Omaha daily bee., 1881-07-21
TRADE ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
How Western Farmers Havc Been
Benefited BY Its Growth--Tho
Barge Tystem:

How Western Farmers Havo Been
Benefited BY Its Growth--Tho
Barge Tystcm:
Capt. James d. Eads, of st. Louis,
was in town yesterday, at the Fifth
avenue hotel says the New York
Herald. He has been travelling a
good deal of late, and expects to leave
for Europe in a few weeks. He
returned from Mexico on the same
steamer with Gen. Grant, after hav-
ing his concession to authorize the
building of a ship railroad across the
isthmas of Tehauntopec confirmed by
the Mexican congress. Recently he
has been examining the harbor of
Toronto, at the request of the Cana
dian government, for the purpose of
discovering its capacity for further
improvement. The Canadians appear
to him to be earnestly engaged in
leaving no stone unturned toward
utilizing all the advantages they
possess of securing the carrying trade
of the west and northwest, and the
improvement of Toronto harbor is an
auxiliary stepin this direction.
Capt. Eads, in referring to the
growth of business on the Mississippi
river since the deepening of the water
at New Orleans, said: "The ship
ments of grain from the mouth of the
river have increased forty.fold in six
years. Before that time not half a
million bushels of grain were shipped
from New Orleans, while during the
past year the exports were between
IL, 00O, 900 and 20 1000, 900 bushels.
The cotton export has also greatly
increased, and the cost of transporta-
ton has been reduced 81. to S1,25 a
bale. The only drawback at this
moment to u rapid and continuous
increase in the grain-carrying business
is the lack of barge capacity. Mr..
jackson, president of the elevator
company of st. Louis, tells me that
they could do twice rs much shipping
IF THEY HAD THE BARGEs.
So great is the pressure on their re-
sources hat they have been forced to,
fix the price for carrying grain at 8
cents a bushel, when it would pay
them to carry 1T at 3 cents if they
had the accommodation; but of course
efforts are fast being made to meet
the wants of shippers, and the pres
ent state of affairs only goes to show
that a strong and widespread appreci-
alton of the advantages of the Miss
issippi river as a channel of transport
tation has taken hold out West.
Railroad iron from abroad intended
for roads in the northwest now comes
to New Orleans, though it formerly
went by way of New York and the
Erie canal. The Mississippi threatens
at no distant day to be a serious rival
of the Erie canal, and in order that
the latter's capacity may be enlarged
the State ought to abolish the tolls
on it.
"People think it is an idle boast
that the deepening of the water at the
mouth of the Mississippi river saves
the States tributary to the river ~-25,
600, 600 a year, but the figures prove
that it does. There were about two
Thousand million bushels of grain
produced in the entire country last
year, and three-fourths of that guam
tity came from the states tributary to
the Mississippi. A
SAVING OF A CENT A BUsHEL
on that amount would Be S15, 900, 900,
but the actual saving cannot be less
than five cents a bushel, and if it
we're not there would be no induce.
ment for the trade to 60 that way in
preference to other routes
"What is the present condition of
the riverl"
"There are twenty-nine feet of
water at low tide, so that the largest
vessels can come into port at any time,
day or night. This they cannot do
here, but must wait at Sandy Hook
until the tide rises on the bar"
"What improvements are contem-
plated on the river above New
Orleans?'
"There was a proposition originally
to devote So, 0O0, 000, to the improve
ment of the river above, but this was
cut down to 81, 600, 900, which, under
a commission appointed for the pur-
pose, will be applied initially to the
work of improvement at a point in
the river about 100 miles below
Cairo"
"What average depth of water is it
possible to secure on the main portion
of the river?"
"It is perfectly practicable to secure
twenty feet of water from Cairo
down"
Glow long does low water interfere
with navigation to any extent2'
"For three months of the year
September, October and November"
"What other shipping ports are
there on the river besides st. Louis2"
"Cairo must become a great
Shipping point. 1t is already doing a
large business. Davenport and other
places are mentioned, and, as l said
before, there appears to be nothing
to stop the increase in the traffic on
the river but the want of sufficient
means of conveyance
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