Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-09
SEE BIG FUTURE
FOR WATERWAYS
Congressional Commission I'm
pressed by Mississippi and
Hennepin Canal.
SPEND NEARLY DAY HERE
Visit Terminated With Dinner at
the Rock Island Club-LeaVe
for the South.

here yesterday on their way to New
Orleans and who are making hasty
trip, accepting entertainment at no
point, especially favored this locality.
Though delayed on their way down
the river, and obliged to leave the Da-
vid Upton at Bellevue in order to
| have as many hours as they desired
here, they visited the Moline lock, max
! ing a pretty thorough inspection of it,
then coming into Moline, took an early
afternoon train for Lock &c on the
Hennepin canal between Green River
and Geneseo, made a trip over the
canal from Lock &c to the Mississippi
river in the United States steamer
Ruth, thence up the river to Rock Is
land, where they arrived in time to be
entertained at dinner by the Rock Is
land Club, delegations of Moliners and
Davenporters meeting them there.
Pleasant Function mt Club.
Twenty-Five members of the club at
tended the dinner rendered the COM
mission at the Rock Island Club.
invited the Davenport Commercial
club and the Moline club to send dele
cations to be the guests of the local
club to join in the reception to the
visitors. Congressman James McKin-
ney, who came to the city to meet the
congressional party, also was a guest,
as was Colonel F. E. Hobbs, command
ant at Rock Island arsenal. The dele
cations from the neighboring cities
were: Moline, w. A. .Meese, Captain
w. G. Bennett, P. S. McGlynn, NJ. ].
McEniry. Senator F. A. Landee. A T.
Foster, Mayor Andrew Olson, George
Champion. o. F. Anderson, Z. A.
Herbst, F. G. Allen, Nelson H. Greene;
Davenport, Henry Vollmer, G. A. Ficke,
T. F. Halligan, J. F. Porter, ]. B. Rich
ardson, ]. H. Hartman, ]. Clark Hall,
Charles Grilk, Captain Lon Bryson,
Mayor George w. Scott. I. L. Wander
slice.
The dinner was concluded promptly
at 8 o'clock, speechmaking having
been dispensed with at the request of
Chairman Burton. At the conclusion
Of the dinner the members Of the COM
mission lined up in the library of the
club and received personally all of
the guests, after which departure was
taken, the David Upton pulling away
from the local port for the south at
$3.50. Major c. S. Richie, who became
official pilot to the party at St Paul,
will accompany the commission as far
as St. Louis. Another government en-
gineer will succeed him at that city.
The commission will travel through to
NRU Or1nana on fhn
Students of Problem.
The members of the commission are
all fair-minded men, and they are gen
uine students of waterways problems.
Fresh from their inspection of Euro
pean canals and waterways, and the
wonderful things that have been done
and are doing on the other side of
the Atlantic, each one of them was
enthusiastic in praise of the Missis-
sippi river and its possibilities. And
when 1t came to taking the trip down
the Hennepin canal, their admiration
was equally great.
Leaving tidewater canals out f
consideration, Said Senator Burton,
there is not a canal in Germany that
is wider than this, and only one that
can carry boats of larger tonnage
This one exception in Germany is the
only one in the European countries
visited by the commission that ex-
ceeds the Hennepin either In width
or carrying capacity" The countries
visited by the commission includ ed
land"
Anxious to See Canal.
Local people may have wondered
why the commissioners were so anx-
ious for an inspection of this lower
end of the canal-a work that is COM
pleted and that is now seeking no
appropriations except for maintain
ance. But it became apparent on the
way down the canal that 1t is
worthy object lesson to these gentle
men who are more fully acquainting
themselves with the whole science Of
waterway transportation. The Hen
nepin canal used for comparison with
the canals they have seen in Europe
helps them to solve home problems.
The Hennepin canal, in their eyes.
is all right. minus two or three very
important things. 1t is wide enough,
and is capable of carrying sufficient
tonnage. but it lacks first of all den
sity of population along it's route such
as to put tonnage af1oat in it. With
10 to 40 times as many people living
In that part of Illinois tributary to the
canal, this waterway will be quite 70
valuable as any In Europe.
Ocean-going vessels have really TO
place In such canal Colonel w. H.
Bixby, in charge of river work, and
whose headquarters are in st. Louis
a gentleman who went to Europe with
the commission-pointed out as a pos
sibiy fatal objection to canal naviga-
ton by ocean-going ships the diff
Guilty to be encountered in controlling
q steaushfD with screw nrouellar