The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-07-19
Remarkable Article by Noted
Danish Journalist Who Wis
tied This City Last
December.
PRAISES KE0KUK SOUL

AfAx1AS IA SAASA
Saws This City is on Right
Road to Settle One of Most
Important Social Prob
lens.
One of the most remarkable studies
of America in print is that made by
Andres Vigen, of the Bernnshe
Tidende, of Copenhagen, DenmarE,
from the inspiration he says came 10
him as he stood by the statue OF
Chief Keokuk, in the city of keokuK
last December.
Andres yigen is thirty-nine years
did. a graduate of the University OF
Copenhagen, and one Of the leading
Journalists of Denmark. He has
written chiefly domestic and foreign
politics, as editorial writer on the
Kobenhayn, from 1910 to 1913, and
on the Berlinske Tidende since then.
He was In America as one OF the
party of Scandinavian Journalists
who toured the United States as the
guest of our government last Decem-
Der. and the following article ap-
peared in the Berlinshe Tidende OF
February II, 1913. 1t ts translated
for The Gate City by John G.
Schneider, Of Keokuk-
Memories from America.
We reached the Mississippi river
at st. Louis, and few hours jour
ney by rail northwest we reached
Keokuk in the state of Iowa
For me, Keokuk was one OF the
points In our memories from Amer
lea that cooled your brain with the
idea of understan
We went TO keokuk to see how the
government engineers have forced
the Mississippi, the Father of
Waters. to make electricity In fifteen
10000 horsepower turbines. The
big power house that can be In
creased to produce $4,000 horse
power. is one of the best and most
wonderful pieces Of engineering In
the world, and especially the back
bone, the mile long dam across the
river.
The power is operated with a drop
of only fifty-f1ve feet
The building Of the dam has cost
many millions of dollars. The works 7
at Keokuk Is surely worth praise.
American Enterprise.
The American has poured the Mis- |
sissippi into turbines, the next thing .
they will do will probably be to use .
Lake Michigan as a wash tub.
America Is living and breeding to
overbid herself.
i was talking to a man in New
York City about these things. I am |
always handy in asking foolish (
things; l would like to live two hun
dred years and see how things look I
ed then. He laughed at me and said
take just fifty years for America is
30 far ahead that you can't see it any
more.
That was his idea Of the forward
push there In the United States of /
America and the energy OF the Amer
lean.
New York is not city but sick
ness, said another one, and at times
one is forced to think that America
is not natural but nightmare. !
Appreciation of Keokuk
Well, at keokuk, when we had
seen the dam we rode to Rand park.
the city's most beautiful park, which
is natural park. It does one good !
to see how that American city loves
to surround itself with trees and
beautiful lawns. And there we found
standing on the bluff as a point out
toward the Mississippi valley, the '
statue of the great Indian chief Keo-
kuk.
The Indian chief from whom the
city got its name, stands there made
IN bronze, stately figure with a Z
stern look in his face.
And ON the base of the statue Is l
the key to the modern American
saul-a few inscriptions, but there is |
history in every word
You get to thinking out This snot
and you see sights you believe YOU
why America has fever !
In it's blood, and is yet sound to live {
on for thousand years 70 come. t
There is first the place itself. The
is the border between the f
new and old America. {
The Outlook From keokuk. {
We stand in Iowa, the Middle IS
Vests central state, about 1900 I
miles from the Atlantic coast, and
looking like Chief Keokuk across the !
river to the old American waJter1, j.
state, Illinois. ]
The modern America is the history
o. the immigration across the Mis-
sissfppi to the Pacific coast. iowa
was made by this immigration.
In 1910, there was on the $4,000 s
square miles less than $4,000 inha5f-
tants. Now there are about 100000 !
Inhabitants.
There are 217,o00 farms in Iowa, +
valued at many billion dollars One Il
acre Of prairie land was valued last I
year at $119 and the price Of better
lands at $3.50 to $3.50 an acre.
Iowa has the highest priced land
ln the United States. In few mrre /
years all Of the prairie land that
covers Iowa will be put under plow 7
1T Is Iowa and cavorn1 otIoor OF ,