Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-09-13
SICK srEAseoavsen.

SICK s1EAn0oayneA
stsss.rrk Want. HsspsssS wh~vr Thrss
ws"ss May % xssssAel ss.
bismarck Tribune. Sept. ah.
The palmy days Of steamboaling has. in
gres. measure, been Transferred from the
scenes Of their early t.iumphs on The Ai-
sissippi and lower Missouri 10 the upper
Missouri and Yellowstone. While q
moderate amount Of river transportation
will always be necessary on the old routes,
yet In future the navigable waters of the
upper Missouri and Yellovssoas will b the
6elds for successful steamboat enterprise
1t is conceded by the hest informed steam.
boat 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, ply
ing the twelve hundred miles of navisabIe
waters above Bismarck. This to outsiders
may seem incredible, but it Is an uncon-
trovertible fact. Starting out then upon
this well established basis that the field for
successful steamboating in the future lies
above Bismarck, We wish to invite the At
tention of steamboat men TO the fact that
while they are by United States law com.
PEELED 70 pay forty cents per man per month
~ marine hospital dues, they have no op-
portunity of receiving the benefit of
single penny, ~ thu re is no marine hospital
nearer than st. Louis or Ga'ena, and q sick
man might die long before he could reach
there, which At best, would be at an expense
of fifty dollars, rs he would have TO 70 by
rail-down river boats being very irregular
We are aware that the collector of customs
At st. Paul, has authority to provide for the
sick, having hospital tickets issued BY the
master Of his boat. il said boat is licensed
70 run in the St. Paul district, a. in that
case he would have record Of the bosts
and masters but having no such record of
Missouri boats he would have no opportuni-
ty Of knowing whether the ho,pital ticket
was properly issued or not consequently
there would be no certainty Of the sick from
this district. ct..being cared for in St. Paul.
There 10 certainly a great injustice here !:
who is responsible for it we will not pretend
TO say. 1t may be an oversight, neglected
IN default of the proper attention to the
subject by steamboat masters and owners.
There has been some twelve hundred men
working on this upper river this season
who have paid their monthly stipend Of
forty cents, making four hundred and eighty
dollars per month. Next year there viii
be many more, and the average season be-
ing about six months there is$2, $50 in hard
cash collected from the men in this trade
this season, and no possibility Of their ever
being benefited . single penny in return
This is an evil Of sufficient magnitude to
challenge 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 invited
tos sign statement Of facts and reques, 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 an attention st
the hands Of the government. The docu-
ment is in the hands of Capt. Emmons.