davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15

water sport for pleasure seeking =.
pie within miles OF Keokuk. i ps0S
The lake Is much wider than ].
Mississippi river was before 4 NY ny
harnessed. a great deal Of the ,aa =
on either side has been overaowa wv
costing the water-power comma :
large sums Of money to buy il FROM -,
its former owners. o'u
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15

mission lines are the last word In that
department Of engineering and were
built by the Stone & Webster Engin-
eering Corporation which also install
ed all the great electrical equipment OF
the power house and designed and
built the beautiful superstructure Of
the latter
This transmission line runs on a
private right-of-way 100 feet wide,
partly over the fiat Mississippi bot.
toms and partly over the rolling agri
cultural or timbered country. Ii
crosses the Mississippi river twice
and the Missouri river once, by Iona
spans OF special construction.
The towers which support the trans
mission line are four-legged steel
structures similar In construction to
the familiar windmill tower but much
heavier and stronger They are OF
two types, standard and anchor.
| Towers Carry Great Weight.
The standard towers carry line
wires freely suspended They are u
feet In total height and 20x30 feet al
the base. and each weighs $500
pounds. They are designed TO support
the weight and side strain OF all, wires
under extreme weather conditions
and also pull resulting from brok
en- wires. Each leg of these towers il
bolted to reinforced concre.a foun
dalton shaped like an inverted mush
room, weighing nearly 1000 pounds
and extending from high water mark
In the case OF low land, to six fee,
above ground level.
The anchor towers to which the
conductors are dead-ended, are Of
more stocky build TheyAare n fee,
in height, 24x24 feet at the base and
weigh 10000 pounds. They are de
signed to withstand not only ths
stresses prescribed for the STANDARD
towers. but in addition the breaking
Of all the wires on one side whicf
i would cause total pull OF nearl,
$4,000 pounds. Each OF the four foun
dations for one of these towers weigh.
$4,000 pounds. and extends eight fee
below ground level.
! In the standard line CONSERVATION
spans are approximately 500 feet anc
anchor towers are used at all angles
on both sides OF railroad crossings AMI
approximately every tenth tower OF
tangents.
Towers Carry Seven Wires.
/ These towers carry seven wires II
all. Six, comprising the two trans
mission circuits, are arranged In YER
/ teal planes IS feet apart on each sid.
| OF the towers at elevations Of so. &;
and 10 feet above the ground. ard tn.
seventh rr ground wire. when pre
tects the conductors from l.ghruin.
as lightning rod protects buiidine
/ is mounted at the apex OF the tower.
The wires of the main ci-c.it ar,
composed OF nineteen strands Of hsrt
drawn copper and are u inch In di
ameter- The ground wire is a gal
vanized seven-strand cable. y inch ii
diameter.
4 The fnsulatcrs which support iii,
thigh tension conductors are OF excep
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
THE DAM

Never before in the history of engin-
eering has such dam been built TO
halt a great river and divert its wa
tiers through power house where the
energy may be used to make electric
power.
No such colossal barrier of con,
crete ever was built before, no such
river as the mighty Mississippi ever
was harnessed before. so the great
wall which extends from the Illinois
shore to the Iowa shore at the foot of
the Des Moines rapids is one of the
many big features of She greatest wa
ter power plant in the world.
The dam wall resembles great
concrete bridge nearly one mile long.
The top of it is nearly as wide as a
Keokuk street and there is room for
three trains to pass over it at the
same time This dam consists of 119
arched spans very much like the piers
In a concrete bridge. They are six
feet thick and thirty feet apart in.
side measurement. Between the
arches are the spillway sec ions over
which the water rushes. This i'm
mense wall will stand the abuse of
centuries. The concrete grows hard
er and firmer every day and the
Mississippi, gnawing 1t every hour.
minute and second of the day will
never wear it down.
First dig Construction Work.
The dam was the first piece of big
construction work of the Keokuk wa
ter power development plant The
piers were put in first, just like the
piers Of a great bridge anad when
they were completed the dam had the
appearance of many spanned bridge.
The spiilways between the piers
were built in later. On the upper side
they have a vertical face, but on the
down stream side they are so curved
down and out that their surface is
just the shape of the under side of the
water as it falls over the top of the
spillway These spillways were built
gradually so as to offer the minimum
resistance to the flow of the river.
The work was done by building slowly
& from the bottom IN Five feet OF con
crete was laid at first between two
piers, the only obstruction then be
ing one thirty.foot cofferdam in the
whole stream. A span at time was
filled in in this way until the bottom
layer was finished Then another five
foot layer was built all across. span
at time. and so on until the last lay
er brought the top OF the spiliway sec.
tons to thirty-two feet above the riv.
er he'd.
On the upriver side Of each span
slots were let into the piers at
the top OF the spillways. in which
slots slide 119 steel gates, These can
be let down so as TO form variable
obstruction TO the river. These gates
are almost the size of the side of a
house and are raised and lowered b1
electric power. each being operated
singly from travelling crane on tor
of the vtaduct These gates Will keer
the water above the dam at a con
slant level, never varying. In hist
water they are open and the surplu.
flows through In low water a suff
cient number Of them are closed Il
maintain the desired level.
Locked In River Bottom.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
THE BIG TURBINES

