The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-11-18
Copyright. 1913. by Frank G. Car
penter.)

penter.)
Keokuk, Iowa.
have stopped off here on my way |
from st. Paul to New Orleans to see
the Mississippi river in harness. Tha
old ater-bronchO has
been lassoed by the cowboys or MOD
ern progress, and she is now
away doing work like a cart-horse.
h is already running the street cars
and many of the mills and factories
of st. Louis, which city is more than
a hundred miles off, and she will soon
have the wheels moving over a vast
district in the very heart of the ma
ton.
Think Of dropping a force equal to
100000 horses, all pulling at once,
right out of the skies into the center
of one of the busiest populations on
earth. That is what has been done
by the Keokuk power plant. Talk of
the palace of Aladdin and the slaves
of the lamp. The Aladdin Of the
Mississippi valley is Hugh l.. Cooper.
the engineer who conceived and built
the Keokuk dam, n the slaves of
the lamp are the waters OF this great
river. which for ages and ages will
now go on laboring day and night
for the nation.
I wish / could impress upon you
the nature of the country in which this
power has been created. Tns is the
heart Of the Mississippi valley, where
the and is worth $500 and upward
per acre and where a single crop, that
of corn, brings in upward of a thou
sand millions of dollars every year. 1t
is a country peppered with cities and
towns and gridironed with railroads.
It is a and where there are factories
at every few miles and where the peO-
pie have so much moRey that the
l- ry>rr11
make old Croesus look sick. 1t is a
land OF energy and industry; and
right here in the heart of 1t, out Of a
force which for ages has been running
10 waste, has jumped into being one
Of the greatest electric power plants
known to man.
You have heard the old riddle
why can't you dam the Mississippi
river?" The answer Is, why dam i
you can't" Well, that riddle is nc
good any longer. The Mississippi ha!
been damned here at the foot OF tn
Des Moines rapids. and l walked to
day over the great structure OF con
crete, almost a mile long. which hold
back the water and gives a stead!
flow for the creation Of power tn
year through. The damming wa
made possible by the nature of tn
valley at this point. Here the BLUM
that wall the river are closer than a
any other point in it's entire Length
and the coniguration OF the valley
such that the waters can be held bac
without OVERLOOKING thousands G
farms. At the same times they Civ
a fall which in h distance Of twelv
miles above the dam measures twenty
three feet. 1t is this fall that give
the power. The waters Of the Missi'
sippi come down at times at the RAJ
$500 49, ho1f v~t11iOv Orrhio fnx
per second, and the dam throws the
into mighty turbines, each Of whic
will generate a power equal to "a lir
Of two-hOrse teams twelve miles
length. The turbines are conneCtt
with dynamOs which generate IL
electricity. and the ZOO, 900 of hors
thus made go flying over great copp
cables to do their work for man. TIL
in a nutshell, is what damming q
Mississippi
And now as to the dam and I
works. l nave seen something of I
great dams of the world. l ha
tramped through the great locks
Panama, and watched the constrr
ton of the mighty dam at Cat
The locks ara of concrete and earth
have seen the great dam at Assou;
700 miles above h Mediterranes
ilS nv ~ 1917 o.
Egypt a regular water SUPP
throughout the year. That dam
built of granite. laid in cement.
is only about a third again as lG
as this dam at Keokuk, which
made of concrete, n its construct
is Just about the same. Both da
look like great stone viaducts b
across the river. Each is a v
through which great sluices are
allowing the river to flow through
TO be. held back at will. Gao SIT
Of the Keokuk dam has a spillv
much like the great Spillway
Gatun. and this is regulated b.
gate which can be raised and lowe
TO allow the river to go on or be
back as the engineers will. The, d;
are thus great stone walls pierced
these gates.
In the Assouan dam the water n,
ficws over the top. but through