Bismarck tri-weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1875-1881, 1877-09-05
ImDortaut to Steamboatmen.

The palny days of steamboating has,
in great measure, been transferred from
the scenes of their early triumphs on the
Mississippi and lower Missouri to the up
per Missouri and Yellowstone. While a
moderate amount of river transporta-
ton will always be necessary on the old
routes, yet in future the navigable wa
tiers of the upper Missouri and Yellow
stone will be the fields for successful
steamboat enterprise. 1t is conceded by
the best informed steamboat men that
more boating has been done between
Bismarck and the military posts up the
Missouri this season than anywhere else
in the whole country. Thirty-seven
boats have been engaged in this trade,
plying the twelve hundred miles of navi-
gable waters above Bismarck. This to
outsiders may seem incredible, but it is
an uncontrovertible fact. Starting out
then upon this we'll established basis that
the field for successful steamboating in
the future lies above Bismarck, we wish
to invite the attention of steamboat men
to the fact that while they are by United
States law compelled to pay forty cents
per man per month as marine hospital
dues, they have no opportunity of re-
ceiving the benefit of single penny, as
there is no marine hospital nearer than
St. Louis or Galena, and sick man
might die long before he could reach
there, which at best, would be at an ex-
pense Of fifty dollars, as he would have to
go by rail-down liver boats beng very
Irregular. We are aware that the collec-
tor of customs, at St. Paul, has authority
to provide for the sick, having hospital
tickets issued by the master Of his boat,
if said boat IS licensed to run in the St.
Paul district, as in that case he would
have record of the boats and masters;
but having no such record of Missouri
boats he would have ne opportunity of
knowing whether the hospital ticket was
properly issued or not, consequently
there would be no certainty of the
sick from this district being cared
for in St. Paul. There is GER
tainly a great injustice here; who is res
ponsible for it we will not pretend to say.
1t may be an oversight, neglected in de-
fault OF the proper attention to the SUBJ
ject by steamboat masters and owners.
There has been some twelve hundred
men working on this upper river this
season who have paid their monthly sti-
pend of forty cents, making four hundred
and eighty dollars per month. Next
year there will be many more, and the
average season being about six months
there is $50 in hard cash collected
from the men in this trade this season,
and no possibility of their ever being ben
eftted a single penny in return. This is
an evil OF sufficient magnitude to chal-
lenge the attention of the secretary of
the treasury. These men are entitled to
some protection in return for their hard
earned money. We certainly stand more
in need of marine hospital to-day than
any steamboating point we know Of.
Steamboat owners, masters, pilots, engi-
neers or other officers and men are invi-
ted to sign statement Of facts and re-
quest to, the secretary of the treasury for
provision to be made here, at Bismarck,
for the care of all who have paid their
hospital dues and are thereby entitled to
care and ,atte ention at the hands. sof.th e
government. The document is IN the
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