The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-08-20
The transportation Problem
steam on Canals.

been. and probably ever will be, the
cheapest method at moving heavy
freight. Natural water. WAYS, such
MS oceans las, :, and livt,rs. are ub
vlouslv ,ht cheapest ot al. rs they
cost nothing To- construct. and mex
ply artificial rivers. l. remains then
only to provide the most economical
mode OF carving freight upon the q
natural or artificial WATERWAYS, to Sc
cure the cheapest system of iranspor-
tation. But while this general prop
osition is simple enough. there are
other considerations which effect the
question and give rise TO difficulties.
which give to this eminrlv simple
business the character Of a problem.
! For instances. there is tlse storag.
and transfer OF grain and otter pro
duce in the west. the transfer OF
/ freight from lake vessels to railroad
cars. and canal boats. the interme.
dla,e and temporary storage wnen
that is necessary. the conveyance,
heretofore necessarily slow upon the
canals, and the final disposition of the
freight when il has reached tide wat
er, and is awaiting shipment All
these matter. involve delay and cost
and it is upon the perfect manage
ment OF cacb. and the economical
working Of the whole together. that
! the final successful solution og the
transportation probe depends
That system which will use the means
we have ia such manner rs shall
cost the least money to the shipper of
the freight. Will be The best possible
one. The timeoccupiei in the tranit
of produce is large elemcn, Of cost,
because time is money, and every
hours unnecessary delay adds to the
expense. In the water route from the
lake ports Ia those OF the Atlantic.
there has been hitherto Ink, or
rather break, consisting of the Erle
and 9th canals, which has added
greatly 20 the cost of transporting
grain. AS compared with what that
cost woul \ have been could il,is break
have l. c,i avoided This weak link.
or break, in the continuity Of the
routes, of comparatively nsignificant
length. caused the greater ptrt of the
expense Of shipping cargo OF grain
from the west 10 the east, by reason
of the slow transit Of freight upon it.
Il has, therefore, been a matter of
great interest To have the canal sys-
tenn SO improved, that il should b
made "a alls economical with the
lakes and The Hudson river The use
of steam III place Of horsepower has
long been viewed as the chief inn
provemeni to be made. and the State
of New York, the owner Of the can
ais. offered premium of one hundred
thousand dollars to the inventor of
the steam canal-boat, which should
succeed in transporting freight AT the
minimum OF cost; In the competition
for this prize last season, several
| boats of different construction were
presented. The most successful of
these. and that which made the most
rapid trips at the least cost, WAS
boat designed and built hy Mr.. VIM
Baxter, of Newark, n. j.. the inven
tor also of ono af the most compact,
safe. elegant, and economical, porta
bic steam-englnes as vet constructed,
known as the Baxter steam engine
The New York Legislature, at its
last session. eempleted It's share of an
arrangement by which thirtv-ive
thousan. dollars of he premium mon
ey is awarded TO Mr.. Baxter, on con
dition that twenty of his boats are
placed upon the canal Immediately.
This will be done, and the present
season will see steam navigation in
anguratcd, and the use of horses and
mules dispensed with. or at least
beginning made towards this desired
result
The economy of this new system
is great, and will largely reduce the
total cost of grain 'ransportatin. The
The official report of the trials of the
Baxter canal-hoa. credits it with
speed OF thirty -one miles in ten hours.
or seventy -four miles in twenty four
hours, with the almost incredibly |
small consump,io Of less than fifteen
pounds Of coal per mile, when carry
ing two hundred tons of freight. The
speed is doubled, and the cost of car
riage is reduced one-haif, which |
makes the cost of freight by these
boats only about one fourth that Of
the boats drawn by horses. The com
missianers who superin' ended The
trials, estimate the saving oa the
business of the Erie canal alone a,
four millions of dollars, and on all the
canals ui the G ,uniry at ten millions
Of dollars. Besides, as two tons can
br carried over the canals where one
was r.eA before, without extra ex-
pens, he value of The canals, Just as
soon as he new boa $ can be made
to replace the old ones, viii be doub-
led. 1t is difficult to estimate the
advantage which the agricultural in
terost will gain from this improve
ment, but it is well wor while to
consider, especially al the present
moment, how this interest is depen-
dent upon the ingenuity of inventors,
the skillful labors of mechanics, and
the benefcent uses of capital. With
out either Of these, or all of them
combined, the agricultural interest
would debend solely upon itself, and
in that sole self-dependence would be
reduced to insignificancc and help
lessness. How closely every indus
trial interest is bound up with the
thoughtful brain OF the inventor, and
both with capital, which is only an
other term for accumulated work or
industry, is here very clearly shown.
The Baxter canal-boat, as may be
seen in our illustration, is not very
different from an ordinary boat in it's
capacity or construction. except that
it carries it's own motive power in the
hold. With the contemplated en-
largement Of the canals, increased ef-
fciency will be given to steam trans
por,ation.
Somebody who knows whereof he
writes sends us the following de-
ccri ,tiap of tho modal Jrupu,ar.