The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-06-15
Local Boat Ran Ahead Of Schedule
and SETS New Mark in Running
Through Hennipen
Canal.
PARTY IS BACK HOME
Experience In Rock River Gave Navl-
gator Some Uneasy Moments
While Boat Ran in
the Dark.

ON BOARD THE ILLIAMO, June
IA fine restful night in good
hotel at Peoria restored the victims
OF cimex lectularius at Grafton, and
all hands were prepared for the en-
joyabls run up the Illinois on the
third day OF the trip. Seven-thirty a.
m. found the boat fuelled and provis-
toned for all eventualities. Leaving
Peoria in fine weather we rare soon
Swimming along the north shore of
the lake where SO many of the asso-
citation races have been h cid and which
Is, except for Lake Cooper, the finest
race course for motor boats in the
west. We found little dificulty in
telling just the right course to take
as there is much overfiowed land
about the lake and tho shores are in
and liable to get on stumps II not
careful. About a half dozen buoys
well placed would make the naviga-
ton completely safe, and as 1t was,
by hs1p OF the pilot book and map,
there was no real difficulty in finding
the way When one is steering a
boat going. at the rate OF over twenty
" in the channel is consuming one
and the pilot in strange waters has
before him constantly the wonder as
to what would happen should the boat
hit log or stump. and how sfs would
act. We passed few old world
cities on this run. Rome lay on the
west shore Just before reaching Chill
Ecothe and Liverpool on an island is
where they boast that LIVERPOOL, I'LL
nois, pcss ssses more fishing nets than
Liverpool, England. Above the lake
the river is very slack and all one
has to do Is to open the throttle and
let the engines do their best.
Forty-four miles to the entrance of
the Hennepin canal were soon passed
and the Illiamo passed the first lock,
which owing to the. good stage in the
Illinois. has only. a small lift. Every
thing was ready for us as word had
gone ahead that the, ruling official Of
the canal was aboard and the lock
masters were on their mettle with one
gate open and hands on the operating
valves. We fooled pne man, though.
The distance between locks is vari-
able, from few feet to mile or
more We left onealock where the
distance to the next lock was about
mile and as we approached it saw
the lockmaster racing for his post
with his gates shut He evidently
miscalculated the speed Of the Illiamo
and the three minutes she took to
get from one lock to the other upset
his notions as to time.
Making Fast Time. II
The authorized speed in the canal
Is six miles an hour. but we found
that the Illiamo made less commo-
ton and wave wash whs run at
twenty miles so We gave the canal
authorities the benefit of our discov-
cry and slid from one lock to the 9th
er as fast as the engines would turn.
1t is q curious S sensation to he split
ting furrow up a clear channel with
Z feet of depth at twenty-five miles
an hour with banks on each side less
than forty feet away. The engine
drums sonorous low note and the
banks slida past so smoothly that it
feels like coasting on a bob sled with
perfect road bed to run on. In one
place we had race with an auto
where the county road parallels the
canal. The auto had to put on steam