The Monticellonian., 1902-11-20
AN EVENIFUL OCCASION.
Completion of Lock and Dam Num- Der I on the Beautiful White
 River.
NOTED BIG GATHERING OF BUSINESS MEN.
Result Obtained Partially Due to the In tuence of the Weekly Press-A Work of InestimabIe Commercial Value to the Rich Mineral Belt of Arkansas.

of InestimabIe Commercial Value to
 the Rich Mineral Belt of Arkansas.
 White River is known locally as the Hudson River of the West. owing to it's clear waters and the picturesque scenery on it's banks, particularly in the upper regions. This beautiful stream is 500 miles in length, with we'll 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 its 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 zinc, 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 between the Adirondacks and the Rocky mountain parks. The lower part of White River where it ap- breaches the Arkansas mas it's attrae= tions too in 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 its 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
 ring from State into National i'm portance. The prediction is now hon ored as 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 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 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 it's contents and deliberate well over plans suggested for internal improvement. readily grasped the facts set forth in the articles on slaek-water navigation, for interest in river improvement at once spread like a contagion and within few weeks the efforts of the entire con- gressional delegation of the State were enlisted in behalf of the enterprise. and the result was much more speedy and decisive than it's projectors ever dreamed of The completion of Lock brought White River into National prominence The Nation joins with the people of Arkansas in celebrating the completion of the first step in one of the greatest enterprises that ever engaged the attention of the progress sive clements of the State. The work of river improvement is begun and it will not cease until every mile of the beautiful White River susceptible of improvement will be placed in a con dition for all-the-year boating. Mean time ventures in waterway develop ment will develop, which will eventu- 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 rock and other heavy freight on White River will discharge their cargoes at the wharves in Chi cago. Cincinnati and other Northern ports. It is a military requirement as well as commercial necessity that gun boats and war vessels may pass from the Gulf of Mexico to Chicago. White River improvement is, therefore, not only of vast importance to the State but also link in the chain of water way events which affects the Nation and enlarges and increases the inter dependence of States and serves to strengthen the bonds of Union. The completion of all the locks and dams embraced in the White River inn provement scheme will result in the