The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-09-14

ripal bridge counsel, made reply to Judge
Weak, from which we make the following
extract, a giving good deal Of information
relative 10 this structure;
The charges against the bridge are grew
ous--that no boats attempt to pass, that il
| i. total obstruction, that large numbers 81
boats have been injured. We will give you
! the proof oi the whole number of boats
that passed through. That bridge was first
opened on the 2lst of April, 1856, and
burned on the 9th Of May. From that time
10 the 18th Of August they run in the burnt
span because IL was wider. From the lth
! of August 1856, 10 the present time. over
/ cigh, hundred boats have passed through,
not more than twenty of which have hit,
and onl, four have been hurt. In eight
hundred pilots are not some charged with
earclc.sness Hut he SAYS there has been
no high water to render the passage danger
Gus. Gentlemen, there has been no such
season n the present for years. The river
rose ia the last of March, and did not go
down until the first Of August. We will
show that some Of these boats passed
through ut different times when the water
Was higher than at the disaster tn the Ellie
| Alton. These very pilots, whose testimony
1 ley will produce against the bridge are fol-
/ lowing up "trip after trip without difficulty.
! | could give YOU the names, If necessary
| Tine man, who fills three pages of Eool>cap
u MS testimony. when We asked him. a lit
he further down: " How man, times have
son gone through Fifty times !" Did
ron ever strike against the bridge Mo-"
Every pilot they have tells the same story. |
Why Is 1t that all these pilots are combined /
A. one inan The whole river interest, led
b. rhc 81 Louis Chamber Of Commerce, j.
engaged in the contest. Capt. Hudson said
IN the 1t. Louis Chamber Of Commerce.
j" his suit must be vigorously prosecuted,
because all It. Louis il interested They
e,tracisc every pilot that dares TO express
he opinion favorable 10 the bridge. lie il
thrown out Of employment.
Why do they put all the passengers of be-
low the bridge, compelling them TO 60
around, and giving them as much trouble
a possible in passing the rapids II is that
hey may 20 abroad and tell cveryb body what
~ obstruction the bridge is---that they may
public opinion. Such oppo~i !
lion we have had To struggle with at every
I,oint and We have determined to rely only
upon eminent engineers and scientific men.
The bridge lie says j. placed 1t the mar
rewe,t point on the river. That was the
mo,t convenient place to build bridge, and
have we not right To build there ~ well ~
any other point !, We do not materially OBJ
.truct the navigation of the river. The
obstruction must bc n serious, material
obstruction, and not some little hindrance TO
boats ut certain stages Of water.
This bridge was located with direct ref
efence 10 the navigation Of the river, though
al. a al.
tlcmen, You are not aware OF the course aud
condition II these rapids, hut IL will be
shown ia evidence. The Rock Island Rapids
extend from seventeen to eighteen miles.
from ten 10 twelve miles Of which Is over
reef. these reef used ~ be called b. |
three or four names, but they have multi |
Piled till they are now called by ten or If /
teen names. Through these reefs tue chan
mel i, crooked, and sometimes it turns At |
right angles making the passage narrower
than through our draw. In one place il Is
but ninety feet wide, while our draw is one
hundred and twenty feet wide. The reason
for the location VI the Bridge ut that par
ticular paint was this. The entrance 20 the
fapids i about three-fourths Of mile above
the X. X, through wLat is called the Da-
senport or Shocnakers, and sometimes the
Ilildreth chain or reel. This entrance Is
about one hundred feet IN width, and il Is
situated directly in line with the bridge, 90
that IL yoa place q steamboat in that open
ing, having Der 20 that she will balance, and
Ii. will pas. down through that draw with
ont touching either pier. This has been
tested by floats drawing twelve or fifteen
feet water, which hoated directly through.
have, time and again seen sticks charged
with lead al the bottom, with nags ut the
TOP, pass from the opening Of the chain
down through the draw without touching
tue per, and in no way affected by currants.
The nood-wood Of last spring was noticed.
which passed through without touching.
We have Souv,OVO at stake in that strue-
turc besides this damage, and 10 test il
thoroughly, We sent boats about 4 quarter
II mile above with these foa,s and when
ever they were in range they came through
invariably without touching. Why then
lid not the boats pass through
Why cannot the boats 70 through too
They can and have passed through; some
Of them have passed up by torchllght while
the rest were lying by. Some Of their pi.
lots state that the current IL twelve or
fourteen miles an hour, but we will show
you that in the channel we have made the
current is only five miles an hour. We
have tested this in nil sorts of ways We
did not leave il 10 speculation but deter
mined to make il an absolute certainty.
We give you this from the best men this
nation can produce. Some of his pilots say
hat We have doubled the current. We
nave taken the trouble to measure the
amount in our structures, aud the area Of
he whole surface OF the water, and these
lre the facts. We only occupy about fifteen
Get Of the entire waterway Of the river, Or
near that. The proportion Is very simple.
lou would suppose that IL we interrupted
,niy fifteenth Of the waterway, IL would
increase the current one-ffteenth only.
Taking oil these things into account, We
AVE, instead Of doubling the current, scarce-
y increased IT, The Alton i said 20 have
IN EIGHT miles n hour ~ stssam, and
vhy did ~ NJ - thsoagh when ~ enr- |
eet was only I'VE 1iAn . Aom7 n canee
have Stated 20 you hoGues. 10
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