The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-06-13

/, congressman upon first acquaintance /
with the proposition. I should say
that your enterprise is equalled only
by your audacity!"
But Keokuk had prepared to meet I
this characteristic and fully expected I
i observation. 1t had been years study
! ing the possibilities of such a venture.
iC. P. Birge, veteran wholesale gro i
Ger of Keokuk. had nursed the thought /
of water power for years. To his mind !
! the enormous horse power of the Des
Moines rapids represented loss to mil !
lions in the valley of the upper Mis-
j sissippi. One day in 1893 he issued
| invitations to twenty-five business
4 men of his own selection to meet with
him in conference in Keokuk Nine
teen of these men. inclusive of him
self. were of Keokuk; five of them
were Hamilton, Ill.,, men, and one was
! a man from st. Louis.
Every man responded to the call,
| There were men who would have re-
/ sponded but who were not invited by
Z, Mr.. Birge They may have been hurt,
i even angered, but Birge was of the
j type not to care. He was making the
first move to the end of water power
d from the rapids and he wanted the
men he knew.
!, The result of that meeting was the
formation of the Keokuk and Hanil-
ton Water Power company, with a
capital stock of $4,000, made up of
; 800 subscriptions from each man
ipresent at that first meeting. At that
time the idea was to build compare
5 lively small wing dam on the Keokuk
: side and engineers from Chicago were
e called in consultation. But the result
I of the conference was that tie pro-
0 posed wing dam, while feasible, would
t not be profitable venture and the
:, scheme for the time was abandoned.
= Oddly enough, it was Major Mont.
+ gomery Meigs of the United States
p corps of engineers stationed at Keo
d kuk, who made the first proposition
e for dam across the river.
It Move on Washington Carefully Plan
ned.
s Navigation interests en- the rive
n set up unanimous bowls of indigna
i ton. To dam the Mississippi river
k Unheard of and impossible! Gunboat
N would blow Keokuk off the bluffs !
g. 1t were attempted!
re But Birge wasn't frightened and h
1t had men with him who wouldn'
ID scare. Birge was president of h
Id company and with his river survey;
es with the opinions of government e1
lit gineers, and with every manner an
d. form of available backing that coul
IN be secured, he chose a ccmmitte
d. which was to move on to Washing
ton early in January, 1905. Thes
ut three men were John N. Irwin of th
H. Irwin Phillips company, A. E. Johl
e. stone Of the Keokuk Savings banl
and William Logan of the State Gel
n, trail Savings bank.
TX Congress was in extra session. Bill
", gray with years, were ahead on tt
al calendar. Time would be necessar
at but President Birge said to his cor
In mitteemen not to come back witho'
at the legislative act necessary for Il
err building of that dam. But expen
Of money would be needed? Somebot
tn went to Keokuk city council, One
III. two aldermen rose with op1ectloI
90 but were hooted down while the ci
let council voted $4,000 Of city funds +
let the trip Little Hamilton on the II
nois side of the river gave 5000.
"You see" said DIR. S. w. Moo
ak. head. postmaster and editor OF y
he Gate City, "Keokuk has way OF
ed ing unlawful things by unanimous &C
ne sent We had no legal right to tn
les $4,000 expense money, but we had t
he unanimous consent of the taxpayers
NV use it in that way"
err "And the work we did, getting tn
yht bill through" was subject that
rec tertained me nightly as Banker Joi
stone and Banker Logan talked 1T
the over and / sat listening.
be
ter Making Pull Effective the Problem
her Pull? They ha6 twice the hor
900 power of the Des Moines rapids
fioodtide with them. But to hook
idi, IdbL fWilciS Inc pun "C"iu ~ NiA~NS-
4 was the hard thing.
ing 1--WE had letter of introduction
ow- one of the most powerful OF SEM
to members, written for US by the $
,r1l- ator's own brother said Mr.. Jo
Wis stone. 'but when We tried to pres'
the it those seats outside his quarters
80 warm and hard as we waited.
me waited mornings and we waited aft
for moons. We would have waited mig
if we could
ust one morning this senator came
ion of his office and moved toward
yer elevators. Some one else, waiti
irs. said There he is now ] got
the and followed him. | told him we
lent letter of Introduction TO him. Fl
the whom he snapped. looking me o'
,ssi- From your brother, ! said, calling
to by name. Then I'll see you In
the morning. he said, brusquely,
tier went his way, making the three OF
:, ~ faaI Iilxa n silver uuarter with a