The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-05-28
..,..,. westernsrs Have New Fad q
passing Colossal Marine Gate
w.v-orsater Than Single
one It panama.
TIE NOVELTY ATTRACTS
passengers Are Lifted Or Dropped
Forty Feet without Tremor
Of Boat, Creating
Real Thrills.

Joy IlUtu& III 0SOOAAA A1s'esso
the colossal government lock here has
become the popular amusement and
recreation Of the middle west. The
lockmaster Is kept busy locking
,broneh boats OF all kinds from the
largest steamers on the Mississippi 20
little gasoline launches from . village
MORT M creek somewhere In one OF
the adjoining states.
The sport becomes more and more
attractive. Every month since the
new lock was put into commission
sees q larger number Of PEOPLE pass
ing through It in all kinds Of craft.
All excursion boats on the upper Mis-
sissippi keep standing In all their ad-
yertising descriptions OF the Joy to
be found in going through the Keokuk
lock. All these steamboat lines name
II as one Of the features Of trip.
Packets which do not run above Keo-
kuk start down river by detour up
through the lock and turn back into
their course on Lake Cooper to pass
down through the lock. Passengers
and tourists arriving here by rail.
roads board steamboat 20 ride up
through the lock and down again.
Relatives more or less distant are
writing Keokuk people of visits to be
made this summer with the hope OF
getting a ride through the lock. Men
Of other river cities even miss Sun
day afternoon baseball games to join
excursion parties through the Ksokuk
lock-
Novel and Spectacular.
The popularity Is the result Of both
novelty and the spectacular. The
Keokuk lock has the same width as
those at Panama and Q much higher
lift than any one lock on the Isthmus.
"A boa. enters from below through
gates longer, thicker and stronger
than those 1t Gatun. Suddenly three
score geysers start 70 gushing into the
bottom Of the lock- all around the boat.
In twelve minutes, the boat has bean
raised about forty feet as the look
chamber is filled with over $1,000. 600
gallons OF water. The upper gate, OF
original design, sinks down to the
bottom OF the river, and the boat
passes over It into the lake above the
big Keokuk dam. Being lifted forty
feet in big steamboat, or dropped
the same distance, even without q
tremor Of the boat, gives something OF
q thrill.
The lock became the property Of the
United States, with power for Us per-
petual operation, at once upon it's
completion by the company building
the water power development here.
Because the floating upper gate must
be operated by compressed air. all
parts Of the lock are worked by air
engines. One man In concrete pa
CODA stands at big table full OF
valve handles and puts the lock
through its. PAGES. The service IL free
to all boats and 10 maintained day
and night during the navigation sea-
son. The time required for q lockage
IS scant fifteen minutes. Boats save
two hours in passing Keokuk as COM
pared with the former canal with its
three locks by which they passed the
Des Moines rapids for forty years.
The rev dam has drowned the rapids
under many feet Of water. Since there
is no cost to .he government In max
ing frequent lockages, the power COM
Ing from the water power turbines In
stalled for the war department, the
lockmasters are not Directing to the
lock being made the mecca Of APP
parently all che summer sightseers in
q half dozen surrounding states.