The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1894-03-14
IMPROVE GREEN RIVER
AND GIVE IT ITS DUE SHARE OF
APPROPRIATIONS,
Says Our Correspondent Writing
Upon the SuhjeCt---An Ap-
peal to.0ur Congress-
men to Aid Us.
rrs VALUE TO OUR STATE.
Honor to whom honor is due. #
EDIToRs HARTFORD HERALD:

Honor to whom honor Is due"
EDITORS HARTFORD HERALD:
have become SO accustomed to seeing
) all the appropriations TOR river and
harbor go principally to other States
and what little part was vouchsafed to
Kentucky, go to obstruct the Ohio at
Louisville, or be spent on the Ken
tucky river in the Bluegrass region, it
was with profound feeling of aston
ishment, that we noticed in the Louis.
vile Times recently that one member
of Congress had the hardihood to go
before the august committee having
the rivers and harbors of the country
in charge and there boldly advocate
the claim of Green river to share in
those appro priations. 1t required no
common amount of moral courage on
the part of said member to do this,
thence the caption at the head of this
srticle), and all the more that his doing
for the weak while antsgonizing the
powerful in his district.
While upper Green river has the best
of claims for aid from Congress, those
claims are not backed by a rich agricul-
tural plutocracy as is the case with the
Kentucky river, nor are they support
ed by powerful mercantile constit-
uency as backs the member from Louis
vile; but in natural resources, in prom
Use for the future, in real increase of
inter state trade, in fact, in all logical
reasons for demanding fair share of
the common fund, Green river and its
tributaries stand at the head of all
Kentucky streams. / will give few
reasons.
A glance at the map of Kentucky
will show that from Mumfordsville, the
point at which the l.. a. N. railroad
crosses upper Green river, to Rock
port, at which place the @. o. g. s. w.
railroad crosses the same stream,
these two railroads run almost on par
allel lines with each other, at a dis
lance of about 35 miles and about
equi-distant from the river, following
the same general direction, viz: south
west-the l.. a. n. Il NJ. r. r. on the
splateau separating the Green river val.
ley from that of the Cumberland, the
G. o. x 8. W. railroad on the divide
between the waters of Green river and
the tributaries of the Ohio--it is easily
understood that the entire product OF
this parallelogram OF $50 miles in
length by 35 in width must be hauled
up hill to either road to market, mean
distance of 10 to 20 miles, over such
roads as are to be found in all sparsely
settled regions, or depend on the dan
gerous and uncertain mode of transpor-
tation viz:-that of boating it out on the
river when freshets render it navigable.
Is il any wonder that part Of the coun.
try is undevelped? Green ard Barren
rivers, as far as slack water is secured
at the present time, have fully demon
strated their value as commercial high
ways, yet in 1892 the appropriation for
Green river was only SAG, 264 90, while
the Kentucky river received at the
same time $i5O,0O0, making the totals
given each stream by the general Gov.
eminent mp to that date: To the Ken
lucky river 81 ,49s, 900, Green and Bar
rem river $4s4, 076.90, more than double
the amount given to the Kentucky riv
er. What was the relative value o.
each stream commercially?
For the year ending June 81, 1898
freight carried including passengers oil
Green and Barren rivers was GA 81;
tons. Corresponding period on thu
Kentucky river-freight and passengers
, carried, $50, 449 ton. Expenses for repair
and dredging, &c., same year abou
equal. The comparison is easy. Lei
us go little farther and note the de
mands made on the general Govern
ment by each stream for further i'm
provements and will close this already
long article.
The estimate, of the engineers il
charge OF the Kentucky river call fol-
further appropriation Of the sum o.
81, 524, 900 in order to complete tn,
2 improvements recommended for thai
, stream. These improvements will
make its total navigable SLACK water
length 26l miles; from Carrollton, a
the mouth, to Beattyville, head of slacl
water, the Kentucky has no tributaries
of any value commercially. The est
mates furnished by the Government en-
: gineers for the improvements on Green
river and its tributaries and the sun
of money needed to complete those al
ready commenced are:
For completing the rebuilding of Lock
No. q aud repai 1900. Sos. 90
Estimated total cost Lock No. upper
Green (new,.A. .,....... 1907
Estimated total cost Lock No. upper
Green new -. ... ...... $4,000
Estimated total cost Lock No /, Rough
river, less amount on hand ... $500
Total amount needed to complete slack
water to Mammoth Cave .... s9s,6s
This is less than one.fourth the su n
asked for the Kentucky river. TIL,
amount of navigable highways furnish
ed by these improvements would be Of
incalculable value to interstate trade
and in as few words as possible, 1 will
try to outline some Of the results, be-
ginning with Lock No. Ion Rough rive
} This lock would give slack. water navi
cation as far as Hartford, the county
: seat of Ohio county, at distance o
30 miles from the mouth OF the river a
Livermore. This stream runs through