The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-06-28

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feet insulation and larger cables. In
carrying power to st. Louis from Keo.
kuk the cables will need to convey it
for at least 200 m lies. 1t is said by
engineers that not per cent of this
power need be lost in transmission II
the present plans are followed out
In carrying power to Rochester from
Niagara very small percentage is
lost. The trick lies in the insulation,
it Is said.
Like Nile Dam.
Recent work on the great Nile dam
built by the British to reclaim thous
ands of acres of land is brought to
mind in connection with the Keokuls
project. The greatest portion Of this
work, is, of course, the construction
of the dam. This dam will not be
much smaller than the British dam
over the Nile. The engineers have
been at work on the latter dam this
year making 1t higher in order to
irrigate another million acres of land
While the Keokuk plant will perhaps
have little to do with irrigation, 1t
will run the wheels of industry and in
the advanced age when coal has given
out it will aid in turning the great
wheels of industry of the Mississippi
Valley and the public utilities of the
city of st. Louis.
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the Lakes-to-the-G Gulf Deep Waterway
Association is in favor of the Keokuk
dam and indorses it.
so long as the people ge.. the bene-
fit of this sort Of thing, said Mr..
Kavanaugh, st is a blessing. I pre-
sumo that we would be able to tele
phone cheaper, light our homes cheap
er and ride cheaper When the deal is
put through; and that is just what
everybody wants. Coal is expensive
as fuel and the Des Moines rapids Of
fer cheap power to st. Louis. There
is no doubt that it will come sooner
or later but it takes at least Sic, 100000
to set the wheels going and also takes
time"
AS the center of the great middle
western industrial field st. Louis bust
ness men seem to favor the Keokuk
power dam. Between here and the
site of the dam is continuous string
of enterprise using power. St. Louis
would rather have the power rapids at
her door but she will undoubtedly gain
untold advantages by having it even
so near as KeokuK. Power may be
supplied to factories near the falls
and yet there would be plenty to send
to st. Louis,
Market For Power.
The market for the power contains a
multitude of possibilities In the heart
|of the great interior market the site
of the Des Moines rapids is central
to the great consuming portion of the
United States and in almost the geo
graphical center of the territory be-
tween the Allegheny and the Rocky
Mountains and the Great Lakes and
the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi
river affords means of transportation
to and from the south and the north
west, regulating freight rates in addi-
ton to its actual traffic.
Factories using steam for power, al
ready established and prosperous, find
lit economical to ship raw material
from Arkansas, Nebraska and inter-
mediate points. Within this sphere Of
commercial influence lie the resources
of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas,
Nebraska, Minnesota, tle Dakotas,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky. Tennes-
see and other states; it is superfluous
to discuss the possibilities of COM
merce and manufacturing in detail in
this age of development and transpor-
tation, but whatever ideas of that one
may have, the proposed dam and water
power electrical installation is in the
center of the forces at work and in
process Of development.
Though cheap rates on light, heat
car fares and every public utility de-
pendent upon fuel may be far from the
mind of the average St. Louisan, it
is agreed that Wien the Mississippi is
harnessed with bands of steel and the
gigantic work of the engineers is done
at Keokuk, this matter of low rates
may be more than dream. The for
warding of the project indicates per-
haps stronger than anything else that
the city is outgrowing the day of so
cent gas and a high rate on electric
ity. Hitherto the Des Moines Rapids
have merely been dreamed of only
in state of servitude by the men who
were far-sighted enough to see in them
latent power enough to furnish the
needs of millions. So the completion
of the second greatest water-power
project in Che United States perhaps
means much for the people of st. Lou
is.
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