1no Wdu6r wheels OF turbines hera
at Keokuk are several times as ,aro.
as any ever before built. They NAV
be best described as huge iron rose,
containing ton after ton OF meta,
and placed on steel stem to reyo,p.
for thousand years and more m,
water Of the Mississippi is toda,
rushing through thees water wheels
causing them to revolve. turning
shaft which connects with the elec.
trio generators, and thereby produc.
ing electric power. The turbines us,o
in this plant are the Francis type Or
special design. with 10000 horse.
power capacity each.
When they were cast 1t was quit,
q problem for the railroad companies
handling them. to chip them here
The turbines were cast in Akron.
Ohio, by pouring seventy-three tons
OF molten metal into mold that took
weeks to fashion mold which was
a mass OF convofuted curves as com.
plex as double rose In full bloom
| and as large as workman's cottage
1t took week to haul them to Ham.
ilton. Illinois, whence they were
brought to Keokuk and deposited in
the power house.
5r~g
Turbine Dimensions.
The turbines are over sixteen feet
| in diameter and over eleven feet
high, as they set in their normal hor.
i1ontal position. Importance was not
only attached to designing the tur.
bines, but the selection, or invention,
OF means OF suspending the turbines
SO that they will be firmly fixed in
location and vet revolve with the
| minimum friction.
When 1t is appreciated that the re-
volving part OF each unit here, the
turbine and generator fastened to the
same vertical shaft, weighs $4,000
pounds. and that this weight presses
upon one bearing supporting the unit
In unceasing revolution, It will be I'M
derstood that matters OF stress strain,
weight, fabrication and regulation be
come OF the utmost Importance in the
construction plans.
Tn turbine Is placed IN the bot
tom OF a cylinder Of concrete lineo
with steel-for the purposes OF lucio
explanation. It is better to treat 1t as
q steel cylinder encased In concrete
when Viewed from the angle Of the
turbine installation. This steel cylin-
der is called the pit liner; at its top
and bottom are the upper and lower
rings which support the entire weight
OF the power unit These pit liners
weigh 212,000 pounds The rings
weigh 100000 pounds: they had to be
cut into quarters for railroad trans.
portation to the dam from the steel
mills: two quarters, half a right, were
loaded on one fiat car and special
routing had to be made with due re.
gard to bridge strength enroute.
Capacity 10000 Horsepower.
4 The norman capacity OF each turbine
here is slightly over 10000 horse
power
Fastened to the upper end OF the
turbine spindles are the electric gen,
orators. which revolve at the same
speed as the turbines themselves.
Each generator has capacity of 4.
500 kilowatts. The low speed and
large output compels large size in
every part Of one of these generators.
They are of the latest type of re-
volving field inside fired armature.
As it stands on the floor OF the power
house, each generator will have an
outside diameter Of 81 feet inches;
the diameter Of the revolving field IS
rs feet 5 inches.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
Locked In River Bottom.

