Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-01
STEAMBOAT REVIVAL,


The Possibility Of Making the Missis-
sipPi River Again Available.
From the New Orleans Picayune.
Twenty-Five years and more ago the great
vessels that carried commerce on the west
ern rivers had been brought up to what
was considered the highest state of per-
lection. Since then, while the demands OF
commercial transportation have most ma
terialy changed. and railways have never
ceased to make every exertion to accom-
modate themselves to the altered condi-
lions, there has been no Improvement in
steamboats,. and their failure to meet the
changed situation has operated to drive
commerce from the rivers and to leave the
great western waterways to neglect and
disuse.
1t should seem that steamboats, free
waterways, which DO not cost anything for
nlainte nance, or. ii there is any such cost,
1t is paid by the national government and
any PARALLEL railways which have to be
constructed at large cost, and then must
be maintained by heavy and constant
outlay. The difficulty appears to lie in two
principal causes. One Of these is the slow
ness of the boat compa red with the rail-
way train but the most serious is the ex-
pense of the large crew required to go with
the boat to put out and take in cargo and
fuel.
The steamboat crew must frequently han
die cargo between the boat and high blur
banks or wide wharves, requiring vastly
more labor than is needed to roll mere han
disc to or from q narrow platform and i'm
mediateiy contiguous railroad cars. What
Is necessary under such conditions is to
have boats so constructed that a great
part OF the loading and unoa ding can be
done by machinery, and to devise the ma
chinery that will do the work. This could
be accomplished by means of chain car
riers and extension derricks. OF course.
some special designing will be required to
adapt these mechanisms to the particular
purpose in view, but effective inven-
tions they already exist
Special changes viii have to be made in
the construction of the boats. They should
be made of steel, with the engines and ma
ohnery down below. so that what is now
the boiler deck would be clear from end to
end for the slowing of freight which should
be moved to the places wanted for 1t by
chain carriers working en- each beam from
stera to stern. The new propellers proposed
by several correspondents might be found
properly available, or screws might be
found serviceabe working in cages to pro-
tect them from floating logs or fixed OBJ
structions.
But the Picayune is not presenting plans,
only offering suggestions, the details to be
worked out by practical engineers and river
men. There appears TO he no reason why
steamboating under such improved con-
ditions should not regain much of It's
with the railroads. the settling up Of the
Mississippi valley will create a commerce
so vast that not only the railroads, but also
the rivers, will be required to carry 1t.
one real Improvement has already been
made. not in the construction Of the boats,
but In the carrying of commerce by means
of fleets of barges lowed by a single power
ful steam tug. In this way enormous car
goes are transported at the least possible
cost. In this way coal, grain and other
commodities In bulk can be towed by
single tug In quantities great that not
less than a hundred railroad trains would
be required to do The work. The POSSIBLE
ties of such traffic are immense but they
need not interfere with the important work
of improving the regular steamboats, until.
by means of additions to their speed and
multiplying their facilities. the floating pal
ace on the river may again come into favor
The entire comfort of travel on such boats
cannot be surpassed anywhere. and ii has
always had a strong hold upon the travel
ing public.
The possibilities Of boating on the great
western rivers only need the adoption of
improved means and methods to bring
about a grand revival which must come
sooner or later.