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IOWA.

LOCATION OF THE ONE BIG LOCK IN PROPOSED DAM ACROSS MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT KEOKUK, Lock will be 35 feet high. Power house to be at left: government works at right to be destroyed to make way for new dry docks, which the water-power company will construct to replace the one to be destroyed at the second lock.

stallation, supplies 200,000 horse-power and is the largest water-power plant in the world. In the power house which it is proposed to erect at the foot of the Des Moines rapids at Keokuk, will be 47 immense generators, of 4,500 horsepower each, working on a vertical shaft, like the generators at Niagara. From the upper end of the power house, the dam proper will extend 6,000 feet, in a grand curve, across the river to the Illinois shore.

this dam, the company has already expended over $50,000 in making preliminary investigations and surveys, and has determined that the project is feasible from both engineering and commercial points of view. The estimated cost of construction is placed at about $10,000,000, and it is expected that the work will be completed within two years.

How is it possible to generate such an enormous power at Keokuk? This will be the first question asked by those of a

practical turn of mind. In order properly to answer it, we must take the reader back to the "good old days" before the railways had honeycombed the country from ocean to ocean. The problem which then confronted steamboat men was how to get over the Des Moines rapids at Keokuk, which begin twelve miles above the point where the proposed dam will cross the river. The river runs through a deep gorge at Keokuk This gorge was cut originally by glaciers, and later deepened by the swiftly flowing stream. The current was so swift and the channel so treacherous that it was impossible for steamboats to go farther north than Keokuk or farther south than the head of the rapids. All freight bound for St. Louis or St. Paul had to be unloaded and carried the distance of twelve miles, both going and coming. Keokuk was at that time the head of up-river navigation, to all intents and purposes.

The river interests finally induced the Government to build a canal from Keokuk to the head of the rapids, which canal, after $5,000,000 had been spent in its construction, was opened to navigation in 1877.

On account of the rapids, too swift for the speediest boats to pass over, the idea of a power dam has been the subject of active consideration by promoters for many years. To handle the project promptly and satisfactorily, the Keokuk & Hamilton Water Power Company was organized six years ago. This company brought the matter to the attention of the Government and of financiers, who have finally

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LOWER LOCK OF GOVERNMENT CANAL AT FOOT OF DES MOINES RAPIDS, KEOKUK, IOWA.
This property will be submerged when proposed dam is built.

made it possible for the citizens of Keokuk to look forward to the day when the dream of years will be realized.

The Eastern syndicate, aided by the local corporation, succeeded in getting Congress to look favorably upon the project, even though it meant that the $5,000,000 government canal would be overflowed and ruined. The promise was made, however, that, while all the federal works in the neighborhood would be drowned out, new ones would be constructed without cost to Uncle Sam; and that the dam, instead of being an impediment, would be a benefit to navigation. It was also shown that $40,000 a year in present cost of operation of the canal would be saved, as there will be only one lock after the dam is built, instead of three as at present.

This much accomplished, then came Engineer Cooper's problem of ascertaining the cost of dam and installation. Before anything definite could be done in a commercial way, it was necessary to find a way to do things which the men in Washington would approve, as the War Department was the supreme court in this instance, and whatever was done had to be with the approval of the man at the top.

It was necessary to determine whether the most economical plans would suit the Government; and to ascertain the probable market for power-including present use and future additions-in order to calculate whether the sale of power would pay dividends on the cost and operating

expenses.

These problems were solved to the satisfaction of the capitalists; and then another line of thought was opened upWhat would the Burlington Railroad have to say about it, as their tracks parallel the canal and would be overflowed from ten to twelve feet at the least? This led to some clever diplomacy on the part of the members of the local company, the result being that the C. B. & Q. agreed to raise its tracks and to spend some $200,000 in order to get into Keokuk. Other lines of road also agreed to make the necessary changes in their tracks and to be reasonable in their claims for damages.

But the worst was yet to come, as was soon found out when the surveyors began

to lay out the lines to determine the flowage rights it would be necessary to acquire. It was found that the dam would elevate the river water level as far north as Burlington, Ia., forty miles away, with an area of about 36 square miles, most of which is now within the flood lines of the river. Property owners along the shore, some of them at any rate, began to hint that, when it came to letting go of their land, they would make the men behind Mr. Cooper settle, and at their figure, too. It began to look gloomy for the future of what will be the biggest dam in the world, save the Assouan dam in Egypt, which was built for irrigation. purposes. This was a legal complication which was not thought of at the

start.

