The Fall Of Table Rock

Ly the last Man that Stood onlt G-eorge Wilkes writes: - '' I said I had something to do with the f;tll of Table Hoek, that broad shell on tha Can;;da side, whicb in 1850 looked over the very cauldron oL the seething waters, but whieh tumblcd iuto it on a certain day in the month of June oí' that, by me, well rememberod yoar. About noon on that duy, I aocorajianicd a lady froni the Clifton House to the Falls. Arriving at Table Rock, we lelt our carriage, and as we approacbed the projecting platform, I pointed out to iny compauion a vast cick or fissure whicb traverse d the en tire base of tho rook, reniarking that it had never appeared to me before. The lady almost shuddered as she looked at it, und shrinking back, declarad that .she did not care about going near the edge. , " Ah," said I, taking hor hand, you might as well come on, uow that you are here. 1 hardly think the rock vvill take a notion to fall ïneruly because we are n it." The platform jutted from the main land some sixty feet ; but, tp give lije visitor a still more iearful projection over the ragiug waters, a woodou bridge or staging had been thi'ust bevond the extreme edge lor some ten feet. This terminated in a smail box for visitors to ! stand iri, and was kept in its position, . and enabled to buar its we;gh, by a pouderous load of stones heaped upon its inner ends. The day was very bright andaifiot, and it being almost lunch time at the hotels, but very few visitpr were out, so we occup;ed the dizzy perch alone. Wo gazed learfully out upon the awful waters, jpc stretched our heads timidly over tho J frightful depths below, and ve íelt our natures quail in every ubre by the deafening roar, that seemed to sutúrate ' ns, as it were, with an indefiüable dread. " Thia is a terrible place,' said I. ' Look under there, and see on what a mere shell we stand. For years and vears the teeth of thotorrent, in that jetting, angry streatn, have been gnawing at that hollow, and some day thi? plane must fall.' " My companion ehuddered, and drew herself together in alarm. Our eyes swept the roaring circlo ol the waters once again ; we gazed about in iearful fascinaüon, when suddenly turning our looks upon each other, each reconized a corresponding foar. ' I do not like this place !' exchümed I, quickly. ' The whole Lase of this rock is probably disinterergated, and perhaps sits poised in a succession of steps or notches, ready to fall out and tottlo down at and uousual perturbation. The fissure there eeems to me unusally large to-day. I think we had better leave, for I do not fancy such a finish ; and, besides, my paper must be published next week.' " With these very words - the latter uttered jocosely, though not without alarm - I seized my companion's hand, and, in absoluto panic, we fled as fast as our feet could earry us toward what might be cali the shore. Wo first burst into a laugh wheu wo gained the land, and jumping mto our carriage, íelt actually as if we have made a fortúnate escape, We rolied back toward the Clifton, but belore wo had proceoded two minutes on our way, a thundering report, like the explosión of an eprthquake, burst upon us, and with a loud roar the ground trembled beneath our wheels. We turned to find that Table Rock had fallen. We were the last upon it, and it was, doubtless thef unnsual perturbation caused by our flyiog footsteps that disturbod the exactitude oí its equilibrum, and thrcw itfrom its final poise. "In a minute more the road wa filled with hurryng people, and durinj, the following half hour we were told hundred times in advanceof the morn ing journals, that a lady and guntlc man wljo were on the Table Rock had gone down the falle, Wo are told that the trot oí a dog woujd shake old London bridge frorn end to end, whep it would not be aisturbed by the rolling wheels of heavly loaded trains. Tublo Reek had nol beun run upon in the way I have been desoribing tor years - perhapa never, and thereforo, whenever I hear it spoken óf, I ulways bhudder and foei as if had something to do with its fall." jCír If you wish to keep your enotuieti IVom knowiog any hurm of you, don t let your iriprids know any. jpS A sweet but unrefined young woman should be sent to the 6ugur refinery.