.
Kansas City to Portlu Springs, Mo.,
with two weeks nt Hotel Mlnnewawa.
From Omaha to St. Louis over the
Omaha A. 8t. Louis and Wabash linn,
with three days at the Southern hotel,
l rom bt. Louis to Toledo with a day
at the Uoody house, From Tflle.ln to
PuMn-llny via the Detroit Cleve
ll".J s'0"'"8'!'!). with two weeks nt the
Hotel Victory.
valuablo, but there are authorities who con
tend that this argument Is absurd and tho
plan Is opposed on that account.
This tilting of the territory In the north- j
west Is a curious phenomenon for which the
geologists cannot wholly aocount. It is
plainly recorded In the beaches of the old
glacial lakes, which hod a uniform eleva
tion while forming, but now aro no longer
ot a uniform height above the sea level,
rlolng progressively toward tbo northeast.
The movement is still going on.
Prof. O. K. Gilbert has made an extend
ed study ot the problem and he has been
led to the assumption that the whole lake
region Is being lifted on one side, or de
pressed on tho other, so that Its plane Is
bodily canted toward the south-southwest.
Tho rato of change, he estimates, Is such
that tho two ends of a line 100 miles Ions;
and lying In a south-southwest direction
aro relatively displaced to the extent of
four-tenths of a foot in a century, From
this It follows that the waters of each
lake are gradually rising on the southern
and western shores or falling on the north
ern and eastern shores, or both.
Orlstln of the Fnlta.
Niagara Falls came Into existence when
tho waters of Lako Iroquois', which In
ages long past was the predecessor ot
Lako Ontario, fell beneath .the level of the I
escarpment at Lewlston. At first the Falls
were only a small cataract, but year by
year as the lake subsided tho cataract '
fffilnflrl In height mnA e.rmrienitentlv let I
force of fall as well as efficiency In cutting
Its channel. The Niagara gorge from
Lewlston to the present Falls Is believed to
bo wholly the product of river ororlan.
Refore the ndvont ot the falls the
Niagara was a placid stream from lake to
lake much as It la today from Buffalo to
th northern end of Orand. Island. It cut
shallow banks Into the glarlnl till and
their tracen ore S'vn now in nnme placca
a mile buck from the edge of the gorge
which the Falls have since out.
It has bern patiently cutting that gorge '
for thousands of years, how many the
peologlsts cannot tell, but they place the '
total at not less thin 10,000 or moro than
50,000. One gfoloelst, Prof Hitchcock,
puts the b'RlnnlnR of the great cataract
at 102Q B. p., which Is 300 years before the
time of nomulus, or p'bout the period In
which King David rolned In Jerusalem. '
As lonr ns a river Is narrow nnd v'gor
ously undercuts Its banks the latter will be I
strep nnd tho river channel will hnvp the '
clnracter of a gorge. ,Thls continues as
long as 'he river Is cutting downward,
that Is, till tho prsde of the river bottom
is a very ientlo one Then tho spreading
of the current unt'o-euts tho banks, nnd
atmospheric dlen'egrtlon qu'ckiy den'roys
thn cliffs, which the river doer not keep
perpendicular. Ntncrrra gorge changes
r.rently even In a century. Helow the falls
tho river flows In a rlinnrH la places only
ten feet wide nnd 110 feet below tho level
of tho platform, which was Us bed a cen
turv ago.
There Is a theory that only a part, the
southern or later rart of the gorge of the
whirlpool rapids, waa carved by tho Niag
ara, the volnmo of whlh was at one time
reduced or the ni'rieii HI. Davids gorge
and slnre swept nwsy in a glacial period
nnd that the greafr half nf the gorge wpR
pre-glaclal. All the authorities agroe,
however, that the broad and deep gorge
from Clifton to the present falls was mode
by a cataract carrying the full supply of
water. This, which geologists sy Is the
most readily Interpreted part of the gorge,
has now come to an end nt the present
falls and the ehnrartrr of the ehannel here
after can only bo conjeeturod,
CtjniiKen .Voted,
Niagara, It seems, Is now ot a critical
stage. The river has reachod the second
of the points where a rectangular turn Is
made and the gorge behind the falls Is
changing. A short channel, considerably
narrower than that of the last section, Is
ililli
From Omaha to Denver on the nock
Island, Three days nt thi Ilrown
Palace hotel. A day's excursion on the
Colorado road through Clear Creek
Canyon to Georgetown nnd The Iaup.
