The Forrest City times., 1902-11-21
AN EVENIFUL OCCASION.
Completion of Lock and Dam Num- Der on the Beautiful White
 River.
NOTED BIG GATHERING OF BUSTsiSS LEN.
Eesult Obt t,ined Partially Due to tho In- fiuence of the Weekly Prsss-A Work of Ines unable Commercial Value to the itich Mineral Belt of Arkansaa


 White River is known locally as the Hudson River of the West, owing to its clear waters and the picturesque scenery on it's banks, particularly in the upper regions. This beautiful stream is 800 miles in length, with well defined banks from headwaters almost down to it's mouth. Through much of it's course the banks are ele- vated merging into towering hills and mountains. At points of it's pass age between the crests of the Ozark range and the Boston mountains it winds through narrow gorges where the hills are high and precipitous; through broad valleys bordered in places with majestic elevations, cliffs of granite. lime and marble and mines of zine, lead and copper - indeed. the rock formations and minerals includ- ed In the territory drained by this beautiful river and it's branches em- brace almost every variety known to the mineral kingdom. Here are at fractions for the miner and the specu- ! lator. and here too are attractions for the farmer, fruit grower and gardner, for on these enchanting elevations are found orchards which yield the big red apples and the Arkansas blacks which have made the State famous as fruit producing country. For gen eral farming also much of this up fitness, while the valleys have long land territory has demonstrated it's been celebrated for their fertility. Moreover, these upper regions abound in ideal resorts for tourists, pleasure seekers, sportsmen and health seek CTS. The wealth of springs for which this region is famed, the abundance of game and fish, the picturesque scenery. the pure air, laden with the perfume of pines and mountain flowers - all these render it the most delightful and romantic section of country found 1 between the Adirondacks and the Rocky mountain parks The lower part of White River where it ap- | breaches the Arkansas mas it's attrac- | tionS too in a vista of dreamy land scape, It widens and deepens as it meanders through stately forests of pine and cypress, broad fields of cot ton and corn to it's junction with the Arkansas
 It is less than four years since the prediction was made in the auxiliary print of the A. N Kellogg Newspaper Company that White River. when equipped with locks and dams would
 ng from State into National i'm portance. The prediction is now hon cred as a prophetic utterance. The progress of reform movements and enterprises of great importance is | usually attended by a succession of failures and a train of impediments. but not so with the effort started by Kellogg Newspaper sheets. After the appearance of the first article on river improvement, in September. 1898. the scheme had no struggle against ad
 verse fates. Right here a parallel might be drawn between the influence of the daily and the weekly journal in directing public thought and shaping events, but the purpose of this article is to prevent a resume of the improve ments of White River and detail a few facts regarding the origin of the scheme and the material effects of the enterprise on the tributary territory. State and Nation. It is an opportune occasion, however, to state that the thinking class who read the weekly paper and discuss its contents and deliberate well over plans suggested for internal improvement, readily grasped the facts set forth in the articles on slack water navigation for | interest in river improvement at once spread like a contagion and within a few weeks the efforts of the entire con- gressional delegation of the State were enlisted in behalf of the enterprise, l and the result was much more speedy and decisive than it's projectors ever | dreamed of. The completion of Lock and Dam No. l at Batesyille has 1 brought White River into National prominence. The Nation joins with 1 the people of Arkansas in celebrating | the completion of the first step in one of the greatest enterprises that ever 1 engaged the attention of the progress l sive clements of the State The work of river improvement is begun and it | will not cease until every mile of the l beautiful White River susceptible of 1 improvement will be placed in a con-
 dition for allthe-year boating. Mean
 time ventures in waterway develop
 ment will develop. which will eyentu-
 ate in the establishment of a deep Wa
 terway between Chicago and St, Louis,
 and on down to the mouth of the Mis-
 sissippi Then boats and barges
 loaded with rot6 and other heavy
 freight on White River will discharge