The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-09-21
BAD CROSSING
IS BLAMED
Captain streekfus Says Lone Tree
Crossing Where Saint Paul
Stuck 10 Difficult to
Navigate.
rs PERFECTLY MARKED
Major Meiss Refuses to Lower Lake
Above Dam Every Time Boat
slunders on sandbar
Below.
rs PERFECTLY MARKED

The hanging up OF the steamer
Saint Paul. with about 1000 passen-
gers, mostly women and girls, on the
sandbar four miles above Quincy, is
attributed to the place being one Of
the worst places on the river by Roy
Streckfus. one of the owners Of the
boat line.
THE place is known as Lone Tree
Crossing" said Captain Streckfus,
and we were stuck with the steamer
Sydney thirteen hours on one occa-
sion last summer. The government
| is putting In some wing dams on the
Iowa side necessitating steering well
out into the river towards a bar ex-
tending out from the Illinois side. A
strong current flows here towards the
sandbar and If the wind Is not favor
able it is almost impossible for a
pilot to negotiate the narrow channel
The fault does not lie with improper
navigating Of the boat, but is a cir
cumstantial affair"
| Why Government Refused Request
| The government steamer Dandelion
failed after strenuous efforts to pull
the Saint Paul off the bar The big
excursion boat lay broadside on the
upper end Of the sand bar which
made releasing her very difficult
She had booked an excursion out OF
Keokuk last night and one out of
Burlington tonight.
/! The Streckfus line asked Major
Meigs to send additional water down
river from the lake above the dam,
but were promptly refused.
| The very strict and stringent regu.
Elations imposed on the water power
company to keep the river below the
dam at the same stage 1t would be if
no dam was in the river here are
being complied with by the water
power company to the last iota; also
they are so exact that if the company
runs over an excess of water and
flowers the lake above the dam it is
not allowed TO raise the lake again /;
hence, to make the company lower
the lake to float a steamboat that
Numbered upon sand bar, at cost
to the water power running into i'm
mense figures would be absurd That
is the gist Of what Major Meigs told
the steamboat line in reply to its re
quest.
The Good Old Steamboat Men.
Immediate inspection showed that
all the buoys marking the channel
were in place and the channel at that
crossing was perfectly marked when
the boat went aground. Major Meigs
said, and there was no fault in any
river or government agency what.
ever.
The old river men used to always
carry spars to get themselves off
bars" he said "and such men rs
Captain Killeen always got them.
selves of with spars, If necessary
The Saint Paul does not carry spars
and when these newer steamboat men
get into trouble they don't help them.
selves. but call for others to get
them out of trouble. The govern,
ment has no right to ask the water
power company TO raise the river
above its normal height to float of a
boat that has stumbled on a bar
somewhere"
When he referred an enquiry to
Major Meigs, Manager kellogg, OF
the water power company said:
I'VE can no more do anything
about this river than a six year old
boy. All summer we have complied
with the regula tons to the letter,
and kept the river below In abso-
lutely normal condition"
Steamer Finally Gets Off,
The Saint Paul was finally released
from the sand bar last night and pro
ceeded up the river TO fulfil its en-
gagenents for excursions including
one ont of Burlington this afternoon
The Dandelion stood by and spent
many hours trying to pull the big ex
cursion steamer into deep water. Fl,
naily the efforts were successful.
The boat was entirely unchanged
by her rest on the bed OF soft sand on
the bottom of the river