The dam structure is keyed into
the blue limestone bottom of the riv.
er, In the advanced cofferdam, as
the dam was being driven across the
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
The Power House is the Largest in the World and the
Transmission Lines Running From it Will Garry
Power Greater Distance Than Any
Transmission Lines Built.

river. excavations were made with
four-inch holes drilled thirty feet deep
at frequent intervals to test for seams
and pockets of softer material The
excavation is about Ave feet below
the river bottom, varying with irregu-
larities in the rock floor. which, how
ever. is nearly level and smooth.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
Six Biz Features Of Keokuk Power Plant

tional interest They consist If seven
corrugated porcelain discs ten Inches
In diameter, mounted in string by
means Of malleable iron fittings,
which are cemented to them These
ipsulators were selected after large
number OF tests OF various types with
the highest voltages that had been
used for that purpose, and an insu-
lator was finally devised which af-
fcrded a safety factor greater than
that employed on any transmission
system OF like voltage in existence.
No ereakdoWns Expected.
The insulator il held to the tower
and tho conductor to the insolator By
fittings Of open hearth steel. The ut
ting for the latter purpose. ca n The
wire clamp. consists ct two plates
into each Of which wavy groove fiar-
Ing ct the ends has been pressed.
These are boated together ar ,und the
wire and The waves serve to produce
the necessary friction for holding It.
A large cable Of this kind must be
held 30 that mono Of the small indi-
vidual wires are smashed In the
clamp, and much careful investigation
was necessary before this type OF
clamp which holds the wire firmly
and yet does not injure 1t, was devised.
The mechanical design Of the trans
mission lines. both north and south.
is sufficiently liberal SO that no break
down need be expected even under
the most severe weather conditions.
Electrically, the line is designed SO
that corona" or loss Of electricity
into the air Will not occur below
$4,000 volts. or So per cent above the
normal operating potential. In trans.
hitting $4,000 horse power to st
Louis at unity power factor, the cleo
trical losses will be approximately 8
per cent
! The st. Louis line has been In op.
Grafton for some time, and gives per.
fleet satisfaction. The line to Bur
llington is practically completed.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
TRANSMISSION LINES

Power is being transmitted south
to St Louis and north 10 Burlington
The 10000 volt transmission line to
. St Louis is IA miles long The trans.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
POWER HOUSE

The power house, planted in the
Mississippi river several hundred feet
from the Iowa shore, and wherein
is installed several million dollars
worth of the most sensitive and care
fully designed electrical machinery,
will produce more power than any
similar power house in the world.
When the dimensions are reviewed
the immensely of the power house can
be imagined LIS feet long, 1872 feet
wide and 1T feet high from the low
est point In the tail race to the high
est point OF the roof. the power house
is as large as twelve story building,
FIVE blocks long and nearly half
block wide
The power house is built with Its
entire length almost parallel with the
river and the water runs through it
almost at right angles to the Missis-
sippi, taking the normal direction of
the river in the tail race excavated in
the river bed from the upper end Of
the power house to the railroad site
of this work.
!
Where Water Turns Wheels.
The power house is formed OF two
parts; the substructure and the SUI
perstructure, The substructure is 10
feet high to the generator floor, and
rs feet high to the floor to contain
the transformers. The two parts
have entirely different uses. The
lower part, or substructure, popularity
called the basement, is an integral
part OF the hydraulic engineering by
which power is developed; the super.
structure houses the electrical ma.
chinery which is intimately connected
with the architecture and which
largely governs the designs for the
walls and roof
The power house is the point where
the weight OF the impounded water
the energy of the flowing rivers
converted into the motion of revoIv-
ing water wheels which in turn cause
the revolution of electric generators
fixed on the same spindle with the
turbines.
The power house is set down In the
bedrock of the river about a5 feet he
| low the surface of the limestone bit
tom Of the Mississippi The object of
this is TO gain fall by depressing the
tail race and thus increasing the dis
lance between the top of the dam and
the bottom of the hydraulic plant.
Built to Stand for Ages.
The entire area. third OF a mile
long, and somewhat wider than the
power house. Eas excavated 10 the
4 proper depth by blasting processes
similar to those employed In the Hin
ois division for quarrying rock for the
dam. The limestone bed OF the riv.
er was found 10 be hard and irapervi.
Gus, and an ideal quality for this de-
velopment The rock taken out from
the power house site was crushed
and used for concrete and other pur-
poses. the quantity. about sen.oao
cubic Yards. being nearly identi al
with the amount needed for concrete
on the Iowa division.
The power house installation con.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15
Boats Locked Through Quickly.


