The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-08
european Governments Send Experts
~ World Wide Celebrity to
Study Darn and Water
Power.
FOREIGN COMMISSIONS
All Are Much Impressed BY Solution
In Concrete Of Difficult Problems
and Rapidly Of Con-
struction.

s-..
That foreign governments recog-
nize the magnitude OF the greatest
water power and dam being built here
in the Mississippi river is indicated
BY the large number OF very eminent
European engineers coming almost
daily to study it as commissions from
their government.
Most other governments have de-
partment Of public works which has
the same Importance as our own agri-
cultural department in the scheme Of
government The engineers who are.
at orsnear the top Of that department,
in Germany. Russia, France, and 9th
er countries, are really the salt Of the
engineering earth and the blue blood
ed aristocracy of engineering science.
Theysare beginning to come 20 Keo-
kuk at the rate OF two or three week.
Germany especially is sending differ
ent men to study different aspects Of
the wotk here, one man being a spe-
cialist In navigation problems, another
a specialist in water powers. another
q specialist in locks, and 30 forth.
A Crowd Of interrogation Points.
En- masse, they make crowd Of in
terrogation points. they go into the
most minute details details OF the
chemistry Of concrete, the electricity
sis Of bronze and iron in juxtaposition,
the cohesive coefficient OF cement and
silica. and OF two rusted iron plates
on each other. With one glance oy-
or a half mile of dam as wide as
city lot and as high as four-story
building they see three or four cues
lions presenting themselves they
want to know why this is done thus,
and why the other thing is different
from their own practice. When It is
1 all explained, they nod appreciative-
~, sanf ii some language not English
exclaim the equivalent Of good
work 7"
Each one on arrival Is shown all
over the miles of the works by some
member OF Chief Engineer Cooper.s
staff who must pass an examination
on every minute detail of the colos-
sal work here in the Mississippi, be-
fore he gets around with the eminent
visitor-and moreover must make 100
per cent, not only on the descriptive
matter, but on the reasons for every
detail being the way 1t is. All the
/ modern languages are spoken by one
or another member OF the staff OF
Chief Engineer Cooper but these not
ed foreigners generally speak English
very fluently and understand 1t per-
fectly, at least as long as the escort
sticks to Anglo Saxon roots for the
Germans and Latin roots for the
French.
Have Appreciation Of Achievement.
These foreign engineers of high
rank ali appreciate the achievement
of Hugh L. Cooper here in the Mis-
sissippi, as much as they do the Pan
ANA canal where most. Of them are
going next. They will make reports
to their governments on their arrival
home.
The novel features and the solving
of almost impossible problems. as In
the giant turbines here, and the lock
gates. they are quick to seize and ap-
precite They generally carry homc
drawings of such special features.
The other day. when DR.. Max Schin-
KEEL, in charge OF the great Kiel canal
ard about to build lock that will
mike those here and at Panama look
like finger bowls, was here not SIN
Gle steamboat could be found all day.
The German engineer asked five diff.
ferent times why such a colossal lock
as that here was built for so little rin
or traffic
Noted Foreign Engineers.
DR.. Max Schintel, regierungsbau-
meister, engineer in charge of the
great Kaiser Wilhelm ship canal with
headquarters at Kiel, Germany
X Frentzen, chief engineer IN
charge OF the canal at Essen-Rufr
Germany Both he and DR.. schinkel
We're especially interested In the
mammoth Keokuk lock.
l.. Bougougnon, of Marseilles, chiei
engineer Of roads and bridges OF the
government OF France.
Karl Fuchs. of Munich, in charge OF
Invertebrates for the German govern
ment.
DR.. Richard Borchers. Prussian gov
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