The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-08-28

~ Iudl udNS SOAIC ~ 1ASohuA ~
the past ten years none has
been more desired than an inland
navigation terminal on the Mississippi
river. Keokuk has long needed a
more beautiful water front as we'll as
a good freight terminal along ther iv-
er, and with m is to come the other.
The announcement Is made that the
| city council has authorized the first
work to begin in September.
A. the same time a levy will be made
by the council for the purpose OF
adding to the 81, 7O2 which is now on
hand for the purpose. The law
authorizes two mills, but it is not likely
that the maximum levy will be made.
Under the plans 10 being studied
the Improvement is put in in sections,
800 feet in length at a time, and the
first improvement will be confined to
one section to keep down the initial
expense. As money is secured from
time to time the work Will be ex'
tended.
Harding's Plans.
4 u pldllS Vi dh II
on freight terminals, Fl. Mel. Hard
ing, consulting and designing engineer
of the freight terminals, of New York,
will be followed insofar as is advisable
under local conditions. Along the
waters edge will be built a wall OF
concrete facing, with the center OF
the wall of broken stone In concrete.
I Ncuf I'LL ho ak for fra violin q
cranes and then a railroad track.
Farther back on the front elevation
! and at one end will be the shed where
freight of a perishable nature and all
freight which must be protected more
Or less from the weather will be
stored. At the opposite end will be
a place for storing course freight.
sand and stone and coal. Between
the shed and the place Tor storing
/ course freight will be a roadway.
The travelling cranes will be numer-
Gus enough to handle the business.
| They will describe a large enough
! circumference SO that freight a be
! picked up from the boats and barges
and in a very simple manner depos-
| tied in it's proper place. Instead OF
having men truck for several hours
to load or unload several tons OF mer-
chanGise the same can be done by
! the travelling crane in five minutes.
Cheap Handling Necessary.
OF course the big feature of such a
terminal is the facilities for handling
7 freight and, this is what makes cheap
river transportation possible. Lack OF
! facilities a always handicapped
Keokuk. A concrete example that
stands out above all others is recalled
When the Water Power company
started to build the big dam 1t was
necessary to bring to Keokuk from
near Hannibal thousands of cubic feet
OF cement This was a big item and
naturally the freight bills were high
The company contemplated bringing
the cement here by water, having
their own steamboat and barges. De
spite this it was cheaper to bring the
cement by railroad. Why? Simply
because Of the heavy expense in load
ing and unloading. In other words II
cost most to load and unload cement
! for river transportation with present
facilities along the river than to ship
all the way from Hannibal to Keokuh
by rail.
This is an astounding revelation. II
is reason enough for the death OF riv
er transportation. If a company hav
ing its own boat and harges cannot
transport the largest shipment Of ce
ment ever received by a private com
pany as cheap as a railroad there Is
something vitality wrong. The fault Is
in the terminals and nowhere else.
We Need Terminals.
Terminals are OUR greatest need fol
the revival of inland water traffic. Ia