Mr. Cooper, the man who does things, gritted his teeth; and everyone on the inside in the water-power enterprise was as uncommunicative as the Sphynx when asked if there was anything new along the line of advancement.

It leaked out in a few days that the company was not taking any chances in the building of the Keokuk dam. Mr. Cooper, who is at the present time constructing a dam across the Susquehanna river near Beaver Falls, Pa., had been through the mill. He recalled a rather unpleasant experience in connection with the Susquehanna enterprise. The company overlooked a little insignificant spot in the river down there which for courtesv's sake is called an island. It was nothing more than a dot in the stream which a Pennsylvania farmer had bought for $30, but which the water-power people forgot to buy before they began their work. When settling time came, however, they were just $30,000 out, and the Pennsylvania farmer that much to the good.

Having been burned once, Mr. Cooper and his associates had more than the proverbial horror of fire; so they asked Congress to some to their rescue in this case. The upshot of the whole matter was that just before Congress adjourned in June a bill was passed which reads as follows:

"That whenever any person, company, or corporation, municipal or private, shall undertake to secure, for the purpose of conveying the same to the United States free of cost, any land

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DES MOINES RAPIDS CANAL, KEOKUK, IOWA, AND VIEW OF THE RAPIDS.

Burlington tracks alongside canal will be submerged 35 feet by building of proposed dam across the Mississippi at this point.

GOVERNMENT WORKS AT LOWER LOCK OF DES MOINES RAPIDS CANAL, KEOKUK, ICWA.

Power house will be built starting at point 200 feet to the right of coal barges in canal, and will extend upstream 1,863 feet, where the dam proper will start.

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MIDDLE LOCK OF DES MOINES RAPIDS CANAL, KEOKUK, IOWA. Government dry dock at right. This is another section of the $5,000,000 government works which will be destroyed to make way for the overflow caused by construction of the 6,000-foot dam across the Mississippi.

or easement therein, needed in connection with a work of river and harbor improvement duly authorized by Congress, and shall be unable for any reason to obtain a valid title thereto, the Secretary of War may, in his discretion, cause proceedings to be instituted in the name of the United States for the acquirement by condemnation of said land or easement; and it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General of the United States to institute and conduct such proceedings upon the request of the Secretary of War:

"Provided, That all the expenses of said proceedings, and any award that may be made thereunder, shall be paid by the said person, company, or corporation, to secure which payment the Secretary of War may require the said person, company, or corporation to execute a proper bond in such amount as he may deem necessary before said proceedings are com

menced."

The passage of that bill removed the last impediment so far as concerned the acquiring of the land needed for the improvement, and incidentally let everyone know that there must be just grounds for the assertion that the construction of the dam would be a good thing for the river interests.

A lock is required for river boats, and the effect of the dam will be to improve navigation greatly on the river, and that, too, where there has hitherto been the greatest obstruction between St. Paul, St. Louis, and New Orleans. All railroad and river interests favor the project, and the bill referred to passed both houses unanimously under suspension of rules.

The Mississippi river at the point selected has a limestone bottom; and the lake above the dam will be bounded by limestone bluffs close to the banks of the river, which for miles flows through a deep gorge. The building of the dam will transform the treacherous Des Moines rapids into a calm lake two and three miles wide at different points and nearly 35 miles long. The dam will be 35 feet above the low-water mark; and water, as already said, will be backed nearly to Burlington, which city is about forty miles upstream from Keokuk.

As a commercial proposition, this project has to do with very cheap power in the midst of a great corn belt; with a population in 1900 of 242,161 within forty miles; a population of 1,468,496 within 100 miles; and a population of 3,917,046 within about 150 miles. There is no competition except steam power within the sphere of activity of this dam, and there can be none of any practical consequence.

The positive statement has not yet been made that the dam will be built, because options on all the property have not been acquired. Of course, nothing is certain except death; but the opinion of the men on the inside is that the dam will be built, and that work on its construction will start not later than the first of the year.

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