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Transcript:
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“It was a terrible day, cold and wet. Within a few minutes, I saw two great white clouds rising up slowly from deep in the earth. For the first time, I heard the mighty rush of water. I felt the ground shake under my feet.”
Voice 1
These are the words of the great English writer Charles Dickens. He wrote them in 1842. He was visiting Niagara Falls. This waterfall is on the border of the United States and Canada. It is one of the largest in the world. Each year, more than 12 million people visit it. Today’s Spotlight is on Niagara Falls. Dickens wrote,
Voice 3
“I could see a huge flow of water, coming down fast from very high. I had no idea of shape, or situation, or anything. It was just so big.”
Voice 2
This is what many people experience at Niagara Falls. People describe the waterfall as “great”, “mighty”, and “huge”! The sound is incredible. The Falls are on the Niagara River. The river divides just before the waterfall, and then each part drops over a rocky edge. Because of this split, there are actually two waterfalls, separated by a small island. On the American side is ‘American Falls’. It is over 300 metres across. On the Canadian side is ‘Horseshoe Falls’. The name comes from its shape – like a horseshoe, in a half circle. Horseshoe Falls is nearly 700 metres across!
Voice 1
Niagara Falls is not the tallest waterfall in the world. However, the Falls are one of the widest in the world. Over 2 million litres of water fall over Niagara every second!
Voice 2
People have been visiting Niagara Falls for thousands of years. Native people knew the waterfall well. More than 300 years ago, European explorers told the rest of the world about them. One of these explorers was Louis Hennepin. Hennepin was from Belgium. He was both amazed and afraid of what he saw there. He wrote a book about his adventures. In the book, he described his first time seeing the great waterfall. He wrote that it was one of the most wonderful things he had seen. He described the water hurrying over the edge, like a group of wild animals. He said that the noise was louder, and more terrible, than thunder in a storm.
Voice 1
For many years, Hennepin was the only person to write about the waterfall. Many people in Europe read what he wrote. The waterfall was one of the many amazing things about America. But it was a long time before many other people could see the waterfall. It was a long, difficult trip to visit it.
Voice 2
As more people moved to the Americas, some people did make the trip. But it was not until the 1840s that Niagara Falls became a popular place. Trains made travel much easier. It also cost less money. At the same time, people in North America were also starting to take holiday trips. Many people lived in cities. So natural places, like Niagara Falls, were very popular. The area became a tourist attraction – a place that many people visited.
Voice 1
As a result, businesses around the waterfall grew. There were hotels, and restaurants. Most people just wanted to see the natural beauty of the waterfalls. But some people also used the waterfalls to perform stunts – dangerous acts. Over the next hundred years, people did many insane things at the falls. One of the first was a woman named Annie Edison Taylor.
Voice 2
Annie Edison Taylor was a poor woman. But at the age of 63, she had an idea to make money. She hoped to survive a fall over Niagara Falls. If she did, she believed that she would become famous – and that would make her rich!
Voice 1
Taylor got a very strong container – a round, wood barrel. Barrels usually hold liquid, so they do not let anything in or out. Taylor added a soft mattress inside it, to make the trip easier. On October 24 1901, friends closed her inside the barrel, and she began her trip down the river. The trip only took 20 minutes. The water shook the barrel very hard, but Taylor survived!
Voice 2
Taylor succeeded in her trip, but she did not get rich. Instead, her act inspired many other people. A man named Sam Patch jumped off the waterfalls into the river below. A man named Jean Francois Gravelet walked over the falls on a high tight-rope. Some people also tried to copy Taylor – but they did not all survive. Now, it is not legal to perform these kinds of acts at Niagara Falls. It is too dangerous.
Voice 1
People mainly know about Niagara Falls because of its natural beauty. However, the Niagara River is also an important source of electricity. The Niagara River flows very fast, with a large amount of water.
Voice 2
In the 1890s, the Westinghouse Electric company built the world’s first large power system on the river. Many other companies also hoped to use the land for factories and power systems. However, around the same time, many people began to work to protect the natural area. Soon, the governments of the United States and Canada got involved. They protected the land around Niagara Falls. They made parks – green, natural areas. No one could buy this land for factories or other industrial development.
Voice 1
The governments also made agreements to protect the water going over Niagara Falls. Power systems move water out of the river to create electricity. So these agreements limit the amount of water power companies can take. This means that there is always enough water to flow over Niagara Falls.
Voice 2
For hundreds of years, Niagara Falls has inspired people through its size and beauty. In the years to come, it will continue to inspire. To see it for yourself, visit our website. We have links there to images and video.