ANNUAL REPORT.

THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE IN THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION

The Honorable Charles M. Dow, who was President of the Commission from December 22nd, 1903, to March 27th, 1914, died at his home at Jamestown on December 10th, 1920, and the Honorable Thomas W. Meachem, who was President of the Commission from the 1st day of May, 1917, to the 26th day of April, 1918, died at his home in the City of Syracuse on the 5th day of October, 1920.

The State is deeply indebted to both these gentlemen for a most devoted and loyal service during their respective terms of office. To Mr. Dow the world is indebted for the only complete Anthology and Bibliography of Niagara Falls that ever has been. compiled or printed.

THE PROPOSED MEMORIAL TO NEW YORK SOLDIERS AND SAILORS IN THE WORLD WAR.

As the Legislature fully is aware, in the hope of carrying into effect the intention heretofore expressed in our two last annual reports, we caused to be introduced in both Houses of the Legislature, an Act initiating the movement for the acquistion of lands for the establishment of a State Park as a permanent memorial of the patriotism and devotion of the soldiers and sailors from this State who served in the Army and Navy of the United States during the world war, a copy of which as finally revised appears as Appendix "A."

Again the Legislature was of the opinion that the demands upon the State Treasury were of so imperative a character as to prevent the enactment of the proposed bill into law. The Commission can but reiterate its opinion that no finer or more appropriate monument to the patriotism and heroism of the flower of our youth, and none more in keeping with the magnitude of the services rendered, the sacrifices made, and becoming the dignity of a great commonwealth than the creation and maintenance along the International boundary of a great riverway, which should be free to the citizens of all the Nations of the earth, could be made.

And again we commend the consideration of the construction of such a riverway to your favorable consideration, directing your attention once more to the provisions of the Act of the Dominion Parliament by which the Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park Commission of Ontario derives a stated and substantial revenue from the taxing of the Hydro-Electric Power plants. erected upon the Canadian side of the Niagara River, for the enlargment and improvement of the great park system under their control, to which we referred in our last two annual reports.

THE CONTINUED AND RAPID RECESSION OF THE APEX OF THE HORSESHOE FALLS.

This recession in the absence of action by the Federal Congress and the State Legislature is proceeding at the rate of sixty-two inches a year, and unless its progress soon be stayed, it will result in substantially changing the contour of the cataract. We have consulted eminent authorities upon the best method of eliminating this recession, all of whom substantially agree with the recommendation made to the Chief Engineer of the United States Army by General, then Major Kellar on the 30th day of November, 1908, who proposed the construction of a submerged dam in the river above the horseshoe falls, with the view of diverting a portion of the flow of water from the deepest part of the channel, and spreading it out over the shallow portion nearest the shore. This subject was discussed by us in our last annual report, to which respectfully we refer you.

AN ELEVATOR AT THE CAVE OF THE WINDS.

The ninety year old and obsolete Biddle stairs of 190 steps surrounding a center post descending in an ancient wooden tower, still constitutes the only available means of reaching the Cave of the Winds.

At the request of the President of the Commission, the State Engineer and Surveyor, the Honorable Frank M. Williams, made a survey of the Reservation in September, 1920, and in his report justly says regarding the Biddle stairs:

"This is a wooden structure built many years ago, and requires constant maintenance which will probably increase as time goes on. The structure is antiquated, and out of date, and in our opinion should be replaced by a modern elevator so constructed as to have its lower entrance on what is known as the "Lower Trail." The attractiveness of the Cave of the Winds trip would be much enhanced if the tourist was not required to walk up and down the long flight of stairs in the Biddle Tower, and perhaps increased revenue might be obtained from such an elevator."

Thus the Legislature will see that a distinguished State Official concurs in the view of the Commissioners as to the necessity of the elevator. The Commission has no doubt whatever that the added revenue to be obtained from the construction of an elevator in the course of four or five years fully would reimburse the State for the expenditure involved in its construction, and thereafter annually contribute a substantial sum to the State Treasury. The strain upon the heart and muscles of most men and women upwards of fifty years of age, inhibits their making a visit to one of the most remarkable and interesting features of the cataract.

ACCIDENT AT THE CAVE OF THE WINDS.

On the 6th of September, 1920, (Labor Day) at about half after one o'clock a quantity of rock broke from the cliff in the Cave of the Winds, and fell, killing three visitors, and injuring others. We immediately instituted an investigation, and requested the State Engineer and Surveyor to make an independent investigation of this accident, the most serious in the history of the Reservation, and we submit the following compressed statement of his investigation, and of our joint conclusion.

For many years it has been the practice to conduct sightseers through the Cave of the Winds, and a conservative estimate indicates that more than one million persons since the creation of the Commission have made the trip without accident, except once when several years ago a man walking along the " Upper Trail" was hit by a stone which was thrown over the cliff from Goat Island, and save for the death of a workman who while re-building one of the bridges on the "Lower Trail" slipped and fell into the torrent, and was swept away by it. Therefore it is conclusively demonstrated that in proportion to the number of tourists making the visit, accident has been negligible.

A thorough investigation of the circumstances attending the accident and of the place demonstrates that the rocks which caused the accident did not fall from directly over the bridge to the Cave of the Winds, but from a point back of the cave, and that they came tumbling down across the floor of the cave striking the bridge to it upon which the visitors were walking. The physical conditions which exist in the cave itself due to winds, falling and percolating water make it impossible to determine the precise location from which these rocks fell, or fully to determine the condition of the rock now forming the roof of the cave. Therefore, it is impossible to forecast the probability of another fall of rock from the roof. It is not impossible that much of the rock which heretofore from time to time may have fallen from the roof has passed through into the river below with the breaking up of the ice in the spring, a time when the tour through the Cave of the Winds is not attempted. The wooden foot bridges which of necessity have to be employed in making that tour, are of a temporary character, and require re-building each year, as they are carried away by the ice which forms in almost mountainous proportions every spring. The State Engineer concurs with the Commission in the conclusion that the bridges always have been carefully constructed and properly maintained. Always there is a certain degree of risk involved in walking along the base of the cliff, and it is impossible to escape the conclusion that there are certain elements of danger involved in making the tour to the Cave of the Winds. Any construction. which effectually would prevent the falling of loose rock from the roof of the Cave in our judgment and that of the State Engineer, would be disproportionately expensive, to the benefit