The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-11-18

nen lHC EdlSS IN SAO1~ I
water is held back to form a lake
14O miles long and the amount Of
water thus held weighs more than
one thousand million tons. At loo
tons to the car it would take nearly
10, OO0, 900 cars to carry that water.
n # you loaded it all on one solid
train, the cars would form a lin
reaching more than three times
around the earth, or fully one-third
of the distance between here and the
moon. At food time the volume Of
the Nile is so great, if it all could be
impounded, that it would fill that lake
in a day. The volume Of the Missis-
sippi here is far less in food times,
being only a bagatelle compared with
that Of the Nile
And still the works at Keokuk are
more wonderful than those at As
souan, as to the work they are doing
in the industrial world. The Assouan
dam is an Irrigation proposition. 1t
has added a million and a half acres
Of tillable land to the Nile valley and
has created a property worth many
millions. The keOkuk dam is a pow
er plant. 1t is a creator of work.
ing force, n when the whole plant
is completed it will have cost $25, OOO,-
600. 1t will then have a potentially
equal to that Of $4,000 horses, and
it's owners will soon be ready to put
100000 horsepower on the market.
They have already sold so, 200 horse
power to st. Louis, having made a
contract to furnish that much for the
period or nin~ety-nine years, and they
are now ready to supply the factories
and other industries of the country
about.
In addition to the electric plant it.
self, the Keokuk Power COMPANY. as
a compensation to the United States
LOT n use of the river, has, accord
ing to it's contract with the govern.
ment, built here a lock~canal' and =
dry dock for the use OF the public
lIne' canal enables river vessels of ali
sizes to pass up and down the stream,
ana the dry dock is, 1 am told. one
OF the largest interior dry docks in
t existence. The dry dock is situated
between the lock canal and the Iowa
5 snore, and the Keokuck compan,
agrees to furnish electricity which will
: keep II In operation for all time tt
: come. The company also gives tn,
power to operate the canal, and tina
Dy a special power plant, so that j
Is said the government has receive
8 DEMENT'S for it's concession to use tn,
river equai In value to ten or ifteel
s million dollars.
And now come with me for a wall
&C. over the works. shall ask DR.. G
I waiter Barr of the Keokuk Waite
POWER Company to go with us an
explain some of the details. He is tn
author of a little book entitled "Elec
trlc Power from the Mississippi river.
20 and has studied the ms and outs c
the great mass of machinery that
70 propelled by the stream. We ride fo
a mile through the old-fashione
town OF Keokuk, passing beautif,
N residences shaded by great forces
20 trees till we come to the river. II
in houses extend close to the edge of tt
I'd copper cables from lightning. The1
ne are six copper cables hung to tt
es biuff, and before we go down the 1or
er stairs, we have the dam, tie pow,
is, plant. h canal and the dry-doe
spread out before us. The dam do
not look a mile long, nor can o,
appreciate that the white palace
he concrete right under US covers almo
he as much space as the great building
the Library of Congress at Washin
at ton. 1t is only When we climb dov
,c- the hundreds of steps and tramp O
nm legs tired in going through the mil
! of construction that we realize tn
an these things are so.
Across the river we can see t
reat steel towers that carry the cab,
to st. Louis. The one nearest t
power plant is on the Illinois sho
more than $500 feet distant, and tho
which run from there on for a d
lance Of more than 100 miles are
Is 500 feet apart. Each tower is eigl
feet high. 1t is built on a concr,
ms foundation, and is so made that it v
ulit Withstand cyclones and earthquake
Vall DR.. Barr tells me that the cab
cut which carry h electricity are alb,
or as big around as your finger and Il
lice each consists of nineteen twis
ray, wires of copper. He says that fir
at the top of the overs a steel ca
= a runs, and that this is so connec
red with the ground that it protects
leld towers, with the steel cable on
ANS top.
by -
We walk down the steps to the ri
ever and stand for a m watching
the !workmen in the d~ry-docks. FrOm h