Title
Dewey's Welcome to the Channel
Subject
Illinois--Chicago
Illinois--Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
Illinois--Lockport
Poetry
Dewey, George, 1837-1917
Randolph, Isham, 1848-1920
Description
Poem written by Isham Randolph, the engineer who oversaw the construction of the Sanitary and Ship Canal. The poem refers to United States Navy Admiral George Dewey's visit to Lockport after the canal opened.
The poem reads: "Glad welcome gallant sailor! Our Navys chief and pride, Whose name thrills every sailor heart Where ere our war ships ride. - Glad welcome to our channel Brave Admiral is yours, And the echoes of our welcome Shall resound on many shores. - We know you by your penant, We know you by your name, We know you by your glorious deeds Which gave you deathless fame. - For what you are and have been, For what you yet shall be, we bid you royal welcome Brave sailor of the sea. - To what then is your welcome? What is this work of ours? It is a bloodless victory O'er Natures rock ribbed powers. - Ours is a man made River, Now flowing full and free, From the great lakes of the Northland To the far off southern sea. - A river we have digged so deep And made so fair and wide, To carry ships like those Which float upon old Oceans tide. - We've digged it through the prairie, We've hewn it through the rock, We've walled its sides with masonry 'Twould brave the earth quakes shock. - The world has heard the story Of 'the men behind the guns', And America is proud to day To claim such gallant sons. - But who shall tell the legend Of our humble sons of toil? Who wrought so well to leave behind These mountain heaps of spoil - Of the men who swung the pick axe Heaved the shovel, drove the drill, Charged the sullen mines whose bursting Kept the country side athrill. - For the thunder of our blasting, Like the boom of many guns, Broke the silence of the midnight Met the rising of the suns - The riven rock to heaven Rose in tons on tons of wreck, then fell like shot from Deweys guns Upon a Spanish deck. - And when the wreck had fallen And the smoke had cleared away, The cantalevers labored And the mighty cable way. - The derricks were in action, The steam hoists and the cranes And steadily these mountains rose Upon the level plains. - The channellers cut gashes, The tramways groaned to bear The heavy loads the 'muckers' gave To be their toilsome share. - The dredges heaved their dippers Full brimmed with virgin clay, Then filled the big scow pockets For the tugs to tow away. - Steam shovels tore the 'glacial drift' And when their might was vain The mass was rent with dynamite And the shovels wrought again. - Lest our River run to riot And the Lake too generous prove, We have fitted mighty valves of steel A thwart our giant groove. - They take the crowding pressure Of the waters held at bay, And pigmy man is strong to mete This torrent on its way. - The turning of a capstain, The winding of a chain, Will hold in thrall this torrent Or turn it loose again - There was daring, there was genius, There was brain and there was brawn And from their gendered labor 'Twas a River that was born. - The labor of the Titans Was a myth of ages gone But this shall seem the Titans work To the ages yet unborn. - We would we had the Petrel here The Raleigh, Baltimore, The McCulloch and the Concord With the gallant tars they bore - And with them the grand Olympia The Flag Ship of the fleet, And her mate the sturdy Boston 'Twould give us joy to greet. - So a welcome gallant sailor Who in this month of May Sailed in and sunk the Spanish fleet in far Manilla boy. - Isham Randolph. Chief Engineer"
The poem reads: "Glad welcome gallant sailor! Our Navys chief and pride, Whose name thrills every sailor heart Where ere our war ships ride. - Glad welcome to our channel Brave Admiral is yours, And the echoes of our welcome Shall resound on many shores. - We know you by your penant, We know you by your name, We know you by your glorious deeds Which gave you deathless fame. - For what you are and have been, For what you yet shall be, we bid you royal welcome Brave sailor of the sea. - To what then is your welcome? What is this work of ours? It is a bloodless victory O'er Natures rock ribbed powers. - Ours is a man made River, Now flowing full and free, From the great lakes of the Northland To the far off southern sea. - A river we have digged so deep And made so fair and wide, To carry ships like those Which float upon old Oceans tide. - We've digged it through the prairie, We've hewn it through the rock, We've walled its sides with masonry 'Twould brave the earth quakes shock. - The world has heard the story Of 'the men behind the guns', And America is proud to day To claim such gallant sons. - But who shall tell the legend Of our humble sons of toil? Who wrought so well to leave behind These mountain heaps of spoil - Of the men who swung the pick axe Heaved the shovel, drove the drill, Charged the sullen mines whose bursting Kept the country side athrill. - For the thunder of our blasting, Like the boom of many guns, Broke the silence of the midnight Met the rising of the suns - The riven rock to heaven Rose in tons on tons of wreck, then fell like shot from Deweys guns Upon a Spanish deck. - And when the wreck had fallen And the smoke had cleared away, The cantalevers labored And the mighty cable way. - The derricks were in action, The steam hoists and the cranes And steadily these mountains rose Upon the level plains. - The channellers cut gashes, The tramways groaned to bear The heavy loads the 'muckers' gave To be their toilsome share. - The dredges heaved their dippers Full brimmed with virgin clay, Then filled the big scow pockets For the tugs to tow away. - Steam shovels tore the 'glacial drift' And when their might was vain The mass was rent with dynamite And the shovels wrought again. - Lest our River run to riot And the Lake too generous prove, We have fitted mighty valves of steel A thwart our giant groove. - They take the crowding pressure Of the waters held at bay, And pigmy man is strong to mete This torrent on its way. - The turning of a capstain, The winding of a chain, Will hold in thrall this torrent Or turn it loose again - There was daring, there was genius, There was brain and there was brawn And from their gendered labor 'Twas a River that was born. - The labor of the Titans Was a myth of ages gone But this shall seem the Titans work To the ages yet unborn. - We would we had the Petrel here The Raleigh, Baltimore, The McCulloch and the Concord With the gallant tars they bore - And with them the grand Olympia The Flag Ship of the fleet, And her mate the sturdy Boston 'Twould give us joy to greet. - So a welcome gallant sailor Who in this month of May Sailed in and sunk the Spanish fleet in far Manilla boy. - Isham Randolph. Chief Engineer"
Publisher
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Date
1900-05-02
Format
jpg
Language
eng
Identifier
402414
Chicago Drainage Collection
Chicago Drainage Photo Album
Original Format
photographic print
b&w
1
Physical Dimensions
12 x 14 cm