The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-02-16
STATEMENT OF STEAMBOATS,.
ANIMAL Report of the Supervising in
spector for this Distriet--Upper
Mississippi Tonnage.

The annual statement of George Hays,
supervising inspector for steam vessels
in this, the fifth district, has been issued,
and it covers the. season of 1885. The re-
port sets forth that during the year there
were 113 steamboats, of all classes in
spected. There have been carried $685.
2G5 passengers. against 25O,0o0 for 1884,
An increase of over 145 5000. But two
lives were lost, and these were from ac-
cidcntal drowning. Not one passenger
was killed or injured. During the year
there was not an explosion or any acct
dent of that character. Two vessels were
burned, but there was no one aboard Of
them at the time These were the Penn
Wright, owned by Matt Clark. which
burned at Saltwater on Jan. IL. and the
Charles Rebstock, owned by Acher Bros,
which was consumed at Cordova, ILL.,, on
Aug. 2. The loss of the vessels amount
ed to $13, 600 Two vessels have been
Withdrawn from the Northwestern
waters, while fourteen new ones have
been constructed, which increased the ton
mage by 564, making the total tonnage
of the vessels in the district, 1864. All
of the new vessels carry passenger licens-
es. The report refers tlatteringly to Maj.
Mackenzie, stating that the increase OF
the business is due largely TO the results
accomplished by him in improving the
channel from Beef Slough, near Winona,
to st Paul. so that the largest boats have
had no trouble, with few exceptions. in
reaching ST. Paul The most really mark
ed improvement has been in the mos
difficult part Of the river to navigate--be
tween Hastings and St Paul The report
states that there are in the district the
best class of steamers operated in west
ern waters, auG it shows the importanc,
Of the district bg stating that it has more
miles of navigabe rivers than any othe
district in the country, and that the ex-
ports from it are greater than from al
of the other districts in the United States
combined,
It is expected that thirty>two new YES
sells will be- constructed during the year
which will make sixtv-ive more vessel
in the district than there were last year
The principal feature of the years bust
ness will be the passenger traffic on tn,
Mississippi. Owing to the increase owe
last season the steamboat companies vii
construct passenger packets, which viii
be the largest and most handsomel
fitted up that have been built for tn
ST Lonis, Rock Island and st. Pau
trade. One of the departures this yea
will be a tri- weekly line between St Pau
and Lacrosse, which will commence Op
erations as soon as the season opens.
is promised that the government will ap
propriate sufficient funds to enable Mai
Mackenzie to prosecute his work, so tina
within two years there will be daily
packet line between St. Paul, Rock Islant
and ST. Louis. The following state
ment shows the business of the distric
during the past year.
Number Of steamers inspected, all
classes ........ -....-.......-- II
Number of new steamers built. ...-.....-
1onn'ge added during year.............. 1919
Number Of passengers carried .......... 395 2t
Number OF deaths-..........- -..-,.....
Amount OF steamboat property destroyed
by frc................ ............... slsOt
Number of officers licensed. ..-... ......- =
Number Of landings III sde at Rock Island s.
Total receipts 81 district 81 445
Total expenditures Of district ..........S5,5 I2
The recent action of the board of su
pervising inspectors in adding Duluth L
the Fifth district, makes it still more i'm
portant Ii gives an addition of thirty