Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1870-11-05
amounts, however, almost to a pro-

buOIuiuus US are tDeSe ilSuTeS, tDey
are small compared with what the fu-
ture may bring forth. TO the !, ,250, 900
square miles drained by the Missis-
sippi, whose products would natural
ly seek a market at New Orleans,
should be added 100000 square miles
of graiu-producing territory on the
Red riverof the North. The seven
teen States and Territories bordering
on the Mississippi and its tributaries
have already population of 1S,000,-
QUO soul. In 1910 1t will number, at
the present rate of increase, 100000
000. ~
The Inland navigation of this re-
gi0n has not kept pace with the
growth of population and the devel.
opment Of the country. 1t Is estima-
led that In the year 1850 these seven
teen States yielded 32,991, 1888 tons of
agricultural products. OF this, at least
IL, ,000,000 tons were surplus products,
which should have been carried
away, while in reality but 5,0OO,O0O
tons were sent to market. AT the
present decennial rate of increase the
export will in 1880 reach l5,0OO,-
00U tons. How can this vast tonnage
be sept to market, except by the Mis-
sissippi river? 1t Is fair to estimate
that but little of the wheat raised
west Of the Mississippi will hereaf-
ter reach the seaboard by rail.
1t IL cheaper to float the heavy and
streatn to market than tn transport
them uphill by rail. BY virtue Of
this simple proposition, New Orleans
claims the Commerce of the Missis-
sippi valley, especially the grain
trade. The great com mmercial cities of
our c0untry are rivals for that i'm
menss and dconstantly increasing com
merce TO gain it, New York, Bos.
tDn, Chicago, and Cincinnati have
c,versd the whole northern part Of
the great valley with a network of
railroads.
For a time it seemed as IL the
freight-car was to replace the steam
boat, the barge, the flatboat. But
experience has demonstrated that
water, and especially river naviga-
tion, affords greater advantages to "a
greater number of people, at lower
rates, and with greater tonnage ca
pacity, than any kind of land trans
portion. 1t costs but three mills per
ton per mile to transport freight on
such rivers as the Mississippi and
Ohio. The cost by the Erie canal
is five mills per mile, by railroad
fifteen mills.
Trade, like water, will flow In the
lowest channel. Establish the fact
that grain can be carried q cent per
bushel cheaper by one route than by
| ~ oil hni
equal, the cheaper route will get the
business.
A steam tug can safely take down
the Mississippi four barges loaded
with 100000 bushels of wheat. 1t
would require six hundred cars and
at least thirty locomotives to trans
port the same quantity of grain by
rail. Wheat can now be carried from
st. Paul to New York, via New Or
leans, at u saving of about six days
in time and fourteen cents per BUSH
ell over every other route. The saw
ing from St. Paul to Liverpool is
eighteen days in time and twenty
twolcents freight per bushel. The
7 New Orleans elevator has a capacity
of 10000 bushels. The Mississippi
route is open the entire year. The
! New York route Is closed several
months by ice. The opening of the
proposed canal will considerably
shorten the time and lessen the cost
via the Mississippi route.
The large business is, indeed fast
revolutionizing freight transportation
upon the Mississippi. The barges are
managed just like freight cars-drop-
ped here and there for loading or dis
charging, as occasion may require.
The tug does all the work. 1t carries
fuel for the entire route. 1t makes no
long stops. BY economizing time il
almost equals the speed ofthe steam
boat. A very few men manage a
whole fleet. The rate of insurance
should be much lower than on steam
boats; the danger of accident is less.
These enormous carriers transport
grain from st. Louis to New Orleans
} They carry Immigrants back for three
dollars, with all the baggage they
choose to take. Coal Is now carried
from the Kanawha Valley to New
York via the Mississippi river, with
profit to the miner and shipper.
Freight transportation on the Mis-
sissippi by means of barges is exempt
from many difficulties which beset
railroad transportation. Although II
is estimated that a double-track rail
road could be so operated as to trans
port $1,000, 900 tons of freight per
year, still no railroad in this country
has ever exceeded 5000, 900 tons. On
"a river like the Mississippi there is
practically no limit to transporta-
tion. The average dead weight trans
ported on a railroad Is much greater
than on rivers. Except on through
lines, there Is but little competition
on railroads. The river is "a liquid
and moving highway for all, costing
nothing, while the first and generally
enormous cost of railroads is SO much
sunk capital. The bonded debt of all
the railroads in the United States
would nearly represent their value.
The relative cost Of transportation by
river aud rail Is as one to five.
Many and great as are the natural
advantages of New Orleans, still she
cannot rely on them alone. They
must be improved by artificial means.
In the rear of the city are Two canals,
furnishing six feet depth OF water,
terminating in Lake Pontchartrain,
and with their heads or basins nea rly
a mile back from the Mississippi. BY
means OF these canals and the POnt-
chartrain railroad, also some six miles
In length, and connecting with lines
oi steamers--all of which routes in
volve the frequent and expensive
hauling of sbipments-New Orleans
carries on her extensive commerce
with the lake and gulf ports east ol
! Mississippi. The receipts of the Pont-
! artrain railroad in 1867, from passen'
, gers and freight, were Sl5s,S77.2i
During the last year the freights, con
sistingly largelyo of Western produce,
= have averaged 1000 tons per day
The steamboats, and sailing vessels
. running into the canals have ais,
( done a large business, In addition L