The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1913-06-14
KEYSTONE LOCKS.

July Isl. 1913. has been named "a
the date for the formal opening nf
the keystone lock in BAYOU Teche,
some sin miles above this place and
about -four miles this aide Of st.
MartiuvilIe, WhiIu the locks are
not located in tnis parish and prob
ably viii not mean as much to our
part of the river traffic ~ they
will to that OF st. Martinvilc. vet
they are Of sufficient impnrtauea
to this city to prompt orr business
people to plan some demonstration
of our appreciation Of their com
pletion.
Mr. !. l.. piekey. Z. =. Junior En-
ginecr in charge, deserves "A great
deaf OF credit and some form Of
public recognition for the master
fnt manner IN which h. has con
Quoted the building operations
from the turning OF the first shot
elful Of dirt to the completion of
the Undertaking notwithstanding
thah he has been called upon to
dc al with the problems OF weather,
labor and floods, and their attend
amt worries, during the past two
years, he has ever been courteous
and affable to Sightseeing visitors
FROM all parts of the surrounding
country.
Leta do something to show our
appreciation of the completion OF
the undertaking II would not be
graceful on our pa"t to allow the
opening TO pass unnoticed. The
newt city fathers might plan their
part Of fitting program the
Board OF Trade couei enthu4e; the
Civic League. we feel confident,
viii grace the occasion by clever
thought and well performed part.
We know our people will work to
gether. IL some organization will
take the lead, Time is short.
Some seventeen years ago, tFch-
ruarX 1896, Capt T.. +. King, un-
den the authority Of the Police
Juries of tn. Tcche parishes, gath
cred deal Of statistical figures
ps tanning to the commerce Of this
section His letter was embodied
in a report made to the War De-
pertinent by Maj. JAS. y. Quinn,
Corps Of Engineers, covering "A
survey of bayou Teche from st.
Martinvllle to Port Barre. This rc-
port dealt with the problem Of
per Teche and recommended locks
at Keystone and at point Just
below the mouth of bayou Fusil-
lier. This report bore date of
June, 1897.
The agitation of the question, OF
the Improvement of the Teche, was
begun many years before this. but
then ii was crystalized into report
form with favorable recommends
tiOns. Work was once started to-
wards building locks at st. Martin
vile, but the breaking out Of tie
Civil War nullified all that was
done, as we'll as the plans then
proposed.
The Bayou Tcche Improvement
Association was formally organ
lied into going concern in the
City Hall of this City on Septem-
ber Is, t9O8-nearly five years ago.
This organization did much val
liable work in gathering new stati-
tics of the commerce Of the Teche
valley, in having surveys made, in
formulating recommendations to
Congress- ana in otherwise sup
porting the finally effective ef-
forts of Congressman r. r. Brous-
sard in securing the necessary
national appropriations to carry
out the plans.
Many years of thought and earn
est effort of some of the most pub
lic-spiriteb citizens OF this Sec
ton have been devoted to the ac-
complishment of this undertaking.
Considerable sums of private and
local public funds have been de-
dicated to its promotion. The
locks, to-day, are an accomplish
ment. 1t does not appear to us az
being just right or proper to al
low their formal opening to take
place without some public demon
stratioh indicating our apprecia-
tim