The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1855-08-28
oFTIoIAL PAPER OF raE CRY


The Hark Eve comes down in furjon.
0or'stson against our art'cle IN relation 10
~ Improvement Of the Rapids. The
points made by the Hamk Eye are ,ha, the
navigation of the Rapids cahno, be TN
proved on lie slsckwatet plan, because
al the material Tor emsankmelt would be
swept away as fast as deposited The
same ohlectioa precisely, was made by
the Hosrk Eyes co-laborer. "tha, mas
tsest of all old fogy sheets" when Col.
Curtis commenced the sand embanhn,ent
At the head of the island opposite St.
Louis; yet Col. Curtis persevered, depos
tied the sand, AID finally constructed an
cmbankment which turns the current Of
the River and affords ample depth Of wa
ter on the st. Louis shore. But the
Howk- Eye says if the thing could be done
at all. il would cost FIVE millions Of dollars
instead OF Col. Curtis estimate of five
hundred thousand And then no, dis
putting the authority Of Col forrer The
AsUk Eye SAYS:
sit Col. Forrer, Of Dayton, Ohio, e4er
gave an opinion in favor Of the POSSIBLE
ty OF building canal, he never estimated
the cost 1T less than FIVE millions instead
Of half million of dollars We do 70.
believe ne ever gave an opinion found,d
upon personal inspection OF The work.
Upon those points we think the follow
ing extracts from Cel. Forrcr's letter
ought to be satisfactory. In that he says:
"A personal inspection of portion OF
the ground of the line OF the Des Moines
River improvement, the Des Moines Val
ley Railroad, and that of The CONTEMPLATED
navigation and hydraulic improvement of
che lower Rapids Of the Mississippi, and
some experience in the various kinds of
improvements proposed, and the plans
fully explained TO me by the gentlemen
IN charge Of tire work. enables me to form
IN opinion Of the merits Of each"
canal along the rapids of the Mssis
sippi would be immensely valuable to the
Interests OF keokuk, bu, chiefly on account
OF the water power ii would aiiorl for
manufacturing purposes A canal only,
1t would benefit the valley Of the Missi.
.ippi ty cheapening transportation TO and
from points above and below the rapids
out The water power would be incidental
to the construction Of canal without ma
terlaily increasing the first cost | have
eximinei the plan and estimates Of proba
Die cost OF The proposed canal as reported
by Col S,n'l. Il. Curtis, and have no
doubt that the Improvement can he con
s'ructed Tor g sum considerably less than
the estimates. But while the General
government is engaged in an attempt TO
deepen The channel in the bed of the riv.
or, your people and the public generally
VII be disposed 10 look on and await the
results OF the experiment shat it will
prove failure have no earthly doubt,
nor have any doubt that large canal
end steamboat locks. will be resor,ed to in
nme. In the mean time, however. the
public is suffering by the heavy tax the
rapids impose on commercc-and your
CITY is suffering from delay in 5rning the
di'e1 INTO use as motive power.
Il The editor Of the Hawk Eye will lust
read those extracts OYER again. and then
publish them for the benefit of his read
ers' we will do him the justice 80 suppose
That he spoke IN ignorance and that he did
not make sach wild assertions wnb MALICE
prepense.
And by way Of friendly caution we
would suggest that the Rapids are deci-
dedly dangerous, and that a number OF
np-river editors have got stuck" on
them, and few have absolutely butted
their brains out against them, Judging from
their. present lack OF sense ON that topic
No would therefore advise cur Buckeye
friends st Burlington to procure more
competent plot before they enter upon
them again, lest i! be discovered that there
arc other things in Iowa quite as sAallou
the Mississippi Rapids.
Annual Conference of the 6cthod,x.
Church.
The Iowa Annual Conference Of The
Methodist Episcopal Church will com.
1hence its session in this nlace nm tho oe,b