Fiom Denver to Uletiwood Springs via
tin; Denver & lllo CJraiulc. Ten !
At the Hotel Colorado, Olenwood
Springs. Iteturn via the same routes.
From Oniuha tn Halt Lake via the
Union Pnetne. Ten days at the Hotel
Ktuitsford, Salt lnke, with privileges
of Haltalr Deaoh, Iteturn on the I'nlon
Pacific via Denver with thren day'
stop at tho Ilrown Palace hotel, a
day's excursion from Denver to
Georgetown Hiid the Loup through
Clear Creek Canyon on tho Colorado
road,
From Omaha to Chluatro via the
Illinois Centiul, with a day nt the
Oraml Paclllc. Chicago to Charlevoix
via the Pere Marquetie railroad. Ten
days at the Hotel Ilelvldere ut Charle
voix. Iteturn via Steamship Munltritl
to Chicago, Chicago to Omaha via
tho Illinois Central
KRHni
being cut by tho Horseshoe fall and that
fall Itself Is narrowing, '-his uariunuuss
of tho channel Is duo to the concentration
of water In tho center of the stream.
Goat Island, which divides tho Horse
shoe from tho American fall and the other
Islands as well, owes Its exlstenco to this
concentration of the water, tor at one time
all of these Islands were submerged by
the current. Tho channel abovo the Horse
shoo fall has been cut to more than fifty
feet below tho summit of Goat Island at
tho falls, whllo tho Upper end of the Island
Is still nt the level ot tho water In tho
river, Tho effect will be that tho Island as
an Island In time will disappear.
It lies on one side of the main mass of
water which, rushing forward, passes It
and strikes the Canadian bank, from which
It is deflected toward the center of tho
cataract, that portion being thus deep
ened and worn back most rapidly, as may
be observed from tho upper walks of the
Canadian park, where In many cases the
shores have been ballasted and otherwise
protected from the current.
In an earlier period, when the falls
were farther north and before the central
part of tho stream had been deepened to
Us present extent, tho water, then at tbo
levol of the river above Goat Island,
flooded what Is now the Queen Victoria
park and carved from the glacial bill the
pronounced concavo wall which now
bounds the park on the west A local eddy,
probably In very recent times, carved the
steep and semicircular cliff which Incloses
the Dufferln Islands. (
American Fall FallliiR.
In a thousand years from now and at
the present rate ot recession ot the falls,
It Is calculated by the geologists whose
views aro set forth by Prof. Orabau, that
tho Horseshoe Falls will have reached tho
upper end ot Ooat Island and that will
end tho American Fulls. These having a
smaller erosive force will have receded only
about half way to tho Goat Island bridge
In that time. The Horseshoe Falls will
draw off the water from the American Falls
and all tho Islands will then bp Joined by a
dry channel to tho mainland, an event
which, Prof, Orabau says, was anticipated
only as far back as 1848, when owing to
an Ice bloqkado tn the Niagara river near
Buffalo tho American Falls was deprtved
of all Its waters for a day. Should a dam
bn built In the Niagara river the effect
might bo the same,
This Is not the first tlmo In tho history
of Niagara that the falls havo been di
vided, Long ago when tbo falls were at
Foster's flats, almost soven miles below
their present situation, It Is supposed that
a narrow Island, comparable to Ooat island,
In tho river bed cut the falls In two. Tho
foundations of tho Island, which has since
crumbled awny, are to bo seen In the ridge
which divides the old drv ehannel on tho
left from Ihi main bed of the river.
The Eastern or American Fall was In
this case the larger of the two and as lt
carried the channel It receded more rapid
ly. When tho Canadian fall reached the
head of tho Islnnd the Amerlcnn had Just
passed It and the Canadian fall fell nut
of the race. So history li only repeating
Itself now In Niagara.
( Molliirm ni'i'lilon fiiics Over.
ALBANY, N. Y., July 10. Thero Is re.
liable authority for tho statement that the
court of apprals. which met here today,
will not hand down any decision In the
Mollneux murder case until the October
term of the court.
The niccHt bun! D088 under the
nun Is FeiH-Xiiptliu money-batik
Koup, at your grooer'B.
Fels & Co., maker:), Philadelphia.
r
