Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-02-19

70 these bridges or their multiplication.
provided thcy do not obstruct navigation
l. is though, that these bridges, If propcl
care is exercised in their constr, ction, aud
proper restrictions thrown around them,
need not obstruct the nosigation Of tn
river. II should Lc bone in mind that
the aucs ion of free and unojstructcd nav
igation of the Mississippi river isl matter
Of intalculablc advantage 10 the people ~
il is euradcd AZ it should be, when this
great waller is fully settled ard developed
argosics, rich with thr wealth of NOR,
than hundred millions d people. Will
Goat upon its bosom Over the navisabl. |
streams Of the country Congress has SOW
c,ccn power, and il be- ONES their bonn
den duty 10 see to it that no obstructions
arc placed upon them.
Bridges should be well an substantially
built, crossing the main channel at Iicht
angles with the current. where 1t IS UNI
form the year around. the piers on line
with the current. and the draw which
should nc over the main channel. ought he
a clear SPIN Of 1T least two hundred feet.
No bridge should bc permitted until it's loca
ton, Ian and ma c,lal have beca approved
by u corps Of United States engineers. ar
ter all proper precautions OF 10 alton, con
struction and subsequent attention are Ia
ken, If it sh.uld still he found that these
bridges necessarily and unnvoidably OBJ
s'ruct navigation, then railroads, il they
must run their trains across. should b,
comp. He'd to tunnel under the river, aud
not be permitted to br dye over it. The
importance Of maintaining free and unob
structcd navigation is so great and so vital
that 1t rises above all o'hcr considerations.
w edo not apprchcnd, however. that there
will DC found an unavoidable Incompatible
ty between bridging the river and free nav
Cation. Bat there must be more respect
.oi the ri his of navigation III the future
than there has been IN the past.
is illustrations OF the importance OF the
commerce Of the Mississippi river, and OF
the opinions that prevail elsewhere, we give
IN extract or two from recent articles on
this subject. FIRST, from a communication
in the 81, Louis Demoerat
Dnrin. the month oil dec M or, 1868. there
left the port Il Pitt>burg j3l bar.es, owed
by - tugs, carryin. All aggregate freight
OF 2iS, $40 tons.
The tow OF the Wax was 10 ba,gcs. 800,
900 bushels cal, ur II 400 tons, equal Ia
49,, 0OD bushels Of 60 IL, each. To pur
SUE tins system to advantage. reapircs n
space Of not less than 2Oo icet between ,icrs
with Straight and gentle current. and The
most favorable Advantages 4oD icct wou,
be infinitely preferable, ~ steamers nigh,
have to cast off part oi the + tow to navi
gate in 200 foot passage. They carr.
sufficient fuel and aim not to stop the en-
gineers between port and port.
Capt Jlmes ard. Superintendent o
the northern Packet Line, offers ut an,
high or medium stage at water dining TIM
1866, to take down with tug and hei
barg.s II n sinslc tiip from WIN, Ia or above
TO New Crlcan>, from seventy tive thousan,
to one hundred thousand bushels Of bull
gram. Necessarily he will employ n rcln
tug. # possible, at both Clinton and Eocl
Island bridges, and have to drop all III,
bargcs through the piers by and Also
company is tuimnc on a large scale to en-,
bark solely IN fic ,lIttgc 10y tug and ba-rcs
with due encouragement others viii follow
There Is a. present Z bill. ia Congress L
charter bridge structure over the Mi,>is
siPp, at st. Louis; the public are studlOusl,
kept from all knowledge Of its features, an,
the ilect 1t will have ON Their separate ant
collective interests, they are to depend Who'll
ly on the intelligence and homer of its lao
jtct"rs. We are told 10 wait TIL The mil Ina,
pissed, and III I it is all right. lie, all be \
p.aincd before the bill /, Sullc.ed to Ia>s
SO Gar aS can learn, il il 10 have pcrn,a
reat spans, no draw, two platforms, thu
lover ones Tor railroads the upper doubt,
track for teams, and single for loot passcn
gers. We should. We must. We Will, nav,
bridge; let US have bridge. not an as,or
alton or an obstruction advocate frye and
uncbstructcd navigation Of the Mississippi
from its source - tie sea Tlou>an i o
or fellow citizens laid down their YES thai
might bc SO.
Mr.. N. A. Fulton, Of Madison, Wiscon
sin, writes MS follows Of the up-,ivtr trad.
1t ray b, safely estimated ,ha. the
amount of wheat To be shipped fra IL the
extreme Upper Mississippi during he STA
son OF navigation at 1856 will &c fully fo,,
times ~ great as It was III 1860, the last
in Which any considerable portion Of the
business was done at St. Louis
without attempting 10 give exact "a
uStirS as to the amount OF last wears crop
Vt to z" forward from points on tho Mi
sissppi ard tributaries above Wiuoma. |
feel entirely safe in ensuing you that a.
least three fnurlhs Of the enormous crop Of
LAST season h,> ycs to find \ market The
amont OF wheat shipped from Minnesota
alone during the season Of lSG5 was, rs a.
pears iro,a carefully collected statistics. n
little more than eight million Of bushels.
and t which there is t, be added u LARGE
amount TO b. shipped from Wisconsin. OF
which no exact statistics have been com
piled.
They remember that before the war the
ordinary rate of freight On wheat tthcn
handled in bigs) from St. Paul or SILVIA
ter to 81. Louis, was ten cents : bush,
and that It was not urircqucn,ly carried as
low as SIX cents hu>hel
During the year 1863. the rate Of freight
on produce from the upper river to 81.
Aonis. has generally. think. been 40 ut
eight dollars a ton. or twenty four cents n
onshei on wheat; and regard il as safe to
safe that small class Of two boats have
not un'r qnently towed in har.cs FROM
from eight to twelve hundred bushels Of
Whcat.
IT cannot be doubted that four dollars a
son. or twenty cents bushcl would pay n
gooa rroh, ON transportation down stream
TO 81 Ln'lis. and thct six d1ilars a ton on
up ircghts wculd so largely increase the
trade OF Minnesota and Wisconsin with ST.
Louis as TO make the transportation bust.
ness very profitable.
These sui jac,s should be kept before the
people. They arc not Of local or tc,npora-
~ importance merely but Affect direct :
or indirectly the people Of tho whole coun.
try, and the solution given to these ques-
tons now. will be for or against the inter.
csts Of the future as 'long NJ water runs
and grass grows" and man "carns his
bread hv tho v~oot ort l.. L A. = 49,.