Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-12-10

Edieor lsssasosacss

and tho Mtssisstppi Valley, and 10 Il
nov beIng discussed by ON few OF
the lcuding papers Of the state, uud
will coon DO taken up by congrcss, ave,
take tho liberty of addressing yoit M
cuinMuNirntiunA upon Tho subject,
hoping that you may gtvoft > place
III tho columns OF your valuable
paper.
Doubtless thousands OF pcrsons.
especially Of the agricultural poruia-
lion, whose Interests may be greatly
affected by the construction OF this
to what Las been going ON for tie
past fow years In regard 10 the mat
ter, that they are, at this limo, totally
uniformed as to what IL actually.
now sought To be accumulated by
the bridge coinpaMy-the Gamming,
or. at ienst, the biockading of the
great father of waters at ST. Louis;
therefore, we deem 1t not necessary,
it this communications, to present a
synopsis of what has been traHspir-
lug since q corporation was first or.
gauized aud obtained o charter for
the purpose Of building the bridge
now under consideration.
From all the. light VIC have upon
the subject, this bridge company
ugreed, upon. certain conditions, to
construct ut St. Lotus q bridge,
which should not be an obstruction
to navigation ut that point, aud with
this understanding upon the part of
the river nell, More U.t;ic God spi,et.
in their great work. Years have
passed away, and o great deal has
been done toward tho completion Uf
the bridge, ard also (much to the dis
appointment and alarm of tho river
|%imiercst) toward the obstructing of
tho FREQ navigation OF the river. lu
fact, such rapid progress had beei,
mace q few months ago toward the
river interests that sieambOatmen
deemed il expedient md imperative
to &c; up a remonstrancc and peti-
ton the government to appoint II
com:niStee for the purpose of ascer-
tanning all the facts in connection
with the case, and thereupOm to
make Q report to the governmental
authorities. THIS committee. after a
most thorough aud impartial inves-
tigatioM reported that The comp;r ion
Of the bridge, rs at present designed
and being constructed, would prove
to be o very serious obstruction 10
the free navigation Of the Mississippi
river. Now. while the bridge COM
pauy contend that in building the
bridge.ns at present planned they arc
comply ing with the stipulations, the
river m:en pronounce the actions of
the bridge company all outrage upon
all persons and parties interest
csted in steamboat navigation.
1t must be remembered that the
bridge company werc granted by
lConyrcss n charter, which specified
that the center of tho span Of said
bridge should be iiftv feet above
high-water mark: which proviosion.
it not perfectly satisfactory, was, at
least, acceptable TO all parties con-
ccrned; but, it seems that after the
fears of the river interest had been
quicted by this agreed height for the
bridge, tllat tho bridge company,
considering , Q own special utter.
est, and taking Into consideration the
fuct that nothing had been said to
their opponents in regard to arching
the spaiis, they decided not to put
wv thslt tte- q WI W SuOFtltItS
arches, and, Instead OF. Swinging the
arches at II point fifty feet above high
water mark, As fairIiess and the char
Ter seemed to demand, and which
would have made the bridge q mag.
%nificcnt monument, perfectly adapt
ed to all the surrounding c;rcum-
stances, they sprang it exactly at the
city dircctrix, which :is, really, eight
feet below high-waicr marx; thus
throwing the highest point of the
arch only forty-two feet above that
mark. While tie bridge was being
pushed forward as last as possible
toward complexion, there was placed
OH exhibition at the Merchants Ex-
change, Il fine drawing of the bridge.
representing The ccntrr of the spans
to bn over n hundred feet above the
Underwater mark, under which some
of the largest steamers of the Mis-
sissippi were freely passing, witt, al
abundance of space above their chini-
ncys.
Thus, by such agreeable PROPOSE
tons and glowing representations,
were tie river men lulled 10 sleep
and made happy i'll dreams of the
successful construction of II magnlfi-
cent structure which was to add so
much to the prosperity, welfare, hap
~,fiiiess and fame Of St. Louis; aud
not until the springins Of the spans,
wa the river interest aroused to q
sense of it's impending dan1crs--t then
it was that the Intervention of the
government was demanded and OBJ
taincd.
Ii appears now that the great de-
sire Of tie bridge company is 10
show that they were ignored by tho
~unvernment committee - were not
LUficialiy notified of the meeting
of that committee, au,l, there
fore, were not represented i,f the in.
vcstigations made; but u communi.
of the committee of engineers, re-
Gently published in the Republican,
shows most conclusively that Che
bridge company were officially noti-
fled o! the meeting and the object of
the committee, for, i'll that communi.
cation Col. Simpson quotes or copies
aud rcpublisiics his letter to DIR.
Taussig, as representing the bridge
company and in addition TO this il
app ears that Capt. Eads himself, in a
letter 10 the Republican, admits tho
! official character Of Col. Simpsons
action in giving to DR.. Taussig a copy
of the order %couvening tho board.
Yet in the face of these facts, the
bridge company would leave the pub
lie 10 believe that they were not only
treated unfairly, but had no hearing
at all.
1t may he that millions of persons,
who imagine that they lave no inter
csts at stake i'll this transaction, Oh
are ut a loss to understand how this
bridge may prove immensely detri-
mental to coiiaiercial and all other
interests. should he informed that
upon water transportation, they are
TO an inestimable extent dependent
for the cheap shipment of their pro-
ductions of whatever kind !; and that
in consequence of the present height
of the ST. Louis bridge together with
the height of Mississippi steamers,
whose chimnies are from seventy.
five 10 over hundred feet above the
surface OF the waters, steamers ar.
irving at st. Louis, either from above
or below, will be under the necessity
of transferring their cargoes either by
harges Or drays. to some steamer OH
the opposite side of the bridgc-i
tedious work that will, of course,
entail a heavy expense, to DO paid by
the shipper and the carrier; and VIC
NAV form some fnint. idea of the
omount IL would amir IN nov III,