A rude path with steps cut in the slope of the bank was for several years the only way of getting down to the water's edge at the ferry. In 1825 several flights of stairs were erected, with good paths between, which made the task quite safe and easy. The double railway-track at the ferry was completed in 1845. When the necessary excavations were nearly finished, and people were told the object of it, the scheme met no approval from those conservative persons who have no faith in new things. The idea of a railway "to go by water" was not considered a brilliant one. Indeed, the greater number shrugged their shoulders at the thought of riding down _that_ hill. But as soon as the lumber cars were started for the convenience of the workmen, and people saw how expeditious and easy was the trip, it was difficult to keep them off the cars. Hundreds of thousands of passengers have ridden in them without accident or injury. The motive power is a reaction waterwheel set in a deep pit, and as all the machinery is concealed, it has quite the appearance of a self-working apparatus. There is alongside of the railroad a straight stair-way of two hundred and ninety steps, for those who prefer to use it. The number of victims whom carelessness or folly has sent over the Falls is large, and, it may be believed, is quite independent of the Indian tradition that the great cataract demands a yearly sacrifice of two human victims. OVER THE FALLS. In 1810 the boat _Independence_, laden with salt, filled and sunk while crossing to Chippewa. The captain and two of the crew went over the Falls. One of the crew clung to a large oar, and was saved by a small boat from Chippewa. 1821 Two men in a scow were driven down the current by the wind, and went over the Falls. 1825 Two men in a boat from Grand Island went over. --Three men went over in three different canoes. 1841 Two men, engaged in smuggling, were upset in the current; one went over. One was found dead on Grass Island. --Two men who were carrying sand in a scow were drawn into the current and went over. 1847 A lad of fourteen undertook to row across on a Sunday morning, and went over. 1848 In August, a man in a boat passed under the Goat Island Bridge, within ten feet of the shore; he asked of persons on the bridge, "Can I be saved?" Soon after the boat upset, and he went over, feet foremost, struck on the rocks below, and was never seen afterward. --A little boy and girl were playing in a skiff, which swung off the shore; the mother waded into the water and rescued the girl. The boy, sitting in the bottom of the skiff, with a hand on each side, went over. 1870 A lady from Chicago, said to be deranged, threw herself from Goat Island Bridge, and went over. 1871 In June three men, unacquainted with the river, hired a boat to cross, were drawn into the rapids and went over. --In July two men in a boat went over.