Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1902-11-10
ARRANGE TOGO
TO PARKERSBURG

looked forward TO By our citizens
as their future summer diversions
ere 'oa2
The information inspiring the
above delightful prospect came
from Engineer VIM. NJ Hall who
Is in charge of Ethe United States
work at Parkersburg and vicinity,
including the construction o he
dams above and below he city thar
are 10 bring about the pleasing con
ditions. 1t came In the closing re-
marks of very instructive inter
>.e- IiVe" b. the distinguished
,e:"ter very recently, upon the
subject of movable dams and locks
10 gen,1a'. l. substance b. aid
The first movable dams ever
constructed were built over oue
nrdred years ago Ia the Lehigh
RI -r fnr 'hr purpose Of transport
Ing anthracite coal in barges to
Philadelphia. They proved sue
cessful for the object intended In
Europe about the first built were
in the year 1894. Since that time
the European countries, esp ecially
France and Belgium, have used
this method of improving their riv-
ers to great exten,.
In the United States, after =
first ard successful dam had beer
constructed nothing more was done
for many years, In fact, not until
the improvement o. the Great Ka
nawha river was begun by the gov.
ernment. The building OF the rail-
..u-. n'.In pI,veD a me ,lmg
aeaper, was In great part respon
be Ior this fact American er
refs while doing TO conslruc
lion work Of sort themselves
vldently kept in close touch with
wrk In foreign countries, Tor
fin that rhe Grsst Kana~h
Improvements are among the finest
From the headwaters
to the mouth the river Is thoroughly
,. Adj. aCCpTuarCe with the
eutral Idea. There aIe seven
movable dams and two stationary
he laLi,r at the head of the river
nakirg nine In all.
"In the development Of the Kan
ha coal fields the greater factor
has been the improvement of the
Great Kanawha river, and the slmi'
| v tage that will accrue 10
all the separate sections that make
mp the Onio Valley can easily be
seen. The tonnage Of the coal In
the Ksnawha field in 1875 was
Io1 900 tons. In 1000, I,24I. 900
tons.
Right now the greatest lock and
dam In the country is that at Davis
island, just below Plttsburg. Tt
was completed In the year 1883
and In thel2o years that have INFER
vened has been one of the main
factors In the marvellous growth of
Pittsburg. Dc you know the board
of trade or whatever busine. mems
organization ex >red h-r. opp'~to
the construction of the dam when
1t was first proposed? It did every.
thing possible to prevent the action
beiug taken by The govern uent,
even sending committee to Wast.
ingtou 70 argue against 1t. In
marked contrast was the action ia
ken nv he (o,l Exchange of Pitts
Hr'g drring the wiuter of 1920.
An Ice gorge threatened 20
b-eak down the wall of
the dam and the engineer In
charge had about decided to let
1t down. The Coal Exchange tele
graphed to Washington asking
that this be I, no, permitted, saying
that the damage to the coal fleets
in the pool. by reason of letting the
water our. would amount to more
than the COS. of reconstructing the
dam. The Ohio river traffic has
certainly been immessurabl7 great
er by reason of the lock and dam a.
Davis island. So
"As you say. the amount OF
possessed by the gener
al public regarding the construction
and operation OF a dam and lock Is
very limited. There are three sep
rate and distinct parts the lock
the movable dam and the abutment
The top Of the dam is, say I3 feet.
sbove the low water state. WneD
he water Is below tae eight-foot
'tsge ii: dam Is pus up and all