The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-30

Some OF WarSaWs passengers com-
plimented the liberal patronage of the
little Missouri neishbor, and said
that the ancient village did real we'll
ION that occasion. So say we. Lat,
Foster commanded the delegation OF
Alexandria. and merchant Steve Full
ton served we'll as moderator. The
audience were good hammered ana
quite representative.
Away up near the pilots dwelling
the writer and pioneer pilot selected
easy chairs, and with the field glass
and otherwise, began q far extended
and critical view OF the river and the
agricultural conditions along the way
on the Missouri side especially Those
who fail to take summer voyage on
the great river, are essentially miss
ing some exceedingly charming and
profitable experiences of a life. It Is
a pitiable omission.
Now. officially, let the declaration be
made to the public that with all the
rains and some losses. the farmers
interests are fairly good. With 3
comparison, affairs of 1915 are super
Tor to those OF last year, which was
noted for its protracted drought and
high temperature. You may recor1
this In the great speech; as Abraham
Lincoln once said.
A study of the river and It's ways is
an element of entertainment to those
who are qualified in the division of
geology. The high water line of tna
river placed the U. s. government
dikes away from view. and they were
not In the study. The interested oh
server learns that the U. s. river i'm
provement commission continues to
cd rs xhn ho v,lyc r.
ticularly the west one. This Is the
logical dealing with severe encroach-
ment upon the bank of any large
stream, and is the real practical
method to prevent soil erosion. The
inclination OF the river channel is to
the west. and the invasion upon Mis-
|souri territory is perpetual and very
severe. This Is of immense import
ance to the welfare Of the immediate
valley of the Mississippi, and de-
serves scientific supervision and treat
nent. Heavy rock revetment AMI
strong, high levees to protect the
flood plain territories, all under U. s.
government care, these are the prac-
tical solutions of the subject. The
town of Canton seems to hold it's riv-
Ter picket post fairly well. and one
notices the survival of few OF the
houses of the early town Of Tully.
There is a kind of pioneer and south
ern tinge Of gloom lingering about
those old dwellings Of brick, erected
before the civil war, perhaps. All
along may be noticed the wonderful
|tracings of the ancient Mississippi.
and how the present Mississippi,
greatly reduced in volume, wanders
over Its vast food plain.
hYoo~ ~ Tho Vr,xooo-Ao riuor
unites with the Mississippi and out on
the flood plain may be seen the drain
age canal which is to extend up the
valley and through Clark county. 1t
is quite an enterprise, and will be of
value in draining the rich valley Of
the Wyaconda. The line Of the Bur
lington railroad Is being raised sever
al feet to place the track above the
canal levees which are thrown up on
each side OF the drainage avenue. The
material now being used for the eleva-
ton of the line, IS sand brought down
from the railroads own sand land near
Wayland. This road was built some
forty-three years ago, and is still In
process of building. Truly, as B. F.
Yoakum well declared, railroad is
never finished. It progresses with the
years.
Upon invitation Of Captain streck-
fus and Secretary Brinkman, the
pioneer pilot and the official reporter
were escorted to dinner, which was
elegant and of the good southern
method of preparation. AS the good
river ship Sidney glided gracefully
through the draw span Of the bridge
at Quincy, the dinner was being en-.
joyed by the happy guests. The
steamers OF the Mississippi have we'll
chosen commanders There Is Roy
Streckfus, in prime life, qualified for
duty, agreeable, and altogether worthy
Of the post of honor. 1t is finer mis-.
sion to command ship with its thous.
lead a thousand soldiers in the blight.
ing legions of warfare. I have known
many commanders Of Mississippi river
steamers, and I remember that they
were valiant and properly placed in
their official stations
Coming up from Hannibal three
years ago, the steamer G.. w. Hill en-
cOuntered a severe rain storm from
the north, soon after passing through
the draw span of the Quincy bridge,
and true to his mission and duty,
Captain Wisherd occupied his battle
ment and official station away up
among the fierce elements For I
hour he held the G. w. Hill direct
against the storm, and brought his
ship and passengers through safely
The signal lights along the shore for
the aid of pilots, never grow dim, at
least during tne night, and pioneer
Piolt Wilsey related to me some Of the
troubles which the pilots used to en-
counter long years ago. All was gov
erned by a knowledge Of the forests.
hills and the river, and at night there
was not shore lights or even a large
light on the steamer. Imagine a
steamer at night ascending the Des
Moines without shore line signals or
a search light on the steamer. Those
pioneer days were times Of the heroic
virtues, and the heroes were forth
niyO