The Ripley advertiser. [volume] (Ripley, Miss.) 1843-1897, 1846-04-25

dailg, besides oibsf ,oeeoa plying between ibom'
naling ihe distance from ono 10 The o'hor 10
iioo aud teo ard hoD day., Prior 10 lsll, no
more pretending crab than tho humble Keel o.
fiat was 10 be- sccn upon tho Ohio. Tho 6fei
steam boa, witch made ts appearance IN II was
tho Orleans, Of 400 tons burden, built ~ tina,
year. AZ Pittsburgh. by Mr.. Fulton, aud which
sailed from tia, por, for Ncs Oslcans, upon her
irs, voyage, IN December, 1912. Tho fat boat
and barsemen looked with q jcalous eye upon
this new enterprise, AZ tho steamers began "a
come out, and predicted with expressions Of re
gfct tha, heghts 10 Now Orleans would soon
be brough, down by them TO three cents q pound,
being ., the tune about fee Now this noble
river resound4 from us source to ito mouth with
| steamers and The fears Of he blfgemen are ~.
| ahzed in ten fold ratio, since ftoigh's are down
10 even less than one hird u a cent per pound
or thirty cents per hundred. Equally vast has
been the change 10 poin, OF speed, In the
Spring Of 1917, Captain Shreeve, Of the Enter.
Prise, was rendered a public dinner by the cl'i'
Gems OF Louisville, in honor Of his having accom-
p ished the distance from New Orleans TO Ship
pngsport, at the foot Of the rapids, two miles
below Louisville, in tpenty .fcs da;s-an occur.
renee deemed quite q feat at that day, as it usu
al TOOK the bsrges three months. The 10 Ieen
City," upon which | went up, did the same ia
a'ou, seren and haD days, being abou, the erJ'
nary time required TO mako it in. Such arc
few OF the results of this age Of steam.
The navigation Of the Ohio is obslructed by
Sand bars, some of them rnnning entirely across
the channel and others from the banks far into
ne stream; but snags and logs, the latter OF
Which concentrate aboat the bars and shadows !;
and, in It's upper section, by edges OF rock ex
tetdin. across the bed OF the river. These i'm
peaiments render it imprac,icab.e, during low
water, for any tu, small and light draugh' boats
to rum thus throwing out OF employment, for
portion Of the year the vessels OF larger class
tina, ply upon il at other times. The water 10
usually lowest during the months of July, Au
gust and September. The passage from Pitts.
burg to the mouth can al presen. be readily
made in some four days, frequently less. Du.
ring a low stage, however, the traveller often
meets with vexatous delays, his boat grounding
frs, on one bar and directly on another, length
ening on, the trip to a week or ten days. The
unusual hegh, OF the river as went up happily
saved me from any such experimental acqu'in
lance with the perils and dlttic ultes OF its low
water navigation. AT presen, 1t is not 50 h'gh
though still in good boating pligh, and on my
way down from Pittsburgh, our boa, occasional
~ rubbed the bottom along the shoaiiy sections
above Wheeling, requiring us to slacken cur
usual rate Of running. The losses incident to
the impedimeuts on this stream were estimated
for the year ls42, from a report made 10 Con
gress, TO DO thirty two steamboats, valued AT
$250000. aad $3i7 900 worth of cargoes.
But the Gates, impedimen, to le navigation
Of the Ohio is the falls or rapids a little below
the City of louisville, being a descent in the
channel Of the river Of twenty five fee, in The
short distance OF two miles At low water
steam boats, when laden, can neither pass up
nor down. In early times this subjected the M
to the trouble and expense Of discharging their
cargoes and having them hauled round the ra.
pids. To obyiate this difficulty the louisville
and Portland canal, about two miles in length.
was constructed around the falls uader char
ter granted BY the State Of kentucky in 1925.
Although this in a grea, measure remedied the
evil, it has no, fully removedit. The projectors
OF the work, not bearing in mind what "ro
ahead" people We are. seem evidently TO have
had little idea Of the magnitude and draugh, of
the floating palaces" that now pillow the waters
OF the Ohio and Mississippi. Hence the canal
is too narrow and shallow. and its locks deficient
IN length, besides other imperfections in its con
structlon. Boats of a medium class pass tbro'
It with difficulty, attended with much delav
(requring under ordinary circumstances FIVE or
six hours time to make the two miles, and have
frequently 10 tighten by sending through por
ton of their freight in fate. Boats of The lar.
gest class ii will not admit at all. The tolls. too
are enormously high, being fifty cents per to n,
and constitute heavy tax on western commerce
Thus boat about the sizs Of the " Metamora.n