The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1869-01-21

the 5th ~ ! special correspoadent sbils .
Keokuk. II relates TO orr city and the nap
IA. Imnrovement. The writer subscribes
himself nAl. Mac" We extract - follows;
.w;,hou. .toppiox 70 qsots the old saying about
.ys,ietv III veg splsas 30, may ~ 4hat =
= positivs lsliebl - 80 Who, for lce3 ntnsaA
70 800 nov on the bold h1u6s of tAis Ai1 dry,
ana tx the eye wander over ths beautiful town
spread ont bsfors him, case aeroes to the brown
Nils Of Illinois, wAiIs the Father Of Wseers
strstchiag ont between, fovs On cold and sun ~
below.
cheaeeans ssght TO know that they can ct .
chance 10 exercise their climbing muscles without
soins al the way back to old York State and that
ouch bssstifsl river citiss ~ Disney. ksohsh snA
Museatine win we'll rspsy visit. This great
tsry Of our lsnd the Mississippi, 10 stream well
worth seeing It any time Of the year. To-day ne
Il bound mp In bic winter straight,taeksf, tight
and fast, except where, over the r.Pids, 10 no.s
too swim and free, throwing on in his sed haste
the icy sealss, and piling then up hsfofe hin VIM
: low, crushing sound Keokuk itself T. city
OF some ID 900 inhabitants, doing > thriving bus-
mess, and built up in style worthy o. the oeau-
tifsl dts Il oecapiss; In fsct, - douot Iowa Or
Illinois, outside Of Chicago, contains inner busi-
noss street than Main street, it, chief thorough
faro. sons Of the finer stores asd hotAls were
erected before the great crash Of 81, when Keo-
kuk Va In the 1srsfFoat Of its psospssity. Some
Of eAso vsrs ased ~ hospitals AL through Tie
var, snA ~ only recently rstsFntas 70 their eng.
ips1p Bs- Ksokuk suffered terribly e ~, esd
Vas ;sEsd iar befors IL. tins. sAd Il probably
cheaper in proportion than can b foand In any
osAsr Wsssssa city Of like 'i.s.
The Mississippi sivss = nssis.Ais ~ ths vast
sxtsnt II two tAoussn& 90 hss1rsd nfa1, mon.
-. NJ .-R Ga A~Ak
this srsat distaace Mrs ase eaU two sssetse'
lions q any inesafancs. ean1 bass asa aaA0s,
n esurss, ~ ms wisbsia aAy plAssA ~ tAss
srs easily svoIdsd q fsasovsa, bst tho upper ard
lower npidsars niors serious hindrassss. The
Aeneeasv - 1Esd near Rsek 1slhnA, - eo1Gl2
Of sors seven rssfs Or "eh.ins" q rock barring
aeross The Fiye. and extending u iDtsTyAl4 oysf
distance Of fourteen miles. The lover Fapids a.
tend from Ksokuk twelve milss north to Mont
ross and Nauvoo. These afe much the mors I'm.
lpsrtAus obStrsotisn Of IL two, and while the
0svst sasas T. Improving both. II is Of the work
on the latter that We would now speak.
1t IL now nearly thirty years since the FIRST
movement wss nads to improve the rapids, but
tAoasA Consrsss then acknowledged It to be
| work Of National importance, nothing wss really
elected. Some ten years ago some $s0e,0OO WAS
appropriDtsd for the improvement, but from hek
d psoIB form q r~k vas alnost thrsNn;
:. ,;!,, g.ly = AAra. ,soS NJ Cen;
the rapids most carefully, and after mature delib,
srstisn decided that the only satisfactory plan Of
improvement for the lower rapids would be the
eosstsaseion u > canal afstsA tAaa, while the
upper fapids sh0sld DO rfmpsoSed ~ blasting =
channel in the present bed Of the river. Those
plans we're adopted and appropriations made to
sasrf Mem - By The csosress Of ls6667. This
di6eSsnoe II tho plax n work was necsssitated BY
the difference in the character Of the rapids.
Looking down from tho high blu6 above the
Pilot House 1t Keokuk, one ssSs spfss1 out BE-
f6fs Nm, nd stTsssAisy swsyrsss thevfsoss
Lower Of "Dss Meines" rapids, the arst and
erssteel ebs6ustiop tiae 1 slssmer meets IN ~
ito long voyage from the Gulf Of Mexico north
ward And yet there 10 little for the unprsctioed
eye to 80, aftsr al. The river, hsrs full mile
wide, eoHB % soosthly and Aln, brsken only
into faint rppes here and there, bnt It il the calm
of shallowness, Dot Of depth. For over saysn and
! half miles above Keokuk, the rivsr-bed il one
| smooth, broad floor Of rock, having slops Of
aboat two and feaf-tesths feet to the niIs eigh
teen feet in ALL Over this the water hows in one
unbroken Sheet, 10 depth of twenty inches in
low water, or Of seven to nine fsse il high water
in tie channel. This channel i merely success
.n 1G q fs L z: sSsly bed
except during the high food, and inpsessels a.
together 1t low water For three nileo aAove this
long shesl the river y deep and sa1ily Davigabls,
but at Montrose rocky "chain' sxtends cntlfsly
across tue rlser on Hnicn the Wetef - only soout
foot and half deep.