1t is proverb that the gates are
the lock. since the walls present no
considerable problems for the con-
structing engineer. The lower gates
are so feet high and rs feet long
and span the ITO feet width Of the
lock. The lift here is 40 feet and
this head of water against gates of
ITO feet width which must be easily
and rapidly movable presented serious
problems which had to be worked out
carefully, not to say ingeniously. The
gates when closed curve In the arc
of circle. to gain the strength against
pressure which curved line presents.
Each gate is heavy steel truss, Its
members fitted together In lines to
afford the greatest strength against
water pressure and against the com
pick stresses coming upon the truss.
, This large, heavy. strong, trussed
framework is faced with plates OF
steel. The pivot at the heel upon which
the gate turns is hemisphere in
shape hollow half globe resting on
half globe. Is inches In diameter
one of the surfaces being bronze and
the other special. hardened steel
The time required for a boat TO &c
through the new lock is from ten to
fifteen minutes, For miles up the riv
er there is deep water permitting full
speed and no crossings to keep in the
channel. II required over an hour
Cor boat to get through the three
locks formerly in use. and two hours
for boat to pass through the cana
under slow bell. Steamboat officers
estimate that the time between Keo
/ kuk and Montrose. twelve miles ur
the river. has been shortened nearly
two hours.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-08-15

iron being culyerts crossing the lock
floor at intervals. The main culvert
is thirteen feet In diameter and the
others are six feet In diameter. The
culverts are cast In concrete around
steel lining. The angles in them are
so sharp. and the water pressure and
velocity SO great. that the friction of
the water against the concrete would
wear the latter. if 1t were not protect
ed with steel There is system of
small, temporary cofferdams which
permit any culvert to be emptied and
entered for inspection or repairs.
Each wall of the lock is block
OF concrete, the one continuous with
the power house and the other with
the dry dock. Each wall is over SO
feet high and SO feet wide at the
base of the solid part; at the top OF
the west wall are inset arches giving
a wider causeway on the top. The
solid top of the east wall is 8 feet
wide; that of the west wall is 90
feet wide.
Evening star., 1913-04-20
.BElMONTS WINNERS
Land District League Cham
pionship by Four Games.
GOOD FELLOWS SECOND
Garrisons Fail and Tie for Third
After Contesting Leadership
All Season.

Beimonis not only Won the District
Duckpin League championship for the
season of 191o-13, but had the unique
distinction on the last night of the sea-
son OF sending the team with which II
has been fighting for first place back into
triple tie for the third rung in the
championship ladder. Garrisons had been
Belmonts most dangerous rival for
premier honors In their league. and for
many weeks it was a nip-and-tuck strug-
gle. the two duints dividing the honors
with a tie one week, only to have the
other assume the leadership the next.
The 14th street team got its knockout
blow when Sam Hawksmith was taken i'll
some weeks ago. and from that period
the class OF bowling by the Garfsons
fell. Goodfellows finished second, with
the Toledos, Hummers and Garrisons tied
for third.
Pop" HALEY has the distinction of
leading the league In individual work
with an average of 104.87 for seventy-four
games. Michaud was second
Other prize winners were:
Farrow, jr., third high individual aver
age, 1854. Greatest number of strikes.
Michaud, "a: Oliver. second, %. Greatest
number of spares. HALEY. 149; Dunn.
second, 1876. High individual game. Week
Evening star., 1913-04-20
FARMERS TWELVE
PLAYS TIE GAME
M. A. C.. Held to | to | Score
in Lacrosse by Baltimore
City College.

