The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-15


Stream Of my fathers! Sweetly still
Pour slantways down the long defile,
Wave, wood and spire beneath thee
smile.
whittier. The Merrimac.
River! oh river! Upon thy tide,
Full many freighted ship doth ride;
Would that thou couldst bear away
The thoughts that burden the weary
day.
Hoffman's Poems.
To the Editor Of The Gate City:
The subject OF greatest sorrow in
the settlement Of the new world by
the Anglo-Saxon race is the passing
away from their native lands OF the
so-called Indian tribes. What a
theme for memory and for tears Four
hundred years Of unrig hteousness.
This is not a very pretty record Of the
treatment OF an inferior people by a
more powerful class who should have
been more just
<1S Oul ISNSF bulH 6dACu oiChS cAAN
great Mississippi as gracefully and
easy as bird OF long fight, said to:
my audience on the steamer w. w.
that the people Of our land have never
been awakened to the immense import
ancc of the Mississippi river as q ma
tional feature. However. there is a
priority to this topic. When Horace
Greeley sent man to Kansas he
stated that the letters should have a
good beginning. This article had a
real happy beginning at our good
neighbor Warsaw, where Captain
Myers introduced the writer to Post
master Hunt, the chief of the Royal
Neighbors excursion from their city to
Fort Madison, and SO it happily trans
pired that received the freedom Of
the good river ship w. w. for the
voyage upon the classical river OF the
world Captain Redeforth Of the
Meeker also lent helping hand In
the enterprise. So we as friends
united for the accomplishment OF a
good purpose and for the pleasure Of
the occasion.
One feature which speaks well for
society is that large audience OF this
character is respectful and orderly.
At warsaw some four hundred persons
took passage. while Keokuk added an
audience There were many friends
and acquaintances, including some
from Clark county County Judge
Grimes, and Eugene Soule and family,
Little Miss Estelle Dory and Albert
and Mrs. Dory related to me many nice
little chapters of social history, and
| all the moments were to be pleasant
and profitable IN many ways. f. 3.
lTriboulet of Warsaw recited In histor-
ical line many events Of his long life
in Hancock county. He lived few
years in Alexandra, and then in
vested in Hancock county. AS our
ship passed north he explained to me
many character scenes of the country
ito be seen near the river. He remem-
bers seeing the great fire which con
sumed the Mormon Temple in Nauvoo
| in the early hours of the night OF that
Hateful evening in 1913. The illumina-
Ition attracted attention for many miles
/ in all directions. The burning OF that
peculiar edifice was one of the unfor-
tunate acts which can not be atoned
For. The magnificent synagogue, as q
jewel GROWING towering landscape
of fine beauty, should have remained
for the study and admiration of the
y,erpto of v,1onx- cerfurioc
Observations and study In the three
great forms of creative nature began
with the voyage. There Is the Missis-
sippi; the land as It appears in hills
and valleys, and the several great
classes of rocks they have been ex-
posed by soil erosion and by the
agencies Of man. emphasize the
statement that the Mississippi is the
tpre-eminent element OF transportation
in all the territory OF the North Amer
lean world. Flowing through the
richest lands in its passage across the
nation, the mighty stream as an ave
niue Of commerce Is without rival.
Looking westward from Warsaw the
great flood plain or ancient embay-
ment stretches for. miles into Missouri.
Here the rivers enjoyed freedom for
| their foods. At Keokuk the stream
escapes from its Imprisonment and for
sakes the gorge and the Des Moines
rapids. In obedience to one of the
laws so well established, the waters
move toward the western boundary OF
I its course. To him, who in the love
OF nature, az Bryan said, she hath a
voice and language for his quiet hours
So in passing along the river the OBJ
server is treated to variety of
scenery OF historic interest. At the
base of the bluffs the silent records OF
the past are visible in the exposures
of the Keokuk and other limestone
formations. Herein is the Des Moines
rapids canal, completed and used first
lin 1877. Below the Keokuk with its
fossils, the hydro-electric power dam
As more associated with the upper Bur
llingtcn formation This Is one OF the
I great rocks which Is very extensive
Moving out of the canal the M.,ag sen.