Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-01-12


Visit to Sycamore Dam.
As announced est evening. the excursion
70 Sycamore Chain. fer the purpose Of See
ing the bottom Of the river and the q. snt
Of shs imprsvsmsnts being msd. there,
came o6 ts-dsy. At the sppeintsd time,
9 O'Clock a. T., some I've or three hundred
Of our citizens assembled at the depot, and
crowded into three coaches, and we're sosn
in Rock sand. There an equal number
joined the party and with tour coaches sn d
two box cars for deaihsads. wandering Bo-
hen.ans, ard prominsn. officials, such -
county legislators, city councils ard sich,
ths patty we're of-eut "for . time" 70
see vh,rs the waters had rolled from time
imm.mor.al. 1t gay, jo,iAl crowd Of
rouns aad cid. besides large number OF
ladis,, some going for curiosity, others to
bring back sone treasure.
Under the supervision Of Conductor
~N-4 w Wttc a-AS. al ECGl .
Pisasantride, At the
coryIs DAN,
aws,k vel worth seeing tas largest, as
we'll - the most difficult work Of ths kind
ever constructed, costing ever 800, ,ooo.
The shore forms one side, and . massive
dam, 400 feet in length, extending out
into the river. enclosing ever 80 acres, form .
ihs three sides next to the water.
The crowd numbering near five hundred,
poured GU. Of the cars, and were soon scat.
tered over the works, oil eager to satisfy
their curiosity. The river nen hastened to
see the points and boulders that bad tried
their Chr stian spirit and the hssls Of their
boats, curiosity hunters commenced to
gather shels, pebbles and pieces Of rock,
while others searched the ereviees foI some
Of the rsputsd cavsrns /; and il is said BY
those On the watch, that eur Board Of Su-
pervisers, OF soms Of them, discovered the
secret entrance to the mysterious island
cavern. Time will not permit full and
complete description sf this great wsrk.
From the sfices in command. Maj. Allen,
who received the visitors With the greatest
Of courtesy. ~ we're enabled = learn the
following Interesting particulars:
THB cHASSDL,
when completed, will follow. in the main,
the pilots old chsnne,. The reasons for
this, are, that it can be m ore easily improv
Cd, Be equally ~ good. and cost about q
quarter - much as one cut straig ght through
the chan. This channel follows the gen
eral contour Of the shore, with numerous
irregularities, ZONE Of them Of considerable
,z., and in one place the rocks seem 10
Join almost across the channel. These
prominent places, projections and irrsgu
lari,es bore the marks Of having been we'll
sc,apsd BY beats, and are, doubtless, well
remembered by many . pilot and bsa,
owner. In several Of these places ws
found pieces efwood, probably from the
bottom Of some boat. s.ill wedgei into the
projections.
The contractors are employing 500 men
N = cost Of 81 30 per day. aud s1pee. to
remove Is, 900 cubic yards ofrsck, in order
to complete the work. For this th ey rs>
esive tl3 Per yard. This is to cover tire
whole expense to the government. In
deepening and widening this channel, they
are obliged in some places, to cut through
the so,id rock, over hundred feet. 70 ID
average depth Of two feet while the other
rregulari;ies 20 be removed, vary from two
or three feet, up TO ten, fifteen and twenty
fest in width, and from two to Eve in depth.
The rock is Of limss,ous formation, And
the channel through il appears to have
been worn by the sc.ion Of the waters, as
above and below the water is deep. Be-
sides the pilots channel, there are quite a
number o. other channels, or "feeders' 10
it. whers shsse come in, and where 9TH
srs leave il, thsrs are irregular projections
bearing the marks Of contact with boats,
showing one OF the causes that made it Sc
difficult 70, boats 10 keep within bound.
when coming down. These feeders and
outlets. IS well IS the deep holes in the
main channel, are being filled with the bro
ken rock asis is taken from the ledges
This viii cause the water to flow more
evenly. and with . better supfly, As in
times Of lowwater, the,supply will be the
same ~ heretofore, and it will bs obliged
to keep in the boating channel. When
completed, the channel Will bs ssrpsntins
With only two curves, and those very easy
f.r the passing cf bats. TIE .dges will
be smoother, 80 ,ha; in coming down, the
current viii take the boats through without
danger. Its width will be, on an average,
250 feet, and in ssns places over 500
feet, and in no place less than 200 feet. The
chain, - many know, extends across the
river, and 10 about 5000 feet in width.
The work 10 bsisg crowded through With
all possible dispatch, 20 that il may Be
completed before the brsaking up Of the
ice. Maj. Allen, with an efficient essps Of
engineers, 10 in constant supervision sf the
work. that the cutting ana filing nay b
done properly. The principal part Of the
work wss in constructing the daug and
freeing the area from water. They com
osnosd pumping On the l4sh sf December,
and had the water al cut sn the 26,h fol-
lowing. As . matter ss course, considerable
water new leaks int the enclosure, and, 10
keep it dry fer the vorkmsn, two steam
pumps are kept st work throwing it cut at
the lever sni Of the dam. These two
pumps have combined capacity Of 1000
cubic feet per minute. It is estimated that
they throw out ever o,ooo, 900 gallsns d
water daily. With this sstimsts ever l0o,-
900 900 gallons must have been pumped
ou. to enable them to zee bottom 90 % to