The Maryland Agricultural College Ia
crosse team was played to a standstill
Yesterday when the Baltimore City College
twelve played it to a 1 to 1 tie. Playing
on slippery field and braving a strong
wind, which proved a handicap to both
teams, fast team work was displayed
The Aggies seemed to be in better con-
dition than the Baltimoreans Tor they
played more aggressively and consistent
ly throughout the game. but the excellent
playing by Wolfe, the City College cap
tain, and Newman, at goal, prevented
the Aggies from winning the game.
The Aggies were first to score, when
Trimble, the Aggies' star defense man,
shot an accurate and difficult goal. the
tally coming about five minutes after the
beginning of play. The City College ag-
gregation tried hard to even matters IN
this period but to no avail
Two extra ten-minute periods were
PLAYED but neither team registered the
deciding tally For the City Coilege
Wolfe and Newman played best. while
for the Aggies Capt. Powell, Gray ano
Trirnble did good work. the playing or
the latter being the feature of the game.
Lineup and summary:
Evening star., 1913-04-20
RECORDS FOR $4,000
STAKES ARE BROKEN
F0rty-Five Horses Named for
Big Trotting Event at
Detroit.

DETROIT Mich, April 19.-Ail records
for $4,000 stakes are broken in the
entry for the Michigan stake. 81, tro:-
ters. to be raced at the grand cjrcuft
meeting in connection with the Michigan
state fair September II to % With
some parts of California and distant
points yet TO report. forty-five horses are
named in this event the only one in the
country which carries with it a limit as
to the earning power OF the entries
Any horse winning stakes and purses Of
a face value of s35Oo between now and
September shall be declared ineligible
to the Michigan stake.
Entries to the other events at the state
fair have held up well. the 2.12 pace
for 5000 attracting twenty-one, the 2.oo
pace sixteen and the 2.16 pace twenty.
Following are the entries in the two big
stakes:
Anna X. Barton, Barring. Barney
Gibbs. Baron Del Ray. Baron King,
Benny Boy. Bertha Cary, Black Cat,
Border King. Brighton, Buck Leyburn.
Castle Dome Creosote, Dingee' FL
Patch Fsrra, Floy Belle, Frances
Graham, Fuzz Johnson Glenard.
Gretchen Wilkes. jim Todd, Judson
Girl, Lily Woodford. Lord Dewey. Lou
Dewey, Lulu Worthy. Mary Louise.
Meadowdale. Mundy c., Peter Sims.
Reusens, Roy L., Santos Maid, Sidney
$. SoN De Forest Star Winter. Tidy
Peter. Uncle Biff, Tenara, Zomblack.
2;l2 pace. purse. $5.000-Akar. Argot
Patch. AXteil Line. Bessie Luke. Black
Badge. Cubanola H.. Del Ray. billiard
online II. DR. C1ar. John H.. Lucille
Audubon, Margot Hail. Ruby K, Search
Me, Seynora, The Assessor, Worth,
Grand Opera. Leata J., Holly Brand.
Evening star., 1913-04-20
c. j. FRESHMAN NINE
BEATS BLISS SCHOOL
Blue and Gray Youngsters
Score 21 Runs-WiIi Play
St. Joseph's.

The authorities at Georgetown nave al
lowed the freshman base ball team to
schedule a game with the ST. Joseph s
College team of Philadelphia here May l.
The Props have played the, Philadelphia
team at Philadelphia on several occa-
sions, but the St. Josephs team has
never played. in this city. So far this
year the ST Josephs College team has
made fine record in Philadelphia, hav-
ing defeated several OF the leading prep
schools i'll that vicinity. In fact they are
at the present time fighting it out for the
championship of Philadelphia. AT this
college both the preparatory school stu
dents and college men are allowed to play
on the team and in this way they always
have fine teams. Edward BemiS. who
coached the Georgetown foot ball team
last fall and who coached the st.
Joseph's foot ball and base ball teams
last year, is instrumental in bringing
about the game here
Billy Martin, the clever shortstop of
the freshman team, made four Lifts for
a total of seven bases and fielded his
position in a manner than was wholly
creditable. Martins performance yeSter-
day was good any seen on the
Georgetown Field this year
The Bliss team looked weak before
the pitching of McNulty. He at time
exerted himself and kept the hits he
gave well scattered.
The score: