The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-09-27
ANOTHER STORY
ABOUT BIG DAM
w.. witness" Finds Plenty Of Ma.
tsriai in Big Hydro Electric
power Plant IN River at
Keokuk
TALKS ABOUT PEOPLE
Judos Logan, c. A. Sears and Others
Figure In His Latest Article
Which Tribune Pub
fishes.

urve witness" in the Chicago Tri-
,nne has another story about the
Keokuk power plant. and Keokuk peo-
Mo He prefaces 1t with an ancient
rseezs why don't they build mills on
mo Mississippi? Why dam 1t, they
snfs and then he writes:
But they can dam 1t now, and do.
And st. Louis gets the benefit.
What is it that today makes st.
ropis one OF the cleanest of the great
manufacturing cities Of the world, al.
though II was once one of the foulest?
One reason is that it has developed
N extraordinarily militant civic pride
which does not exhaust itself in blow.
inr-though 1t Is good at that-but
looks sharply after such cody mat
,ers as community cleanliness.
Another reason is that ST. Louis
takes nearly 100000 kilowat hour a
dsy from the Keokuk power plant
when 1t takes all the Mississippi River
Power company can allow it. 1t would
take more II it could get 1t.
Given In the terms of horsepower,
ST. Louis takes from Keokuk a daily
minimum of 10000 horsepower, but for
Two hours of every day goes up to
5000. Actually, however, the city re-
ceyes even more than that, for the
DEer people allow it to take certain
AMOUNT of excess power which they
call ''the froth off the river
As High as 10000 Horsepower.
Sometimes" Mr.. C. A. Sears, gen.
.al manager of the Keokuk plant,
told me, ''St Louis is taking from
5000 to 10000 horsepower from u.s."
Some people in Keokuk say that the |
amount Of power the company sends to !
St Louis alone, pays the plants ex-
penses and gives to percent profit. |
But after my desolatiIg experience
With Dodd, Mead & Co.'S international |
Encyclopedia figures on the cost Of
The Hennepin canal | shy off from all i
statistics except they come from the
boss, and those In this article do
namely, from Mr. Sears.
The power that goes to ST. Louis
Lights the city, runs the street cars
and is used in factories.
Mr.. Sears said that the price runs
generally half cent per kflowat hour.
depending largely on the amount Of a
cltys or a manufacturers consump-
ton, in other words, a sliding scale.
Some of the smaller consumers pay
over cent per kilowat hour.
Before the war ST. Louis was pay
ing slS.S6 per horsepower per year
ior 4 hours and 40 minutes per day.
i now pays s22. The company has the
nsnt TO re-schedule every five years,
Farsighted Shrewdness.
Inc farsighted shrewdness which
las marked the history of this enter
PRISE from its inception is illustrated
y Inc fact that contracts for the sale
" power to yield sufficient revenue to
Jay operating expenses and all in.
ffest charges were made before q
aaeel turned. Indeed, that was the
Oly way the dam ever got itself built,
aad II was a weary job getting those
onlracts signed. It is also mark
sur'hy that the whole plant was fin
mated
, on the basis of the sliding scale
'aeaoy described, Burlington. la.
Wpuiatlon 30,000), takes its entire
uppiy OF power from Keokuk, using
.lor street cars. lighting, and most Of
! factories. ION the peak" this
auals 1900 horsepower. +
o,ner Towns Rely on keokuk. =
vit Madison. Ia. town that is i
wing right along. receives all its c
!" 'looo horsepower) from Keo- Il
]. excepting what is used in the n
! r!. and the penitentiary. bal. +
ohy' Ill, and Stronghurt, La .
lsa pe' and two or three other little I
0 ,,res around there divide It's horse D
i ~ ne,ween them. Niota, ILL.,, takes "
anil, anil horsepower; Nauvoo, ILL.,, so; Il
'oh' ILL.,, 125; Warsaw, H.. rs; +,
4