General Wilson's plan Is to improve the navsgs-
ton of this upper chain BY blasting ehannsi 200
feet wide and six fest dsep at lev vatef Ind build
| ing pier from the lower end Of Nontfese Islead
to confine the wster in the ehaaAel. The sxsava-
ton will be carried BY means Of confer dana on
the same plan that is now being employed ut Rock
| island. BY fAr the gfeatsst pert d thD Woff,
however. Il the cutting the canal around the lower
part of the rapids Thin II to b seven and half
miles long, commanding 1t the Pilot House at Ke-
okuk, and running 70 The village Of Nashville. It
| II mostly located in the bed Of tho riyss on tbs
| Iowa sids, me plan being to construct m earth
and rock embankment about three hundred feet
from the shore, to the river wsli, thsa BY
building cross walls, Golfer dams viii BE- formed,
from which afbse pumping out ~ vatef, the rock
| and earth can be c1cAvatsd. The width. Of the
canal will b from three hundred to four hundred
| feet in earth emban kments, and two hundred and
nfty feet in rock excavation. II will give six fest
depth in low wstsr and have eight feetin high
water. The outside win be Of earth protected by
stone rip-rap, will be ten feet wide on top with 4
| slope the rides Of one and one-haf base to one
vertical on the outside, and ons Aad one-quarter
base to one vertical on the inside, and viii vary
from eighteen to thirtv feet in height so ~ to car
! ~ IL shove the high~watsf mark ef 1851. There
| il 70 Be guard lock at the upper end, and tive
| lift locks, ono near the middle, having lift OF
eight feet, and ono a: ksokak, lifting ten and
three-fourtLs feet The guard lock can also be
| used ~ , lift whenever the water in tho river is
| three or four feet above low-water mark. The
| locks are to be $50 fest long and so feet wide
Enough water win be let into the cnnal to give ,
aow Of one mile per hour, which will give . water
power At keokuk Of about 200 horsepower
| =
| Gen. Wiisea estins&es that $3.50, 600 will BE-
required to complete the canal with locks and 81
complete, and some $4,000 moro for cutting tn.
chsnnsl 1t noatrose. This, with $1,000, oes a.
ready appropriated. will make the whole cost o.
improvement $1.5Sa,ooo. II Il 10 be earnestIJ
hoped that the present Congress will appropriate
the whole amount called for, at once, and to al
low it to be put under contract or else change III.
coatract law Of IS 30 to allow contracts to b,
nsdsfoE ths whole aqount Of work, evea II 4,
| sppfoprfoe3ena - Only made Rom time b tim
10 that the present system Of contractiag and ap.
propriating BY driblsts isvery slow and wastful
| and would never be tslsfateA ~ any good man il
his own enterprises. II Congress should 30 Iegis
late - 70 enable contracts to be entered irto d
once for the pesforinsncs II ths whole wsrk, l,
would be finished In time for the boating season
Of 1870. II not, 1t may drag on for Eve years te
o,ms.
1 Many othsr tAings Of Interest srs thsse IL
| keokuk, but space forbds. They are to build II
| iron bridge across the river this coming summer
the contract having just been let to the keyston,
Bridge Company, Of Philadelphia, for $780, 900
It will accommodate teams, foot passengers and
the railroad, will b over mile in length, and
about forty feet above iowswAter mark 1t /.
greatly 70 b regretted ibat the plan Of high
bridge was not adopted. Such bridge could b
built here easier than 1T any other place along
tho river, owing tsths high bluffs on both sides
There would then be NO troublesome, dangeros,
drswfo opsu and close. and boaas eosid pass IN.
der the spans 1t all tins. without hindrance. II
would also obviAts much Of the heavy running
up aad Down the bla6S whore the grade is quite
heavy; but as the job Is let further reasons against
| II are ueelsss.
u closing mast b sIloSsd 70 nsation ths
eoufes'y Of tAs odscers IN charge Of tn sivss
imProveneats n. assisting me to gals I'll possible
information IN regard to the works. Capt. Over
mas end Mr. Jsans. In pastisulas. did iii IN thsIy
power 70 show me around, and altoRsther ono
gets high idea Of West Point courtesy.